It’s a gem and should be put under glass.

I am paraphrasing here but I was told those comments were made by the artist who painted the local mural of Fred Francis and his home after he toured Woodland Palace.

Sadly, this gem was never put under glass and instead over the years has been allowed to deteriorate. I took a self-guided tour last July and made note of the many repairs needed as well as the need for a good, thorough cleaning.

When the Kewanee Preservation Society recently announced that they would begin to raise money in order to make necessary repairs to the house, I, like many residents, was thrilled. The price tag isn’t cheap though and it’s a huge undertaking. It will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring the home back to its former glory. The first phase is putting on a new roof with a price tag of $150,000. But it’s extraordinary that members of the preservation society and Friends of Woodland Palace have made that their mission.

As I said, some time had passed since I have toured the house, and I was curious as to how much work would be required to restore it. So, when I was offered a guided tour from a very knowledgeable and passionate tour guide, I immediately agreed.

When I arrived that afternoon, three volunteers, who are also friends of the palace, were busy cleaning the house. I met with my tour guide, Rene Verstraete, for the 45-minute tour. According to Rene, the volunteers had been working for weeks and had over 40 hours total in performing such tasks as clearing furniture, floors, the solarium and replacing floor mats.

The official tour started outside with a look at the home’s exterior. Rene has viewed every video available online and read every book on the subject of Fred, including Larry Kuster’s new book, Fred Francis, A Prairie State Genius, which is available for purchase at the Kewanee Historical Society. (The proceeds from Kewanee sales of Kuster’s book will go to restoring the house.) With such a knowledgeable tour guide as Rene, I felt I was in good hands.

Here’s just a few of the interesting facts and things you can see and hear if you take the tour:

On top of the home is the structure that gives the house its name, Woodland Palace.

The tin dome that’s affixed to the roof was somewhat of an impulse buy by Fred. One day when Fred was traveling through Sheffield he saw the item at a tinsmith. At the time he had no idea what he would do with it, but he bought it and later used it on the roof of his house.

“It serves no purpose; it’s just there for looks,” said Rene, with Rene’s wife, Nana, adding, “that’s what makes it a palace.”

The house is a collection of modern-day marvels that were thought up by Francis and ahead of their time. They include a cistern, 13 feet deep, located on the north side of the house, that purified the drinking water that was pumped into the home. Underneath the cistern’s sod are layers of rock, sand and charcoal that when rain went through the layers, it was filtered into drinking water. Fred’s wife Jeanette hated hard water, and it worked so well that Fred offered the design to other people.

The original front door, which no longer operates, had a pulley and ropes that functioned like an airlock to keep out insects and mice, two things Fred hated.

The bricks on the home were purchased by Fred from the Kewanee Brickyard and Fred chipped each brick himself. The tour also dispels the urban legend that Fred transported all of the bricks from Kewanee to his property on his bicycle.

“He very well may have transported some bricks on his bike, but he had neighbors with wagons, and he borrowed them for hauling,” said Rene.

On the east and west ends of his home are mounds of dirt with plants. Rene said those mounds disguise the brick chip piles. Rather than having to carry off those chips and dispose of them, Fred simply incorporated them into the landscape.

On those same ends of the house are small screened in reading porches, his and hers, that could be accessed from the couple’s bedrooms. They are in need of repair, Rene said.

The inside of the home holds just as many wonders. A pump in the kitchen brought water from the cistern into a holding tank and supplied water in the kitchen, the tub and the shower that Fred fashioned using a cake pan.

Fred was a naturalist and off the kitchen is a small room that Fred transformed into a sauna using a tea kettle and a hose to direct the steam into the room. From a small window, Fred would sit and watch the kettle on the stove. When the steam from the kettle died down, he would run outside in the buff and take an “air bath.”

Other tidbits about Fred are provided during the tour including his devotion to life as a vegetarian. In his workshop is a grinder where he would grind his own grains to eat. In the kitchen are two tables, one where Fred would sit and eat and one for Jeanette, who was firmly in the carnivore category and could eat meat separately from Fred.

While Fred walked around barefoot much of the time, he did wear shoes into the city. Concerned with cleanliness, Fred crafted his own shoes with steel bottoms. Those shoes can be seen in his workshop, along with snowshoes and a toolbox he built.

Fred was quite a craftsman and woodworker and the furniture pieces he built are on display in the palace.

In addition to the furniture, Fred was an artist and painted many of the art pieces that line the walls of the home. The various and numerous statues that are displayed were purchased from Marshall Field’s in Chicago.

On his fireplace are tiles that Fred commissioned from an Italian artist. He had professional photos taken of himself and sent those photos off to be turned into tile for his fireplace. Both the tile and the photos used to create them are displayed in the palace, but sadly Fred never saw them installed. He died before they made the trip from Italy.

In 1910 Jeanette was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She worked at Elgin Watch for years and at that time, it was common for those workers to contract respiratory diseases.

Fred built the solarium addition onto the palace after his wife took ill. The addition included not only the solarium but a small room that acted at his wife’s bedroom because after she came down ill, she never went back to her bedroom.

A solarium was thought to be good for people with TB, and sunlight and fresh air were the prescribed treatments. The solarium is designed to recirculate the air inside every 60 seconds. The addition is heated with a Gunther hot water boiler.

Fred built his wife a Murphy’s bed and for himself, he built a chase lounge that converted into a bed so he could stay by her side at night.

Jeanette died at the age of 73 in 1921. Fred followed five years later at the age of 70 and the circumstances surrounding his death are cloaked in controversy and mystery.

The tour includes interesting tidbits about Fred’s final days that allows tourists to form their own theories. Rene said that Fred had told his postal worker that if he ever came to his property and saw the flag up on his mailbox to check on him because something was wrong.

When that very thing happened one day, the postal worker alerted the authorities. They found Fred’s body just inside the door, a pile of firewood was strewn about. A coroner would later conclude that Fred suffered from a pulmonary hemorrhage.

Just three years before he died in 1923, Fred wrote in his will his plan to bequeath his property to the city of Kewanee. His family, three half-siblings, according to my tour guide, weren’t happy about Fred’s will and weren’t satisfied with the coroner’s ruling. There was a fight for Fred’s estate and palace. We know how that court fight ended.
That’s just some of what you’ll learn if you take the tour.

According to Rene, tours will be offered through the fall as long as the weather holds by both Rene and Roger Malcolm, who is also a volunteer and part of the Friends of Woodland Palace.

If you miss taking a tour this fall, Rene said they will also offer guided tours next spring, but groups are encouraged to call and schedule a date soon. They also plan to recruit more tour guides.

Donations are appreciated for groups of six to 10 people and funds will go to restoring the palace. Organizations, schools, churches and even scout troops can request a 45-minute tour.

The tours are being promoted as a way to raise awareness of the plight of Woodland Palace and to save the house that Fred built for generations to come. To lose it, would be an absolute crime.

To set up a tour of this historic house, call 817-825-4623.