Crime & Safety
City Reports Break-in at Historic Dunham-Hunt House
St. Charles landmark is being sold by the city.
Just less than a week after the St. Charles City Council authorized the sale of a historic home it owns on Cedar Avenue, someone attempted to break into the structure, according to police.
According to a St. Charles police report, the break-in was reported about 5:16 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, after a city employee stopped by the Dunham-Hunt House, 304 Cedar Ave., to check on the building, which is the first brick house built in the city.
The employee discovered that a door had been forced open. Police said it was not clear whether or not anyone actually entered the vacant home.
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The St. Charles City Council voted unanimously Oct. 21 to authorize the execution of a sales contract for the property, which was deeded to the city in 1986 and had housed a museum for a time in the years that followed.
Annette E. Shairf and Edward Schneider had the winning bid of $160,000 for the building, which according to city documents the couple plan to restore for two to three years, after which they intend to open it as a bed and breakfast.
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The St. Charles Public Library Web page on the Dunham-Hunt home states that one of the area’s first settlers, Bela T. Hunt, built the home in 1836, when St. Charles stilled was called Charleston.
The house remained in the possession of the Hunt family until 1980 before it was sold and became the home to the Dunham-Hunt Museum.
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