Attorney James T. Fitzgerald built this clinker brick Craftsman-style home at the north end of Lake Avoca in 1914. Fitzgerald and his wife Susie raised two children here. Lake Avoca was drained in 1936 and became part of the Country Club golf course.
Clinker bricks, which are exposed to excessive heat in the firing process, were once discarded as defective. But early in the 20th century, adherents of the Arts and Crafts movement found them to be usable, distinctive, and charming.
In 1944, the house was purchased by Theodore “Ted” Wellman, owner of Wellman Motors, a car dealership on East Galena Street. Wellman and his wife Elsie lived there until 1960. It was then purchased by Neil Ambrose, owner of Ambrose Distributing, a trucking firm. Ambrose lived there for a short time, and then rented it to a succession of his employees for many years.
Terry and Linda Guptill owned the home from 1984 to 2007, followed by Mike and Shari Schmit. The Schmits spent four years restoring the home, peeling off multiple layers of wallpaper, pulling hundreds of carpet staples, and refinishing the woodwork as they lovingly brought the 100-year-old historic interior back to life.
The home is distinctively craftsman in its style, with the exception of the very ornate fretwork at the top of one wide door frame, which has echoes of the more ornate Victorian style.
