While driving along 87th Street in the Stillwater neighborhood on Naperville's south side, it is hard not to notice a distinct Italian-style house with its cupola sitting up top, looking unlike any other in that neighborhood.

The home, which belongs to Terry Ryser, was his own vision. In 1997, when the neighborhood was being developed, he happened to be riding his bike in the area when he saw what he considered a "great parcel" backing up to the Springbrook Golf Course.

At the time, he was living in Aurora in an Italianate-style home built in 1896 that he had rehabbed. Ryser wasn't necessarily looking to build a new house, but because he thought it was such a great spot for a home, Ryser asked Jelinek Builders, who owned the lot, if he could buy the land and design a house to be built there. Jelinek agreed as long as they could be the builders of the home.

"I went home that night, and I started drawing plans, and there were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all around with wads of paper. I'm not an architect," said Ryser, who is a retired teacher and coach, "I liked Italianate, so I designed a floor plan."
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