RESTORING HOUSE IS A LIFE'S WORK: MCCLURE HOUSE GETS FACELIFT

The attic of the home has produced a treasure of documents and artifacts from the late 1800's and early 1900's.

McCLURE, Ill. -- All his life Charles Webb knew he was going to inherit his family home here. Now that he has it, he realizes restoring the home will be a lifelong mission.

Webb is the great-great-grandson of Thomas J. McClure, who began work on the home in 1882. McClure died that year and never saw the completion of the Queen Anne Victorian-style house. It rests on the remaining 360 acres of what used to be a sprawling 3,000-acre farm.

"He had the cupola made so he could look out over all his land," Brenda Webb, Charles' wife and partner in the house's restoration, said. The Webbs' cupola is a small room with wide windows on every side that sits atop the roof. "He never got to do that."

McClure's wife, Caroline Virginia McClure, took the insurance money she received from his death to finish the construction of the house.

Charles sometimes thinks he may not live long enough to see the house completely restored to its 19th century splendor.

"People always come up to me and ask if the house is done yet," he said. "I tell them I'm not dead, so it must not be done."

The Webbs have been working on the house since 1991, the year Charles' mother moved out to a smaller place. They spent their first-year's restoration budget on simply having the house sprayed for termites.

"That was $5,000 and you couldn't see a thing. That was a little depressing," Brenda said. Since then the Webbs have removed the clutter of 113 years -- most of it from the floor.

They had to rip up three carpets that had been laid one on top of each other over the years in the kitchen. When they got down to the original floor, Charles had to nail an inch of wood to the bottom of the kitchen door so it would meet the jamb again.

The Webbs' work paid off in November when the house was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

"Everyone asks me what that means and I'm not really sure," Brenda said. "It's an honorary thing for us. It kind of signifies that what you've got is worth saving."

The house has seen much through the years. It survived an 1888 earthquake and three severe floods. The worst flood, in 1943, saw water rise in the house up to the window sills on the first floor.

But the Webbs feel fortunate. The stone foundation of the house is still in good shape. The floors require some bracing but are generally sound. Best of all, the family has been consistent in keeping records and taking pictures. In the attic the Webbs have found receipts for building supplies dating back to 1882, family pictures from the turn of the century, original furniture and family heirlooms.

A small chest, one of many found in the attic, coughed up the dusty remembrances of a member of the McClure family who died in 1888 when she was 4 years old, presumably of typhoid fever. Inside the chest were a pair of tiny shoes, a parasol, a bonnet and the certificate of death.

The house represents more than just a beautiful piece of history to the Webbs. They are restoring the house for their family, their community and their children.

"When I'm working on the house sometimes people will just stop and watch," Charles said. "We have neighbors that come over and sit on the porch and talk while I work."

"I've always loved old houses," Brenda said. "We didn't know if we wanted to do this or not. No one else in his family was really interested. Someone had to step in and do it. I think the rest of them think we've done a pretty good job so far."