Joseph Steffens House

Joseph Steffens House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Milledgeville, Illinois
Coordinates	41°57′59″N 89°43′3″W / 41.96639°N 89.71750°WCoordinates: 41°57′59″N 89°43′3″W / 41.96639°N 89.71750°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1843
Architectural style	Rammed Earth
NRHP Reference #	85000771[1]
Added to NRHP	April 10, 1985

The Joseph Steffens House is a historic house located in eastern Carroll County, Illinois, east of Milledgeville. Settler Joseph Steffens built the rammed earth house in 1843; it is the only surviving rammed earth house in the state. Rammed earth construction uses soil to build walls by pressurizing it in molds; the method was common in continental Europe and saw some use in 18th-century eastern America and in the Great Plains and Southwest during the Great Depression, though it was rare in Illinois. While Steffens claimed that he borrowed the construction method from his former house in Canada, he was also likely influenced by American authors who promoted the method and a local timber shortage.^[2]

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1985.^[1]

References

1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. Sculle, Keith A. (August 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Steffens, Joseph, House" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved June 22, 2014.