The Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois provides monetary assistance to preserve or protect significant structures and sites in Illinois. Eligible beneficiaries include significant structures or sites in Illinois that are under threat of demolition, in imminent deterioration, in need of stabilization, in need of structural or re-use evaluation, or need to be evaluated for landmark eligibility. Landmarks Illinois manages the fund, which was established in 2013. Click here to see all past recipients of the Donnelley Fund.
2025 Donnelley Fund Grant Recipients
Announced December 2025
Hinsdale Historical Society
R. Harold Zook Home & Studio, Hinsdale
GRANT AMOUNT: $2,500
Landmarks Illinois’ grant will support the Hinsdale Historical Society’s overall preservation and adaptive reuse of the R. Harold Zook Home and Studio, which was once threatened with demolition. The home and studio was designed and built by Zook, a celebrated Chicago architect, as his family residence in 1924. It is where he resided until his death in 1949.
In late 2004, the property was sold to a developer who planned to demolish the buildings and build a new residence. This threat led Landmarks Illinois to include the property on the 2005 Most Endangered Historic Places list. The Hinsdale Historical Society, fortunately, was able to save the home and move it to a nearby park. This work was honored with a Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Advocacy.
The Hinsdale Historical Society plans to adaptively reuse the home and studio to create the R. Harold Zook Community Gathering House. The organization will use Landmarks Illinois grant funds to help pay for a National Register of Historic Places nomination and a building assessment in preparation for the project.
Learn moreannounced September 2025
Naperville Preservation Inc.
Naperville
GRANT AMOUNT: $2,000
Naperville Preservation Inc. is conducting an architectural survey of homes built by Don Tosi, a prominent mid-century designer and builder active in Naperville from the 1950s through the 1980s. Tosi is estimated to have designed and constructed more than 80 homes in the suburban community. The survey will be led by Chicago-based firm Preservation Futures, with additional research and photography provided by Naperville Preservation Inc. volunteers. Findings will be published in a book to be donated to the collections of Naper Settlement, the Naperville Public Library, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Illinois State Library, with copies also available to the public. A previous grant in 2022 from Landmarks Illinois’s Donnelley grant program provided funding for Naperville Preservation Inc. to conduct an architectural survey of the East Highlands subdivision, which included Tosi homes.
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