315 South Third Street — Reber House

Queen Anne

This Queen-Anne-style house includes a carriage house on the property and was built in 1886 by Thomas Reber. Reber was a lumberman who served as president of the Rockford Lumber and Fuel Company until his retirement in 1928.

It was owned by Dr. Jack Miller, a pediatrician at the University of Illinois School of Medicine at Rockford, in 1983 who, by then had restored the exterior to look exactly the way it had when it was built. Dr. Miller is a "strong believer that architecture is good for the mental health. By 1983 he had restored the entry-way to its former glory and had some of the rooms were in a major state of renovation. Miller was still restoring the house in 1984 and was converting the five bedroom, one bathroom house into four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. Dr. Miller, a historical enthusiast, had done a great deal of research into Reber's family history. Dr. Miller kept a sailboat in the carriage house. By the time Dr. Miller purchased the house, it had been subdivided into apartments. The pressed wood surrounding the windows and doors inside the house had been buried under layers of paint. The first floor parlor had been turned into an apartment kitchen and bathrooms had been added throughout the house.

A few years ago, the Reber home suffered a tragic fire that wiped out most of the inside of the house. It sat vacant for a few years until it was purchased by Joe Derr. Mr. Derr has been busy rebuilding and restoring the house in time for the 2005 Home Tour. We are very excited to have this beautiful home restored to the reflect the integrity of the neighborhood.