705 S. Broadway Avenue

HistoryA photo of the home at 705 S Broadway Avenue.

  • Built 1916
  • Local landmark designation, November 20, 1995

This classic Queen Anne style house was built in 1916 by Orson Leroy Manchester, a dean at the Illinois State Normal University and mayor of Normal from 1907 to 1917. The Queen Anne style was the most prominent style of the Victorian era and was very popular throughout the United States during the 1890s. It marked a move away from the simple rectangle of earlier days. The style is characterized by purposefully picturesque attributes:

  • absence of symmetry
  • gables
  • large verandas
  • mixing of siding materials (a variety of different shingles and clapboards)
  • ornately milled woodwork
  • turrets
  • uneven and romantic roof lines

Many fine examples of this style have been razed.