859 Burr

This large Colonial style house was built around 1893. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the original architect or homeowners were, but we do know that by 1920, General Jacob Dickinson and his family were living in the house.

Dickinson was born in Nashville in 1891. His family moved to Chicago in 1899 so that his father could work as the lead attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad. From 1909 to 1916, his father served as President William Taft’s secretary of war. And another fun fact: the Dickinson family purchased the famous Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville in 1906. Jacob Dickinson’s brother, John, lived in the Belle Meade mansion with his family until his wife died suddenly in 1909 and the family sold the plantation.

After moving to Winnetka in the early 20th century, Jacob Dickinson was very active in the community, serving as New Trier Township’s justice of the peace, president of the New Trier Citizen’s League, and as a Village trustee.

Since the Dickinson’s lived in the house in the 1920s, very little has changed except for the top floor windows on the north side of the house – there are now two windows, but originally, there were four in a row.

Otherwise, this stucco Colonial house is shockingly well-preserved and has been identified by the state as potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.