The public had a chance Saturday to get a glimpse of the life of the “eccentric genius” from Kewanee named Fred Francis.
Eccentric because Francis was a “naturist” who held unconventional beliefs about health and nutrition and who enjoyed frolicking in the yard around his home in his birthday suit.
Genius because after being one of the top students in his college class and having a successful career with the Elgin Watch Co., Francis designed a home that was heated and cooled with innovative systems and even had a makeshift sauna in the basement.
About 100 people learned about Francis and his unique home, which he dubbed Woodland Palace, thanks to tours conducted by members of the Friends of Woodland Palace.
That organization has been raising money for the restoration of the house, which has fallen into disrepair in recent years.
The tours began in the home’s basement, where visitors saw how the home was heated with a woodturning stove, which also heated water to create steam for the sauna in the nearby bathroom.
The basement also contained Francis’s workshop, where his tools are still on display.
Upstairs, visitors saw the separate bedrooms of Fred and his wife Jeanette, as well as the solarium he built for her when she developed tuberculosis.
Special heating and cooling systems were created so that the solarium could be used year-round.
A statue in the center of the solarium was added by Francis after Jeanette’s death.
Before he died in 1926, Francis willed the house and the timber surrounding it to the city of Kewanee. It’s possible he did this because he didn’t get along with his relatives and didn’t want them to inherit the property.
Earlier this year Larry Kuster, who grew up on a farm just west of Francis Park, published a book about Fred’s life titled “A Prairie State Genius.”
The Friends of Francis Park have been raising money for repairs to Woodland Palace, and recently announced that they had reached their goal of funding the first phase of the restoration. That was due in large part to a sizable donation by the Turnbull family, they announced.
The group now will work to raise money to pay for extensive repairs to the solarium. According to Kewanee Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mark Mikenas, engineers estimate the cost of those repairs to be $125,000.
Tax-deductible donations to that effort may be mailed to the Chamber of Commerce, 113 E. Second St. More information on how to donate and about the restoration can be found at the Friends of Woodland Palace website here.
