The 166-year old Schmidt-Burnham Log house stood at 1407 Tower Road for 86 years. On Tuesday, May 6, the house was moved to a new resting place after a she-hour drive through Winnetka.

New home
for an
old house

The Winnetka Historical Society had planned the event for years, yet the spring weather could easily have dampened their efforts. Fortunately, May 6, 2003, turned out to be the perfect day to move a landmark: the 166-year-old Schmidt-Burnham home, believed to be the oldest iog house in Cook County outside of Chicago.

The move was only two miles but the trip, from Tower Road to Crow Island Woods, took nearly six hours by truck and trailer. Moving the historic house through the canopy of trees and power lines required a veritable army of support, and the whole community turned out: school children, tree trimmers, Society members who treasured each moment, the movers, spectators, TV cameras, and reporters. But the star of the show was the house itself.

The documented history of the Schmidt-Burnham house dates back to pioneer days, when settler Peter Schmidt acquired the log house, then located on the grounds of what is now Indian Hill Club. The construction style reflects the year it was built—wooden pegs instead of nails, and mud and dried grass to keep out the weather.

Two generations of the Schmidt family lived in the log house before it eventually passed on to different hands. In 1914, Anita Willets-Burnham, a well-known Winnetka artist and writer, "discovered" the house while on a painting excursion. For three years she tried to acquire the house and in 1917 was successful, purchasing the two-story structure for just $25. The stipulation, however, was that she move the house to another site. That summer a team of horses pulled the house through Winnetka on rollers and delivered it 1407 Tower Road, where it remained for the next 86 years.

The Schmidt-Burnham house was occupied continuously from 1917 to 2001. The last resident, Ann Hibbard Burnham Smith, made sure her home and that of parents and siblings remained a living, functional, historic building even after her death by placing it in trust for the Winnetka Historical Society.

"It had been a dream of Anita Willets-Burnham to make the home a lasting gift to the citizens of Winnetka," said Joan Evanich, executive director of the Winnetka Historical Society. The Society plans for the historic home to be restored and used as a living history site.

For more information about the i Schmidt-Burnham house, visit the Winnetka Historical Society Website at www.winnetkahistory.org.

6 | Illinois Heritage