DuPage forest preserve seeks new vision for historic home

Oak Cottage has a lot of farmhouse charm: a front porch, green shutters and a painted cast-iron sink in the kitchen.

The interior, however, has been vacant since Ronald Reagan was president.

Though it needs substantial work, preservationists hope to see the empty house near Naperville — a link to the area’s agricultural history — revived. And now they have a chance to put forward a plan, and a funding strategy, to make it happen.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is seeking formal statements of interest from individuals or organizations with a vision for rehabilitating and reusing Oak Cottage.

“We want to keep an open mind and try to just see what creative opportunities are here,” Forest Preserve President Daniel Hebreard said.

‘Our heritage’

The district took possession of Oak Cottage in the early 1980s, and it’s been kept as a feature on the landscape near the southeast corner of Greene and Hobson roads within the Greene Valley Forest Preserve.

William Briggs Greene and his family originally lived in the home. Greene was a significant landowner and also known for his work in organizing the early government and infrastructure of the area, which would become part of the county, according to a cultural resource evaluation by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, a firm hired by the district.

The original portion of Oak Cottage, constructed circa 1850, exhibits Greek Revival-style characteristics, the report found. A nearby red barn remains part of the rural ambience.

“Oak Cottage is really the embodiment of cultural history, one of the last remaining remnants in DuPage County of our agricultural history, a very, very important edifice,” Jane Ory Burke, board secretary of Naperville Preservation, Inc., told forest preserve officials earlier this year.

“Preserving Oak Cottage is not just saving a building,” Philip Buchanan, the group’s vice president, said then. “It’s about honoring our heritage, serving the public, making a sound financial investment in our community’s future.”

Still, Oak Cottage bears the toll of time.

The ‘ultimate outcome’

The WJE study documented cracked, deteriorated and missing plaster. The firm’s preliminary structural analysis also suggested additional reinforcing on the stairs and additional strengthening and support for the east wing.

The report estimated that repairs and allowing for the adaptive reuse of the building would cost at least $279,000. The district says that doesn’t include utility connections, and those costs may add an additional $200,000 to $500,000, depending on local requirements.

Demolition of the house, including hazardous material abatement, as well as documentation of the structure, was estimated to cost $80,000.

“I think ideally, if there’s a great use for it, that would be the ultimate outcome,” Hebreard said. “And again, we just unfortunately, don’t have any use for it in-house.”

The district has partnered with nonprofit groups to operate and give new life to other historic structures. Officials will accept statements of interest for Oak Cottage until mid-October.

“The purpose of this request is to seek an individual or organization who has the expertise and capacity to develop and implement a reuse strategy for the building, and that would need to align with our mission,” Jessica Ortega, the district’s manager of strategic plans and initiatives, told the board in May.

Grant dollars also will help fund several key projects in the surrounding Greene Valley Forest Preserve. Plans call for adding a canoe and kayak launch for access to the East Branch of the DuPage River, relocating the entrance drive, enhancing picnic shelters, installing flush restrooms, realigning trails and putting in a patio near the Greene barn.

“We know we’ve poured money into the barn, of course, at a heavy rate, to stabilize that structure, to make it a beautiful opportunity in the landscape for photography,” Hebreard said.

Though Oak Cottage has remained vacant, the district “performs regular maintenance and repairs on the house,” Ortega has said.

“We can continue to potentially pour money in, but we’d like to see some opportunity as we’re doing a campus reset, what would be a … best outcome for that facility,” Hebreard said.

Selected applicants will enter a second phase of the process requiring submission of a business plan, architectural and engineering plans, along with evidence of financial and organizational support.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250705/news/dupage-forest-preserve-seeks-new-vision-for-historic-home/