Elvis Perry Shaw, a local businessman and mercantile clerk, built the house in 1853.

The house is an example of an I-house, a vernacular style named for its popularity in the three Midwestern states beginning with "I".

Characteristic features of the I-house which can be seen in the Shaw-Van Gilder House include the five symmetrical bays on its front and its central interior corridor.

[2] The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 2007.

This article about a property in Edgar County, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.