Jeff and Nina Zeglin spent the first years of their married life in an older home. Then, at Nina's urging, they moved to a new house.

The change was short-lived.

"You could just tell he wasn't happy in it," Nina says of Jeff's reaction to the new place.

So they began shopping for another older home and knew their search was over when they discovered the 1941 Georgian Revival-style house built by Rock Island philanthropists Victor and Doris Day.

"It was perfect," Nina says of the brick home with the steep hipped roof, dormers and arched entryway at the front door that they bought 13 years ago.

This summer, the Zeglins were pleased to learn that their beloved home had been selected for inclusion on a new list of the "100 Most Significant Unprotected Structures" in Rock Island.

The list represents the best of Rock Island's historic buildings that are not already designated local landmarks or located in the locally designated Highland Park Historic District. Those designations protect buildings in the sense that the owners have to come before the Rock Island Preservation Commission if they want to make changes in the architectural features, including demolition.

Because the buildings on this new list are not designated, they have no such protection and the owners could change them with no review.

The list was compiled by the preservation commission to raise awareness among property owners and the public about the importance of historic buildings, and how they contribute to the special community fabric that is Rock Island.

The commission "wanted there to be some sense of what was truly worthy of preservation and why," said Bob Braun, the commission chairman.

The Zeglin home was chosen because of its intact architectural style - and there aren't many Georgian Revival homes in the city - as well as its association with the Days, who created the most generous private foundation in Rock Island. Since 1987, the foundation named for them has given away more than $12 million.

The Days were executives of the Bear Manufacturing Co., a former Rock Island auto parts company founded by Mrs. Day's father.

The Zeglins have not changed the outside appearance of the home and don't intend to, Nina says. They are the third set of owners since the Days.

Arched doorways, built-ins characterize home

A tour of the home begins at the front door, where you will note special brickwork, including the use of bricks to create dentil molding at the roof line, quoins at the corners and a window-like effect on either side of the front door.

Inside and to your left, an arched doorway opens to a large living room with a hardwood floor, crown molding, built-in bookshelves, a multi-paned bay window and a fireplace with a marble surround.

You also will notice that Nina loves to decorate with family photos, and there are literally hundreds throughout the home. Every one has a story; of particular interest is the black-and-white photo of an older mustachioed man with his arms around a little boy and a railroad boxcar in the background.

The man is Nina's grandfather, who moved to Texas from Mexico, the boy is her father and the boxcar was their home. Nina has many questions she would like to ask her father about his early life, but the World War II veteran of the battle for Okinawa died in his 60s.

French doors in the living room open to a sun porch, furnished with four leather recliners, all in a row, facing a flat-screen LG television on the opposite wall.

(The Zeglins are the owners of Zeglin's Home TV & Appliance, Moline and Davenport, so they keep up with the latest in electronics.)

In the dining room, Nina shares two original architectural renderings of the home by noted Rock Island architect Benjamin A. Horn. Among Horn's other credits is the pavilion with the semi-circle of classical columns in Rock Island's Lincoln Park, which is used as the Genesius Guild stage.

The kitchen is the only room the Zeglins have changed extensively, gutting the space and updating with birch cabinets, a ceramic tile floor and backsplash, black laminate countertops and - of course - the latest in stainless-steel appliances. With a Jenn Aire stove, a Kitchen Aid dishwasher, an Amana microwave and a Sub Zero refrigerator/freezer, there is no brand favoritism.

Rounding out the first-floor layout is a room off the foyer that originally was a study or library featuring floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves. The Days converted it to a bedroom, though, to accommodate Victor, who found it difficult to negotiate the steps to the second floor as he got older.

Today it is the bedroom of the Zeglins' 21-year-old son Jeff, a Black Hawk College student.

Upstairs are two large bedrooms with multiple walk-in closets, one of which Nina uses as a craft/scrapbooking room, and a main bathroom. The master suite opens to a second-story porch overlooking the back yard.

Related

• Bear Manufacturing building also on list