Cuneo Museum and Gardens
Location: Down Milwaukee, by Hawthorn Mall
What you know: Cuneo hosts seasonal lightshows and theater performances throughout the year. They also have frequent museum tours throughout the week.
What you don’t know: The Cuneo house was built in 1914 by Samuel Insull, a wealthy English businessman, and was designed by Benjamin Marshall, co-founder of Marshall and Fox architectural firm. In 1937, the house was purchased by John and Julia Cuneo. They made their fortune through the Cuneo Printing Press and loved to live in luxury. The Cuneo house was one of the first in the nation to have a private elevator, and each of the rooms has both a bathroom and a closet (which was a luxury during the time period). There are also several valuable pieces of artwork, including two golden lamps originally made for Napoleon Bonaparte, a chandelier made from Venetian glass, and a mural of the nine muses painted with 23-karat gold on the ceiling of the ballroom. In the 1950’s, John Cuneo started a dairy farm, and created a family theme park known as Hawthorn Mellody Farms, which was only a few miles away from the Cuneo mansion. It incorporated rides and games, with a petting zoo, and was one of the first amusement parks in the nation. It gave Chicago children their first glimpse of farm animals, and was a popular field trip spot. The farm was closed in 1970. In 1997, the Cuneo Gardens were also featured in the movie, “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” which starred Julia Roberts and
Cameron Diaz.
The Cook House
Location: Cook Park, between The Picnic Basket and Lovin’ Oven
What you know: You may know that Cook House is the gathering place for various events in Libertyville throughout the year: Lunch in the Park during the summer
and the tree lighting ceremony in December.
What you don’t know: Cook House was built as a summer home in 1878 by Ansel B. Cook. Cook was on the board of Illinois State Legislators. He was the county supervisor for Libertyville Township and served in the General Assembly of Chicago. He also helped rebuild Chicago after the devastating fire in 1871. He lived in the house with his wife and his trusty dog (who is replicated as a statue on the porch of the historical house). In 1920, the house was converted into a library with a live-in librarian, Blanch Mitchell. Cook House was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2001 and is currently the headquarters of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society. It is open to the public as a museum of local history during the first couple weeks of December.
The Liberty
Location: Milwaukee Road between Henry Yee’s Chinese Restaurant and the Mobil gas station
What you know: The Liberty is a movie theatre downtown where you can go and see a movie for pretty cheap. They usually house two movies at a time, and it is a walkable distance from almost anywhere in
Libertyville.
What you don’t know: The Liberty Theatre was built in the late 1930s, and prided itself for being an air conditioned theatre. The famous actor,
Marlon Brando, worked at this theatre during his high school years. There is an urban myth that after Marlon Brando was fired for his “badditude”, he threw a huge wheel of Limburger cheese into the heating system located under the theatre. Naturally, after about a week, the entire theatre smelled of rotting cheese. It allegedly took another two weeks for the managers to discover where the aroma was coming from.
Central School
Location: Downtown Libertyville on School Street, behind Starbucks
What you know: There are several old buildings being torn down in downtown Libertyville, and they are being replaced with townhomes and apartment complexes.
What you don’t know:This is no ordinary building. In fact, it was one of the first schools in Libertyville. Central School was built in 1886, the same year it housed its first high school classes. It was a four-room schoolhouse and was used until 1917 when Brainard was opened.
Foulds Noodle Company
Location: At the dead end of Church Street
What you know: There are a bunch of old, run-down factories on the outskirts of downtown Libertyville.
What you don’t know: The site of Foulds Milling Company was originally home to the Earl Ladder Company. It was constructed in 1894 using recycled pieces from buildings used in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Foulds Noodle Company moved into the building in 1905. Founded in 1885 by Frank Foulds, the noodle company was originally based in Cincinnati, Ohio. After its move, the company became our town’s largest employer. It also provided a number of part-time jobs for high school students. It is still functioning today, and distributes pasta with brand names including “No Yolks,” “Wacky Mac,” “Kaboodles,” “Fould’s,” and
“Fiberwise.”
photos by T. Wanbaugh and K. Marhenke