Projects and Writing Samples by Martha O'Connell
By Martha O’Connell
Picture
block party after block party where everyone talks about the same house all
the time. That’s because in a
tract housing subdivision, there’s not much difference from one house to
the next.
In
many cases, the monotony of production houses spurs homeowners to want
old-style homes that stand out and proclaim its occupants are different from
their neighbors.
Elgin
homeowners Steve and Laura Stroud took on a huge rehab job that has given
them a great sense of accomplishment because they have preserved fine work
that just can’t be replicated nowadays.
Nine
years ago, they bought a neglected 3,600 s.f. Victorian built in 1886 in one
of the city’s historic districts. It
had been converted into five apartments at one time in a neighborhood once
plagued by crime. Many buyers
would not have given it a second look, but today, the revived single-family
home has won praise and been pictured on the city’s historic district
sign.
“I
guess I have a knack for looking at something and not seeing what it is but
what it can be,” Steve says, who adds that he undertook the project
because he felt he had a diamond in the rough.
“The craftsmanship just does not exist today.
To create from new the details we have in this house would be
extraordinarily expensive.”
The
restored house has 14 rooms, five fireplaces, four porches and ornate
exterior detailing just to mention a few things.
Even structural things items attest to the home’s quality –
Stroud points to the 12 x 12 basement beam supporting the house that you
just don’t find in today’s housing lumber stock.
The
Strouds are among those the city of Elgin has helped financially and it’s
made a huge difference in the city’s neighborhoods.
Elgin has one of Illinois’ most diverse collections of older homes
dating back a hundred years – everything from Victorian, Italianates,
Tudors, Prairie style, Cobblestone homes and even the Sears “kit” homes.
Most
were built by early settlers of the area who were craftsmen of German and
Scottish ancestry.
The
city offers financial assistance for certain types of housing rehab projects
in its three historic districts. That
perk has been key in luring homeowners to invest in those neighborhoods and
improve the houses. In many
cases, homes are just “tired” but very salvageable.
The
city benefits by reducing crime, and seeing property values increase and
improve the tax base. Homewalks
through the district held in recent years have yielded rave reviews and
higher-than-expected turnouts in the thousands.
“Homeowners
are really sinking in a lot of money and turning their homes into many
hundreds of thousands of dollar homes because there is that confidence,”
says Cherie Murphy, Elgin neighborhood liaison and also a city homeowner.
“It has been great to create that sense of community, and the
quality of life in the community has risen too.”
Old
houses appeal because they evoke a sense of old Chicago, says Ellen
Christensen, curator of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
Often, they have an identity linked to a specific neighborhood and
they’ve proven their mettle lasting through a couple of wars.
The
exterior attests to its longevity, but when it comes to the guts of a house,
that’s not something owners covet. Hundred-year-old
plumbing and electric lines just won’t cut it.
“People
don’t want that but they want some connection to the past so they get it
through style,” Christensen says.
Many
homeowners don’t have the patience or see financial wisdom in a gut rehab
so they knock houses down. They
rebuild the same style home without those “age spots.”
There
is another detail that Christensen adds needs consideration.
Building an old-style home is not an automatic win-win for the
neighborhood. Even a beautiful,
accurate replica is out of place if it does not fit in with the housing
styles around it.
Owner
Stephen Lane of Lane Custom Homes in St. Charles specializes in historic
restoration and has built several single-family subdivisions in St. Charles
where homes replicate a variety of turn-of-the-century styles.
A frequent customer for him is a move -up buyer who got started in
production housing and now craves something more distinctive.
They often have an appreciation for old architecture.
“You
need a client who respects the style and believes in it and understands
it,” Lane says. “They are
tired of (tract housing) and they want to impart some individuality into
their home decision. They want
something that when they drive up, they can be proud of and it says
something about themselves.”
Pam
sand Skip Thompson bought a four-square home at Fox Mill, one of Lane’s
subdivisions, in part because it made them nostalgic about their youth.
To Skip, the 3,100-square-foot home reminded him of his
grandparents’ Ohio farmhouse. Pam
was immediately drawn to the front porch and then the interior sold them.
“We
have been in several different types of houses and this one is one of my
favorites simply because it is very cozy,” Pam says.
However
much owners love the exterior, recently-built old-style houses often are
different inside to suit modern living.
“We
are not fools to the market,” Lane says.
“We understand that people want three-car garages and master deluxe
baths and double ovens.”
It’s
not just the single-family homes that pay homage to predecessors of times
long gone. The same architecture
is popping up in new construction multi-family homes.
One,
the Prairie Avenue District off of 18th Street is under
construction with 49 townhomes, 177 condos and 138 lofts.
Done by Legacy Development Group, the Victorian-style development
area on the Near South Side is formerly home to prestigious tycoons such as
Marshall Field, George Pullman and Phillip Armour.
Buyers
Mark Kieras and wife Kim were impressed with the architecture of the
development and the attention payed to the area’s historic roots.
“If
the Prairie District townhomes were not of a Victorian design, if they were
just boxy or if they were very contemporary, I think that would have turned
me off to the development and I would have thought that was shameful,”
Mark says. “I love how the
developers are being respectful of the mansions that are there, of the
history.”
Rehabbing
poses a daunting challenge for many and sometimes it’s just not possible.
On the other hand, the price of inaction has permanent consequences
and many old-style homes are lost this way.
Christensen
once had her eye on a Lincoln Park four-square but the utility lines needed
to be redone so she passed.
“We
went back a year later to see what had happened to it and a developer had
purchased it and torn it down -- which is really a shame because it was a
beautiful house -- and built condos there.
When I found out I was really upset,” Christensen says.
FOUR SQUARE SIDEBAR
In
fact, the average buyer does not recognize it – they just know that they
like the front porch. It is a
traditional style dating as far back as 1895.
Many originals still exist around the Chicago area, but this classic
is also being resurrected in housing models offered in new construction.
Modern-day
versions may deviate from the four-square mold. Older
ones are basically two-story boxes with the garage in back of the house.
They look perfectly symmetrical, with four rooms on each level, one
dormer, a front porch, and often a wood siding exterior.
Four-squares
are Zale Homes’ biggest seller in White Caps in Kenosha because the layout
suits family lifestyles, according to Sales Director Pat Mohapp,
“The
great rooms were popular and they still are for certain lifestyles, but now
what we are finding is that people want the accessibility,” Mohapp says. “They
want to be close but they still kind of want their separate area – and I
think the four-square lends itself to that perfectly with rooms that don’t
blend together so much. They are
very distinct on the floor plan.”
Aside
from customer appeal, four-squares are easier and less expensive for
builders. Four-squares have no
volume ceilings which means the second floor is stacked right over the first
and no extra roof is needed to cover another part of the house that sticks
out.
Other
production builders such as Concord Homes and Town & Country Homes also
offer four-squares in their line-ups.
It
may be demure compared to other traditional styles, but don’t
underestimate the four-square’s staying power.