About

The Kruse House and Garden

 An American four-square house built in 1917 and now owned and maintained by the West Chicago Historical Society, the Kruse House was the home of Frederick Kruse, a ticket collector for the Chicago & North Western Railway, his wife Bertha, and their daughter, Celia. Although lived in by Celia until her death in 1975, the house overwhelmingly reflects the tastes and life-style of a typical middle-class American family between the two world wars, the result perhaps of a conscious attempt by Bertha and Celia to preserve within their home the memory of Frederick, who died in 1933. With virtually all of its original furnishings, placed as when lived in by Celia, the Kruse House offers visitors a singularly authentic experience of the past. The large and elaborate garden, the center of Celia’s life, with its original rock terraces and lily pond, has been restored and is maintained by the West Chicago Garden Club.

What You Will See at the Kruse House and Gardens

 Visitors touring the house will enjoy rich and varied displays from the Kruse House’s comprehensive collection of Kruse family personal effects--furniture, lamps, china, jewelry, linens, kitchen utensils, Celia’s toys and hats, and Frederick’s collector’s unform and other railroad paraphernalia. Visitors can also experience talking and listening on a working magneto telephone and view by appointment the Kruse House quilt collection. Celia’s meticulously maintained garden can be enjoyed free with tour of the house or by itself anytime the house is open.