and the Gurler House, whose architect is unknown though it was quite possibly Haish, both in DeKalb. On the house's east side are three rooms, whose original presence is open to debate. The three rooms are interconnected, another common French colonial element. The room adjacent the porch was used as the Glidden's dining room and is where the large brick fireplace, which replaced the marble one in 1909, is located. The 1909 fireplace is of the American Craftsman style. At the end of the hall, near the kitchen, there is a full bathroom. The western part of the first floor is dominated by a large formal living room. The room has two entrances, one at the front of the hall, near the front door and the other at the back end of the hall. This was the room in which Elva Glidden married in the late 19th century. After 1941 the rear part of the living room, or "west" room, was walled off and a second kitchen added. When Jessie Glidden, the last Glidden to occupy the old homestead, moved in 1998, the west room was restored to its original size and the second kitchen removed. The basement, and for part of the home's history, the main living area, is accessed via a staircase at the back of the first-floor hall. The steep stairs still show years of wear. One of the rooms off the main basement is the kitchen where Glidden is said to have experimented with the coffee grinder and his wife's hair pins, eventually leading to his brand of barbed wire. The second-floor served as the main sleeping quarters. It consists of a few simple bedrooms, all historically without closets. The upstairs hall contains a door which once accessed a staircase to the widow's walk, what remains of the space has been used as a closet for over a century. Outbuildings The property has two remaining outbuildings. The barn is where Glidden invented his famous improvement on barbed wire. Dubbed "The Winner," his barbed wire became the most popular version of the invention. Barbed wire is considered to be one of the most important factors in American progress and settlement. The other outbuilding on the property along historic Lincoln Highway are the remnants of a once dominating windmill. Though only the foundation remains, it gives a glimpse of how impressive the structure must have once been. Barn