The Hubbard Latham House at 219 6th Street is Victorian vernacular style with carpenter Gothic details. Built in 1874, the design was probably taken from a pattern book. “Containing simplified versions of the ‘latest’ in Victorian houses, these books circulated widely throughout the United States,” according to An Architectural Album: Chicago’s North Shore. Local builders probably built the structure.

The Hubbard Latham House has excellent integrity with little to no alteration of the exterior facades. The house has wood siding and trim. Elaborately carved Gingerbread trim, pedimented hood molds over the windows and the presence of the bay to the south are examples of carpenter Gothic style. Typically craftsmen from this time period “borrowed” stylistic features from other Victorian “high” styles.

In 1994, the owner, Mrs. Jean Young, restored the porch and received a Preservation Award from the Historic Preservation Commission.

Hubbard Latham, the original owner of 219 6th Street, was a real estate developer in Wilmette. He served three terms as a Village Trustee and was Village President from 1878-1889. Born in Connecticut in 1821, he came west with two brothers in 1839 and settled in Sandwich, Illinois. He went on to California in the Gold Rush of 1849 by ox cart, the trip taking about six months.

While in California, he met Benjamin F. Hill and, in their return to the Midwest, Mr. Hill (who developed the Hillville section of Wilmette – formerly the Ouilmette Reservation) persuaded Mr. Latham to settle on the North Shore. Together they laid out the Hill and Latham Subdivision, and Mr. Latham became interested in the political life of the newly organized community.