Employing and feeding people at Millcreek Manor in Batavia, Illinois

Employing and feeding people at Millcreek Manor in Batavia, Illinois

By Lynda Carson - August 12, 2020

Note: If you copy and past the link below into your browser and click on it, it will open up to a photo and a brief description of ‘The Mansion’ a.k.a. ‘Millcreek Manor’. The Mansion and Millcreek Manor is a mansion at the same location, but with different names.

Copy and paste the link below into your browser to see Millcreek Manor a.k.a The Mansion…

file:///Users/lyndacarson/Desktop/Dekalb%20World,%20August%2013,%201975,%20p.%209%20%7C%20NewspaperArchive%C2%AE.html

Recently, it came to my attention how much it really meant to people around Batavia, Illinois, years ago when my parents provided a job and employment for many people who were waiters, waitresses, bus boys, bus girls, cooks, dishwashers, car parkers, bar tenders, gardeners, and other employees.

In this time of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic when many people have lost their jobs at many of the local restaurants, I can really understand the need people have to get their jobs and lives back, and to be able to get out and have a good meal outside of their homes, or apartments.

Working At Millcreek Manor:

For some people at Millcreek Manor, it was their very first job when they were teenagers heading out for the first time, and trying to earn some much needed cash to buy their first a car, or to have some money to spend on their first date, etc…

Years ago in 1966, a restaurant named Millcreek Manor came to life and was born in Batavia, Illinois, that provided employment for around 65 people until sometime during 1970, after my parents sold the beautiful property after a few years. We used to live in the maid quarters above the three car garage, and used the rest of the 27 room mansion for the family business.

After it was remodeled, Millcreek Manor had four elegant dining rooms and was owned by my parents from around 1966 through 1970. The restaurant was sold in 1970, and later renamed, ‘The Mansion’ after we moved away.

My family moved there in 1966 when I was just a 13 year old teenager. It was called the Sencenbaugh Mansion at the time, and it seemed old and mysterious to me in my young age of 13 as I explored it when I moved there.

The mansion was originally named after a wealthy fellow, Charles Sencenbaugh, who had the 27 room mansion built with 13 bathrooms in it, and it was located on 70 acres of land (mostly woods), with Mill Creek running through it to the nearby Fox River.

I used to have fun running around the mansion to see how many bathrooms I could use in a day. One of the bathrooms had a shower in it with circular water pipes, so the woman of the house could have a shower surrounded by circular water pipes spraying on her, without getting her hair wet. Rich people think of everything.

The mansion was built out of handmade bricks shipped over from Europe, and it had expensive gray slate roof tiles on the roof. The mansion was built during the late 1930s after the depression, and included a dumb waiter (elevator with rope) big enough to hold four people, and there was a large walk-in Mosler safe hidden in the basement behind a wooden wall panel.

My parents remodeled the elegant mansion sitting on 70 acres of land after they bought it for around $350,000 from a man named Donald Thorp, and they renamed the mansion, and called it Millcreek Manor.

They also spent a fortune on the place with a new large kitchen, dish washing room, and large walk-in refrigerator. New carpets were installed throughout the mansion, including crystal chandeliers for the dining rooms and front entranceway, including a beautiful fountain in the Empire Room with the statue of a boy in the center of the round fountain, with water spouting out of his mouth.

All the dining room tables with French chairs, and art work decorating the walls, were bought new at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Many of the antiques sold in the antique shop were bought in Europe when my parents bought many antiques to bring back to the states sometime earlier.

I used to help out by washing dishes on the weekends, and helped my dad with the gardening and mowing the front lawn at times. There were two large outdoor croquet courts on the property surrounded by some beautiful flower beds of many different types of flowers. A round fountain was nearby that was in a state of disrepair near the three car garage of the mansion that was used by the kitchen crew.

Down in the basement, my parents had a beautiful piano bar created called ‘The Polynesian Room’. It had fake palm trees and plants, and people used to hang out at the piano bar day at night, and get drunk before having one of the car parkers bring back their cars for them from a parking lot around two blocks away on the 70 acre property.

I used to think it was strange to live in a place with so may people, and people who used to sing and get drunk in the basement of where I lived as a teenager. But after a while it all seemed normal.

It was actually a very exciting place, and on Friday and Saturday nights after the restaurant would close for the evening, I would hang around with some of the car parkers. We would go cruising around in someones old supped up loud 1957 Chevy Belair at times, drinking and smoking some pot while listening to the Beatles or Doors, and Rolling Stones, or Bob Dylan on the radio back in those days.

Millcreek Manor sat on the edge of a limestone cliff, overlooking Mill Creek that was meandering down below behind the mansion. The creek was surrounded by some woods of many different types of trees, with catfish, trout, and bass fish in the creek. There were some musk rats and beavers living along the creek in the area that used to be called ‘The Big Woods’ back in the 1800s, before it was later named Batavia, and became the home I was so fond of.

Back in the 1800s a saw mill was built along the creek at that location by some settlers, and a dam was built in the creek that still exists there today. There used to be a trading post there where the settlers traded goods with the local Native Americans who resided there along Mill Creek until the Native Americans were run off when the Indian Removal Act became the law of the land.

This area where I used to live used to be known as The Grotto, Mill Creek Park, and the nearby community used to picnic and have a good time along the creek back around 1890, through 1910.

There was a water chute built on top of a limestone cliff, for people to ride a boat down the slide (chute) into the water of Mill Creek back in the day, for fun and excitement a long time ago.

When I was a teenager swimming in Mill Creek, and running through the woods all the way to Mooseheart Lake a few miles away, I really had no idea how rich the area was with the history of Native Americans, and the settlers who used to reside there long before I did.

All I knew was that it was beautiful there, I was having a good time, and I loved living there.

I heard stories about the area back then from my parents, but I did not have access to a computer then to read about the vast history of the area that had become so fond to me.

Millcreek Manor Restaurant & Dining Rooms:

My parents converted the mansion into a fancy restaurant with four dining rooms on the first floor including the Regency Room, the Empire Room, the Regimental Room, and The Terrace, that overlooked Mill Creek and a beautiful woods with hills behind the large mansion.

Most people wanting to dine there liked ‘The Terrace’ dining room because of the beautiful view overlooking Mill Creek around 30 to 40 feet below, including an old swimming pool below that was perched above Mill Creek. My dad had some large plate glass windows installed, that replaced the original screens of ‘The Terrace’, which allowed the diners a wonderful view of the creek, and woods below in the day time. There was a small wooden bridge below that was used for crossing the creek to a path on the other side that led to some stone steps built into the hillside leading to a path that went to a large railroad trestle that crossed above Mill Creek, from one limestone cliff to another off in the distance. As kids we used to play on the railroad trestle, and walk across the catwalk on it below the tracks for excitement. The railroad tracks on the trestle were around 30 to 40 feet above the creek.

It was a kids paradise there.

My dad also had a wooden deck built over the top of the swimming pool behind the mansion, that was also used for dining and dancing on the weekends. A live band would play music from on top of the bathing suit changing rooms, and people would dance the night away ten feet or more above Mill Creek as it shimmered in the moonlight at times. It was really cool.

There was also a dining room on the second floor of the mansion that was used when the dining rooms on the first floor were full and overflowing with hungry souls. There was also a clock shop, a candle shop, a gift shop, and an antique shop located on the second floor of the mansion that kept people employed.

The business created by my folks provided jobs and stability for many in the area many years ago, and to my surprise many people still remembered Millcreek Manor recently even though it closed sometime during 1970. My parents sold the place and we moved back to Wheaton, across the street from my grandfathers windmill house.

My parents lost a lot of money with Millcreek manor, and it took my dad years to pay it off after selling it to some investors to get it off his back. He ended up opening a shot and a beer joint called the Lamp Post Inn in nearby Downers Grove, and made his money by selling liquor to his many regular customers.

Below are some recent comments by some people who used to work at Millcreek Manor, or who ate at Millcreek Manor 40 to 45 years ago, and to my surprise they had some fond memories of the restaurant.

Dave Walgren said, “My first job was as a dishwasher at Mill Creek Manor! I worked there a couple evenings during the week and every Friday and Saturday night for almost a year. The Muehlfelt's were really nice people and great to work for. And what a beautiful restaurant it was. My favorite dining room overlooked the creek. Wonderful memories.”

James J. Bartow said, “WENT THERE FOR DINNER YEARS AGO. AND WAS SEATED BY ROBERT CONRAD WAS IN SHOCK.”

Paul Sweigert said, “Yes I worked there when I was 15 years old. I remember being jealous of all the rich kids that ate there.”

Dona Joerger said, “Had dinner there once and sat over looking the creek. Cozy place loved it. I use to fish in that creek also.”

Michael William Wood said, “Dave Pinner & I bussed tables there as teens. Had to wear starched white jackets. Very expensive place to eat back in the day.”

Patrick Doran said “I don’t ever remember going down to the cellar in that place. I do remember smoking my first cigarette in a closet on the second floor with somebody. They only used those rooms for overflow patrons as those poor waitresses had to carry those huge trays full of food up about two dozen steps. Once after a shift a few of us finally got to eat dinner in that little bedroom on the ground floor that the staff used, mostly to fold napkins, and Joseph comes in and claps his hands and says “No eating! Work is not finished! ” At which point we all laughed, but he was serious.”

Doris Englin said “I modeled there for the Close Tree. Really enjoyed it. Once even had furs we modeled.”

Kathy Perna-Barkei said, “My husband Randy Barkei worked there when we were 15 years old 1968.”

Linda Hamer Graff said “My brother Art Hamer worked as a bus boy there too. Pretty sure it was in the late 60’s.”

Gerri Kustermann said, “I believe that this was originally the old Scencenbaugh Estate... That family owned a department store in downtown Aurora for many years. However, I was there at the restaurant in the late sixties and early seventies...great place!

Linda Felten said, “OMG yes I worked there in 1968-1970 as a bus girl cool place. Thought it had some relationship to Paul and Dan Thorpe.”

Russell Shimp said, "My mom was a waitress there. Nancy Shimp. I was there only with my Mom about 5 times. I still remember it."

Janet Peterson said, "Good Morning, I remember it well. Had a meal there once."

Susan Carpenter said, "Never had the opportunity to go there. Always wanted to. However, my parents were Loyal customers to the Lincoln Inn. That's as far down 31 we went for dinner.
How my sister and I would WISH we could go to MCM! Our dad Loved Lincoln Inn, there he could speak Greek to them, and keep up his 1st language."

Deborah Hankes said, "My father in law was co owner of that building and it had a restaurant in it in the early 70s. My husband asked me to marry him in that building while at dinner with his parents and some good friends. Many great memories! I used to walk our daughter through the grounds behind the stone home and she had an allergic reaction to something and ended up at the emergency room. We still have a locker sized safe in our home that my father in law gave us when the restaurant closed."

Cheryl Demmon said, “I worked there from 1966 until 1968 as a server. There was a lady named Gert that made salads. Helen and Nancy were two more servers. I remember a busboy who I think was Dave Walgren?

Thanks to all who replied to me when I recently asked them if they ever worked at or ate at Millcreek Manor. I was very surprised by how many people replied.

All these years later I still have many fond memories of living at Millcreek Manor, swimming in the creek, eating in the restaurant, and running through the woods.

It was a good thing that my family provided jobs for so many people, and offered them employment there. They had a place for people to go who were looking for a good meal, and a good time, and if my parents were still alive they would have enjoyed this story.

If interested, see a few images below…

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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