Restoration Helps Protect Kane County Government Center’s Historic “Yellow House”
The Cole-Pope House, a yellow Italianate-style house built in 1867 located on the campus of the Kane County Government Center in Geneva, is undergoing a much-needed facelift to preserve its historic significance. 
One of the more easily identifiable buildings on the Government campus, the “yellow" house was built by Chicago capitalist Merrit T. Cole after he purchased 45 acres of land from the Herrington family in 1864.
In 1880, Charles Pope, originally from England, bought the house and property. That same year he established the Glucose Factory, becoming Geneva's largest industry, employing hundreds. After a devastating explosion in 1897, the factory was rebuilt and by then produced one-fifth of the nation's glucose and starch products.
The Cole-Pope House remained in Charles Pope's family until 1925 when it was sold to the Society of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart for a school for missionaries. The house was then used as the Missionaries headquarters until 1972, when Kane County purchased the Cole-Pope House, the remaining buildings and surrounding property that is now home to the Kane County Government Center. The Cole-Pope house also once housed the Kane County Forest Preserve District.
Fast forward to today, restoration work on the house is expected to take approximately two months and will be focused on the building's exterior, including the roof, soffit, fascia, mortar work, chimney masonry repairs, painting, minor drywall restoration work and work on the back staircase.
