FEATURE Image: 1432 Forest Avenue, Evanston, IL, 1885. Stylish single family home, nearly 5,000 square feet, has 6 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Author’s photograph. 6/2022 7.7.mb 53%
Text & Photographs John P. Walsh.
1032 and 1034 Michigan Avenue, 1899. Double house designed by Myron Hunt (1868-1952) shortly before he relocated his practice to Los Angeles, CA. Each shingled dwelling is given a distinctive design. The northern side has a projecting porch and two-story polygonal bay. The southern side has a recessed porch. The house is tied together by a single gable with a quartet of double-hung windows and a cornice part of which is integrated to the polygonal bay. 6/2022. 7.84mb 70%Myron Hunt (1868-1952) in February 1905. The American architect did numerous projects which are noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Born in Massachusetts he moved to Chicago and attended Northwestern University and later MIT where he graduated in 1893. Traveling and studying in Europe, he returned to Evanston where he worked as a draftsman in the local office of the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. In 1903 Hunt moved to Los Angeles, where he entered into a partnership with architect Elmer Grey (1871–1963). Opening an office in Pasadena, the firm of Hunt and Grey built houses for the wealthy. These included the summer ranch house for cereal magnate Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951) in Pomona, CA, nearby to Los Angeles. Hunt and Grey also built hospitals, schools, churches and hotels. Public Domain.1026 Michigan Avenue, 1915. Prairie style house designed by John Van Bergen (1885-1969) in 1915. The Oak Park, IL-born American architect did numerous such stylish house projects from DeKalb, IL, to Winnetka, IL in the 1910’s. 6/2022 7.78mb 79%Architect John Van Bergen (above in c. 1927) was born and grew up in Oak Park, IL. He began his career as an apprentice draftsman working with Walter Burley Griffin (1867-1937) and for Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) at his Oak Park Studio. Van Bergen’s early projects, mostly in Oak Park, were predominantly residential and largely in the Prairie School style, which he learned in Griffin’s and Wright’s studios. See- https://highlandparkhistory.com/highland-park-legends-program/john-van-bergen/ – retrieved December 5, 2023. Public Domain.1049 Michigan Avenue, 1910. The Prairie-style house was designed and built by C.H. Thompson, a local developer. It is a basic block with a hipped roof, albeit on a grand scale and with dormers and porch projects that emphasize horizontality along with typical Prairie hoods. There is stucco façade with brick detailing of varying geometric design patterns. 6/2022 7.95 mb 88%1010 Michigan Avenue, 1911. The Tudor style brick mansion was designed by Ernest Mayo (1864-1946). Once sitting on an even more expansive corner lot, Mayo designed the house and garden together. 6/2022. 7.91mb 65%Another view of 1010 Michigan Avenue. Built in 1911, it is one of Evanston’s most formal examples of the popular Tudor Revival style whose design takes inspiration from Elizabeth I manor houses and is imposing. It is a symmetrical and complex design of porches, bows, gables, chimneys and window groupings. Architect Ernest Mayo was born in Birmingham, England in 1864 and began his career in South Africa. Mayo immigrated to Chicago in 1891 where he established the firm of Mayo and Curry. The Chicago firm designed factories, hotels, and office buildings, and Mayo worked on administrative buildings for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Mayo split with Curry and worked independently until he partnered with his 24-year-old son Peter Mayo in 1919 to form Mayo and Mayo. While Ernest Mayo received his architectural apprentice training in England, Peter received his degree from Yale University and further design education at The Art Institute of Chicago. See – https://www.winnetkahistory.org/gazette/140-sheridan-road-2/ and https://prabook.com/web/ernest.mayo/1717173 – retrieved December 5, 2023. 6/2022. 7.63mb 66%Interior room, Dawes Mansion, 225 Greenwood Street, 1894. Designed by New York architect Henry Edwards Ficken (1852-1929), the house sits on a large lot overlooking Lake Michigan. The basic square block building is met by round tourelles on each corner with conical roofs that meet the same height of the main block’s hipped roof. The Châteauesque-style house was bought by Charles Gates Dawes (1865-1951) who was vice-president under Calvin Coolidge and, with its stunning cherry paneling, is furnished much as it was during Dawes’ residency. 10/2015 4.20mb“Charles Gates Dawes House, Evanston, Illinois” by StevenM_61 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.1037 Michigan Ave, Evanston, IL, 1895. 6/2022 7.52mb 99%940-950 Michigan Avenue, 1927. Michigan-Lee apartment building was erected by N.J Lareau and associates and sits on a 20,000 square foot lot on the southwest corner of Michigan and Lee. Georgian Colonial is the style of architecture for the new structure which is made of red brick and Bedford stone. The structure was built to house 24 total apartments: three 7-room, three 6-room, fifteen 5-room, and three 4-room apartments. https://www.archinform.net/arch/202206.htm and http://www.michiganleecondoassociation.com/history.html – retrieved November 28, 2023. The swanky apartment complex was designed by Frank William Cauley (1898-1984) architect and lawyer. 6/2022. 7.68mb 66% Frank Cauley, architect of the Michigan-Lee building (above) in 1927, graduated from the Armour Institute of Technology in 1922. Before he received his license to practice architecture, he designed the $2,000,000 three-hundred room (each with its own bath) Orrington Hotel in 1923 in Evanston, Illinois, for local developer Victor Ca[r]landrie Carlson. Carlson built the Carlson Building on Church Street in downtown Evanston as well as two landmark hotels, including The Library Plaza Hotel in 1922. Cauley went into business on his own, practicing until the 1929 crash. In the depression years he went to law school in Chicago and received his L.L.B. in 1938. In April 1969, the Illinois Institute of Technology awarded him a J.D. https://undereverytombstone.blogspot.com/2015/10/he-left-his-mark-on-downtown-evanston.html – retrieved November 28, 2023“The Hotel Orrington” by Mark Blevis is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Evanston front porches. 6/2022 7.80mb 79%1210 Michigan Avenue, 1880. Started as a simple clapboard farmhouse one block from Lake Michigan. there have been several expansive additions since that time The front exterior is marked by a simple veranda with grouped struts in the lintel which is supported by turned posts.6/2022 7.68mb 75%1332 Forest Avenue Evanston, IL, 1894, is a stylish home with several additions on an expansive corner lot. 6/2022 7.32mn 90%1005 Michigan Avenue, 1913. The light-colored brick house is Colonial Revival with modifications is by Howard Van Doren Shaw (1869-1926). The façade’s symmetry is prominently displayed in its 5 equal openings for its two main floors and topped by a shortened pitched roof with three flat-roofed dormers. A chimney protrudes at the roof line to the north. For the main mass there are aligned windows with a middle opening for both the first and second floor symmetrically displaying diverse residential functionality: a broad-arched porchway and genteel fanlight above a double door entry on the first floor and, at the second level. a wrought iron balcony providing a small, mainly decorative step landing. The great house is situated on the northeast corner lot of a leafy yet trafficked suburban residential intersection, with the main building’s symmetry broken to the south by the then-popular sun porch extension. It is a low, two-story flat-roofed projection with an enclosed porch on the first floor and an open porch originally on the upper level. 6/2022. 7.58mb 73% Howard Van Doren Shaw (1869-1926). Public Domain.Evanston fashion, c. 1918. Most Evanstonians used local dressmakers and tailors to have their clothes made. The white cotton summer dress with embroidery and lace insertions and natural waistline was typical for the era. 10.2015 4.24mb“Northwestern University Gate” by AcidFlask is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Chicago Avenue at Clark Street. Evanston is home to Northwestern University. 6/2022 7.84mb 87%“Fortress Northwestern: University Library and Norris University Center, June 1977” by A.Davey is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Divvy bike (with basket!) to get around campus and the neighborhood. 6/2022 7.77mb 83%The longtime Chicago-Main Newsstand at 860 Chicago Avenue in Evanston is open 7 days a week from 7:00a.m. – 10:00p.m. 6/2022 7.74mb 85%Left: 1730 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL Built in 1865, it was the home of Frances Willard (1839-1898) and her family and was the headquarters of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. 6/2022 7.73mb 88%Grosse Point Lighthouse, 1873, is a tapering column to a catwalk supported by Italianate brackets built by the U.S. Government. The lighthouse marks the approach into Chicago. The promontory on which it stands was named Grosse Point in the 17th century by French explorers and the area was mapped in 1673 by Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. The lighthouse is topped by a polygonal glass lantern containing the light and lens. See – http://www.grossepointlighthouse.net/history.html – retrieved December 5, 2023.6/2014 4.03mb
Sources:
A Guide to Chicago’s Historic Suburbs on Wheels and on Foot, Ira J. Bach, Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1981, pp. 499-530.
FEATURE image: 562 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909. It is an excellent example of Wright’s mature Prairie style including its original Prairie-style glass.
River Forest, Illinois is a suburb of Chicago in Cook County. River Forest is perhaps best known for its diversity of 19th and early 20th century American residential architecture. House designs and styles include those by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) and others in the Prairie School. Nestled near the Des Plaines River to the west, along heritage lands of the Menominee, Chippewa and, later, Potowatomi Native American tribes, today River Forest is an affluent residential suburb closely tied to its adjacent neighbor to the east, the suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. These communities share several affinities including its high school, namely, Oak Park and River Forest High School that is in Oak Park and was founded in 1871. River Forest’s population today approaches 12,000 residents and the suburb is home of two universities, including Dominican University founded in 1848 and Concordia University Chicago founded in 1864. River Forest’s train station is on Metra’s Union Pacific/West Line with service into nearby downtown Chicago, about 12 miles away.
These are my photographs of some of the residential architectural highlights to be seen in River Forest and were taken in June 2022.
603 Edgewood Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1908, Frank Lloyd Wright. Known as the Isabel Roberts House, it was remodeled in the 1950s. 69% 7.99 mbFrank Lloyd Wright in 1903, likely a self-portrait. Public Domain.559 Edgewood Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1911, William Drummond (1876-1948). Drummond began his career working for architect Louis Sullivan (1856-1924). Working for Frank Lloyd Wright, Drummond became the chief draftsman for many of Wright’s well-known commissions. 89% 7.92mb559 Edgewood Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1911, William Drummond. 560 Edgewood Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1910, William Drummond. 98% 7.89 mbWilliam Drummond about 1901. Drummond was born in New Jersey into a family in the building trades. He moved to Chicago as a boy and later studied architecture at the University of Illinois but didn’t finish. At 23 years old he joined Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio and became his chief draftsman. Drummond obtained his architect’s license in 1901 and, while working part time for Wright, worked full time for Richard E. Schmidt (1865-1958) in 1901 and 1902 and for Daniel H. Burnham (1846-1912) in 1903 to 1905. In 1905 Drummond returned to working full-time for Wright until 1909 when Drummond went into private practice. Public Domain. 511 Edgewood Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1858, architect unknown. This early Italianate house was moved to its present location in1880 from a few blocks away. 77% 7.86 mb515 Auvergne Place, River Forest, Illinois, 1893, Frank Lloyd Wright. Known as the William H. Winslow House, this residence for an important industrialist is one of Wright’s earliest mature expressions of the Prairie style. 66% 7.90 mb344 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1870, architect unknown. Fine and grandiose example of the Italianate style. 95% 7.85 mb517 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1915, William Drummond. A simplified version of the expansive basic square house with a pitched roof and elaborated in the Prairie style.530 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1915, Robert Spencer (1864-1953). Robert Spencer was born in Milwaukee, studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin and architecture at M.I.T. He practiced in Boston, married, and studied in Europe. At his return he relocated to Chicago through Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. In 1895 Spencer established his own firm and located in the Schiller Building next to Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1905 Spencer partnered with Chicagoan Horace S. Powers, who studied at today’s I.I.T. The partnership built this house in River Forest which is a fine brick example of the Prairie School within a traditional framework. 97% 7.85 mbRobert Spencer (1864-1953). Unlike his slightly younger competitor, Frank Lloyd Wright, Spencer was a trained mechanical engineer and architect. Public Domain.
INTERLUDE: OTHER PERIOD HOMES in RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS.
306 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois. A smaller second floor porch is fitted above the main ground entrance. 70% 7.90 mb.236 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois. Corner tower, multi-level wrap-around front porch. 73% 7.92 mb Row of late 19th/early 20th century houses, River Forest, Illinois. 78% 7.78 mb136 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois. The facade’s design elements are complex with intricate details. 90% 7.80 mb146 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois. Two big chimneys and a front porch swing makes for a timeless scene on a nice day. 90% 7.83 mb558 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1860, architect unknown, This is an excellent example of a large Victorian Gothic cottage. 82% 7.62 mbFrank Lloyd Wright. Public Domain. 562 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright. The house’s projecting second-floor balcony and Prairie glass in a stucco surface is in evidence. 83% 7.93 mb.562 Keystone Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright. The house’s prominent hipped roof with its simple fascia and stuccoed soffits are evident. Wright’s house design is characterized by the early, mature restraint and discipline of the Prairie School. 75% 7.91 mb.
SOURCES:
A Guide to Chicago’s Historic Suburbs on Wheels and on Foot, Ira J. Bach, Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1981, pp. 605-622.
