Press Release

Peoria, IL –Family owned Heritage Restoration and Design, Inc. announced recently the culmination of the exterior restoration and preservation project for Reddick Mansion located in Ottawa, Illinois. While currently closed due to statewide restrictions, the Reddick Mansion Association hopes to reopen the house for tours by third quarter 2021. The 1858 mansion is among the most elaborate homes built in Illinois prior to the Civil War. It is listed as part of the National Register of Historic Places within the Washington Park Historic District. With its pronounced cornices and arch-capped windows, Reddick Mansion’s design is emblematic of the Italianate style that was popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Heritage Restoration and Design is proud to have served as general contractor and historic designer for this large scale preservation project.

About Heritage Restoration and Design

It is a multi-generational family owned company specializing in the restoration and preservation of traditional building interiors, architectural components, furniture, stained glass and other fine art objects. Heritage Restoration traces its roots to a small stone mason company in 1820s Germany known as Steinhauer Berlinger. In 1965, Alois Berlinger immigrated to the United States and taught his son Michael techniques for repairing wood and glass. After Michael grew up, he used these to form Heritage Restoration and Design Studio in Peoria, Illinois. The company has worked on projects in most of the forty-eight contiguous states. In the 2000s, Michael’s sons joined the company forming the sixth generation of Berlingers to work in the restoration field. Heritage’s slogan is “Design, Restore and Preserve for the Future”. For more information, please visit http://www.heritagerd.com

About Reddick Mansion’s Restoration

The restoration of Reddick Mansion’s exterior architectural elements was an eighteen-month long project costing upwards of 1.5 million dollars. Ninety-four windows were removed from the house and brought to Peoria for a full restoration and EPA certified lead abatement. The delicate fir frames were stripped of their old lead-based finish, repaired of damages that had occurred over the past 162 years, and repainted in colors accurate to the décor of their respective rooms in the mansion. Every pane of vintage window glass was cleaned prior to reinstallation. Missing glass was replaced with panes fabricated in the same period (or similarly crafted restoration glass). The rooftop cornices (which were constructed of terracotta, metal, and wood), were painted in a light cream color with crimson highlights. These colors were brought back to recreate the mansion’s original 1858 color scheme. The entry doors were restored and repainted to freshen the exterior. During the mansion’s eighty-eight years as a public library, one of the vintage doors was removed. This door was recreated as an accurate duplicate and installed at the rear of the house. Fire escape doors on the balconies were also replaced with custom made duplicate windows. The final phase of the restoration of Reddick Mansion was to repair the rotting south and east balconies. These components were removed and taken to Heritage Restoration. As much timber as possible was salvaged for reuse. The iconic balconies were rebuilt based on 1860-era photographs of the Mansion. Once all of the balconies were reinstalled, phase one of the project to recreate Reddick Mansion’s historic exterior was complete. Phase two of the exterior restoration will include the restoration and repair of the mansion's exterior masonry. The site can be seen today on the corner of Lafayette and Columbus Streets in the heart of Ottawa Illinois.

Published January 13th 2021

For more information, contact Heritage Restoration and Design Studio Marketing Department at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.