See the Cottage decorated for Christmas!
Take a guided tour of the Victorian Cottage Historic House Museum located at 23 W Maple Street. Learn what Lombard was like at the turn of the century. Learn about the people of Lombard's past and their lives.
December 2024 features the Victorian Cottage decorated for Christmas. Learn about holidays past and see if they truly differ from holidays present.
About the Tour
Tours are select Fridays, Saturday, and Sundays and last approximately 45 minutes. Tours begin at 1:00, 2:00 & 3:00 pm.
Tours start in the Carriage House (brown building) at the rear of the property.
See the Cottage Dress for Christmas! Lead by a costumed docent, the cost is $5 for ages +12, Kids 12 and under are free
Purchase tickets HERE
Please note, that the Victorian Cottage does require guests to use the stairs up to the home.
Site Information
The Victorian Cottage is Located at 23 W Maple Street, Lombard, IL 60148.
Parking: Designated parking is available in the lot directly west of the museum. There is an accessible parking spot as well as four spots reserved for museum visitors.
Please note that after 11 am the entire lot is open for parking.
Start your visit at the Carriage House which features an ongoing exhibit on the history of Lombard, rotating exhibits focusing on various subjects, and the Lombard Historical Society’s archives.
Accessibility: Accessing the Victorian Cottage currently requires visitors to walk up steps to the front porch, or the back porch, and an interior flight of stairs to reach the second floor.
The Carriage House building, garden, and property are accessible. There is designated parking in the west lot onsite. Please contact LHS if you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility.
A Brief History of 23 West Maple Street
23 WEST MAPLE STREET, C.1890,
LHS ARCHIVES, P74.244.1.
The property at 23 West Maple Street has had many occupants prior to the Lombard Historical Society. The Thomas Donley family built a small farm here in 1860 when Lombard was still called Babcock’s Grove. In 1869, Mrs. Jane Donley was asked to move her barn from what would become Maple Street.
In 1880, Mrs. Donley, Thomas’s widow, sold the property to Newell Matson. Matson, a Chicago jeweler, built the cottage for himself and later, for his newly married daughter Ella. The design, considered stylish for a middle-class Victorian family, was taken from a plan book. The house was originally painted green, with dark brown and dark red accents, preferred colors for these cottages. Since there wasn’t indoor plumbing, an outhouse would have been built towards the back of the property. A well and cistern would have been dug near the back door. There would also have been a stable and a chicken coop.
Ella Matson kept the home, although she lived in the mansion her father built on Main Street. The house at 23 West Maple Street was rented to several families until 1913 when Ella sold it to her friends, Sarah “Annie” and George Hill. The Hills lived here with their three children until the last of the Hills’ death in 1948 when the house changed hands several more times. In 1971, with support from the Village, the Lombard Historical Society purchased the home. After a year of restoration, the Victorian Cottage opened to the public on October 15, 1972.
