The Lake Bluff Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted Aug. 13, 2025, to nominate 112 East North Avenue for local landmark status and will forward the nomination to the Village Board for final action.

Homeowners Katie and Ron Govan described buying and restoring the late-19th-century house and its carriage house. “It really felt like it was meant to be,” Katie Govan said of finding the property, and she described efforts to preserve historic materials during a carriage-house rehabilitation. The couple said they photographed etchings found under the carriage-house drywall and donated those images to the Lake Bluff Museum.

Local historians and commission members presented documentary evidence tying the property to early Lake Bluff residents and community life. Commission member Kathy O’Hara (museum representative) described documentary research tracing the Cole family’s arrival to the area in the 1830s and the house’s construction in the 1890s; she highlighted that the property includes one of the few surviving carriage houses in town and artifacts recovered during rehabilitation.

Commissioners evaluated the property against the commission’s written designation criteria (general considerations, architectural significance and historic significance). After answering questions about the carriage-house move, the preservation of original materials and the state tax-freeze program for historic properties, a commissioner moved to nominate 112 East North Avenue for landmark designation. The motion was seconded and passed by roll call vote: Member Maguire — aye; Member Minor — aye; Member O'Connor — aye; Member Tanner — aye; Member Church — aye; Chair Paul Bergman — yes.

The commission instructed staff to forward the nomination to the Village Board and to assist the homeowners with next steps, including information on the village’s tax-freeze program for qualifying historic properties. The homeowners said they intend to participate in the tax program and to continue preserving and interpreting the property's history for the community.