Hegeler Carus Foundation — Attraction in LaSalle

We took the full house tour, I love to tour old homes and we try to find one on vacation every year. We have toured homes from Newport RI to Florida, Duluth to Seattle. I truly felt this home was not ready to show. First the good, our tour guide was extremely enthusiastic, which I think gave us the false sense we should also be excited. Now the things we were disappointed in. Walked up to the building and noticed the outdoor Grand staircase was crumbling and there were beam supports holding up the front of the house. We went in through the back door and were greeted by peeling paint and crumbling walls which continued through much of the house. We started in the attic which was piled with broken furniture (think hoarder house), The floor had Xs made with tape that we were told not to walk on as the floor wasn't stable. Many rooms were full of white cardboard boxes stacked to the ceiling, others full of moldy papers and moldy magazines stacked to the ceiling. There were some rooms on the main floor that were slightly fixed up, but nothing special. The parquet floors were very damaged and the hand painted ceilings they advertised had been painted over and just a small square had been restored. Several of the bedrooms had been made into offices for staff which added to the feeling of it not being a home. The basement was full of boxes of old bottles with jars from the recent past mix in, example herring jars and trash. The gym was a little more interesting except for the fact that the wall at one end was collapsing so that end was cordoned off. I do not understand the 5 star ratings. Definitely not worth the...

Have done the general and the full house tour with Tricia Kelly and both experiences were wonderful. The history of the family, the business, and the mansion itself are delightful and I was particularly delighted by the connection to the Parliament of World's Religions event that created a bridge to a lot of Eastern philosophy and Paul Carus' work with D.T. Suzuki.

The house itself is a massive 7 stories and the general tour covers several of the main rooms while outlining the major members of the family and their history. The full tour goes throughout the entire house from the attic cupola to the basement floors and the more intricate anecdotes of the house itself. Particular favorites were the 100+ year old Cereus plant and the stunning detail in everything from the tables to the wallpaper and profusion of artifacts collected by the family.

An excellent destination spot and another shout out to the great presentation of Tricia and the work done by the staff in maintaining the building and archiving of all the...

This tour was amazing. The guide (Tricia I believe?) was knowledgeable and passionate about the restoration and preservation of the house and family legacy. It showed in the tour provided. It was a non-stop hour that took us through the first 2 floors of the mansion. Most of us on the tour agreed we would be back to do the 4 hour ($100) tour at some point because it would be fascinating to see the rest of the house.

I appreciate seeing the amount of work that goes into the restoration of a house this size, and seeing them uncover the craftsmanship that it took to build the place originally.

Please make this a stop in your travels through...