page_title: Robert Allerton Park
section_title: Allerton House (The Farms)
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Allerton Park / Buildings / Allerton House (The Farms)
caption_attribution_description: English: Robert Allerton Estate, 515 Old Timber Rd. Monticello This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 7000701
context_page_description: The Robert Allerton Park is a 1,517-acre park, nature center, and conference center located in the rural Piatt County township of Willow Branch, near Monticello, Illinois on the upper Sangamon River. The park and manor house, The Farms, are attributed to owner Robert Allerton, industrialist heir, artist, art collector and garden designer. Robert donated the complex to the University of Illinois in 1946.
  The National Park Service registered the Robert Allerton Estate as a National Historic Place on July 18, 2007. The Allerton Natural Area within the park was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1970.
  As of 2007, the park was used by approximately 100,000 visitors per year. It has been described as "a vast prairie turned into a personal fantasy land of neoclassical statues, Far Eastern art, and huge European-style gardens surrounding a Georgian-Revival mansion".
context_section_description: The section of the park north of the winding Sangamon River includes Allerton's 40-room (30,000 sq. ft.) stately home, The Farms.
  Construction of the house began on June 13, 1899, and was mostly finished about a year later, in 1900, at a cost of approximately $50,000. Adjusted for inflation, his house would have cost approximately $1.3 million in 2011 dollars. By fall of 1900, though the interiors were not completely finished, Robert Allerton moved into his new house. Construction of the supporting structures: the stables (1901–02), greenhouses (1902), Gate House (1903), and Brick Walled Garden (1902), followed afterward.
  The style is Georgian-Revival, influenced by the work done at the office of McKim, Mead, and White. The architect, John Borie (1869-1925), was likely influenced more by 17th century English country houses, such as Ham House. Borie and Allerton together studied many examples of English houses and gardens before deciding on the architecture and design of Allerton House and the surrounding gardens. Like many English country homes, the main entrance is on the side of the house instead of the front, in order to offer more privacy to those entering and exiting the house.
  The exterior materials used for the house were Dutch bricks (Flemish bond) and Indiana limestone. The general contractor was from Chicago, William Mavor (1848-1904). The slate roofs of the house and stable were replaced with new Pennsylvania slate, copper flashing and lightning rods in August 2015–May 2016.
  Today the house is used as a conference and retreat center, as well as a reception hall for weddings. In recent years, the house has been opened up for more events and is available to guests for overnight lodging as part of the Allerton Park Master Plan approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in 2015.
caption: Allerton House in the winter
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