The house at 5408 Carpenter Street was approved as a Historic Landmark in Downers Grove.  The one and one-half story Cape Cod style home was built circa 1940. The original owner of the home was William S. Barnhart who lived there with his wife, Elsie. The home has many interior and exterior features still intact from the original 1940s home.

A Cape Cod Style home had wide appeal in America, built from 1700 to 1850s, with a revival beginning in the late 1920s. Cape Cod architecture is one of the most instantly recognizable home styles in the United States. An original Cape Cod house is a small, rectangular, unadorned, one to one-and-a-half-story cottage with side gables and a steeply pitched roof to keep snow from piling up. It would typically have a central chimney, center door, low ceilings, shuttered windows and cottage-style landscaping.

5408 Carpenter has the typical Cape Cod rectangular footprint and is one-and-one-half-stories tall with a relatively steeply pitched roof. The detailing is limited to a red brick chimney, decorative shutters and a detailed entryway with decorative trim. The front facade is typically symmetrical and intact. The only exterior changes are the enclosing of the back porch, small back entryway addition and a bump-out addition in the rear roof. The porch enclosure was probably done almost as soon as the house was finished as it has old windows. And the small back entryway soon after as it shows up in the 1947 survey plat.

For more information, see the Village of Downers Grove Landmarking Resolution for this house.