The Marbold farmstead was the central hub of the Marbold family’s farmland holdings of over 4,000 acres. The original house, called Elmwood, was built in 1850 by John Marbold, a German immigrant and prominent Greenview farmer and businessman. This ornate brick farmhouse and its many outbuildings was virtually self-sufficient. Behind the house stood a wooden summer kitchen and a brick carriage house, smoke house, and dairy, while the farm also included a chicken house, several barns, an ice house, boiler house, and pump house. In the 1880s, John’s son, H.H. Marbold, enlarged and renovated the house in a European-inspired style, adding indoor plumbing, steam heat, gas lights, and a conservatory. The house was at one time connected to Greenview by a wooden walkway, and in its day Elmwood was one of the most notable homes in central Illinois.