Founder Jesse Barloga designed the Gaylord home, a 13,000 square foot home in 1933-1934 for Lewis Harold Clark and his wife Effie Clark, one of only two built in Rockford that year due to the Great Depression. Lewis Harold Clark was the son of Rockford manufacturer J.L. Clark who originally made chimney flues and decorative tins. 

The home was designed in the English Tudor-style that featured a tunnel that connected the detached garage to the home. It gained the Gaylord name from previous owner Robert M. Gaylord Jr., who was a member of one of the most prominent families in Rockford manufacturing – Ingersoll International – which was founded by Gaylord’s grandfather, Winthrop Ingersoll during the 1890s.