4+1 Blogspot - Beyond the Lakefront

Tall and Narrow in Philadelphia

2012-01-11T11:39:00.004-06:00

Philadelphia seems to have a lot of tall and narrow apartment buildings. This seems to be a function of the small blocks and narrow lots of the old center city (and of course, land prices/values as well). I really don't know much about these, but they are fun.

They are mostly found on corner sites. I don't know if you can see the gargoyle's on the bay window. I notice them more in other shots, since they blend in so well in this shot.

An art deco tower.

Somewhat spooky looking against a Helmut Jahn backdrop.

This last one isn't quite so tall, but it's proportion plan-wise isn't far off.

Upcoming Posts

2011-12-22T17:58:00.003-06:00

OK, so I've done it again - gone a whole two months without a single, solitary posting! But I promise (that) I have some good ones in store, like one about Hyde Park's Pioneer Co-op!

Happy Holidays!

Keck and Keck

2011-10-27T08:58:00.004-05:00

Well, when it rains, it pours, or as the case may be, it snows. In this case, it's a reminder of upcoming winter as well as showing just how belated I am in posting. Here we have a small complex in Hyde Park by Keck & Keck, two of my favorite architects (who did precious little multi-family, their fame is primarily from suburban, usually solar, villas), whose own ground breaking apartment building is within sight of these elegant (except for the poor choice of, and lackadaisical attitude to [typical for Hyde Park], replacement windows) early 50's apartments.

In their usual fashion, the units have radiant heat and good orientation, as well as a pleasant, tree-lined park like open space which they are grouped around.

I will have to do some future posts on their other multi-family work, their own home, Harper Square Cooperative (their, by far, biggest commision) and their numerous projects for the CHA, primarily senior housing, but also the now unfortunely demolished Prairie Avenue Courts and perhaps some of their townhouse work as well.

Rittenhouse Dorchester

2011-10-26T13:23:00.004-05:00

So now we go back to Philadelphia for a modern tower on posh Rittenhouse Square - the Rittenhouse Dorchester from 1963, designed by Chicago favorite (oh, ok, well, just plain Chicago architect) Milton Schwartz, who I'm sure everybody knows from the Constellation and 320 Oakdale (don't know them, I guess I should do more posts). Above we have the ground plan - it sits on a very tight L-shaped lot which wraps around the building just to the north of it, occupying the remainder of the small block.

Above is the typical floor plan, with typically sized units for the era.

A rare "rear" view at sunset from the Northwest showing it wrapping around the older high-rise to the north.

East elevation as seen from the leafy confines of Rittenhouse Square - note the angled bays to enhance views east to the square. It really does have very parklike surroundings.

South elevation looking up. Note the profile of the balconies - the railings are quite nicely detailed, however, the replacement windows are rather clunky.

There is also another development in Center City Philadelphia by Scwartz, however, I'll save that one for posting in another entry.

Plans are from:
"Apartment, Their Design and Development"
Samuel Paul
Reinhold Publishing Corporation
1967

Note: Samuel Paul is worth an entry in himself.

More Rogers Park (or the Doors of Rogers Park/Open House Chicago)

2011-10-26T13:15:00.004-05:00

A few more shots from Open House Chicago; above we have an entry towards the private park side of Park Castle.

This is the approach to one of the entries at White Terra Cotta extravaganza, Casa Bonita with it's perfectly 20's pollarded trees.

And a closer view... The close up shows the elaborate decor of both the doors and the surround. I hope to get back to photograph the courtyard and front more fully sometime.

Philadelphia Modern

2011-10-24T10:16:00.002-05:00

Well, more contemporary than modern....

Here we have two buildings along the Delaware riverfront, such as it is. I don't really know anything about them, except that they are rather nicely sized to my eye. And both are rather near Society Hill and the famous Pei Ieoh Ming Society Hill Towers (more on those later). I'll also add more on vintage buildings in a future post. I will note that these follow a trend in Philadelphia which is very narrow and tall (mainly because of small lot footprints) residential towers.

Les piscines de Parc Rogers

2011-10-17T16:10:00.007-05:00

Yes, the pools of Rogers Park, as seen on tours during Open House Chicago. I was able to visit three pools in the gems of Rogers Park. Casa Bonita, Park Castle and Park Gables (three of my favorite big courtyard buildings). Casa Bonita's pool (below) is lovely, but plainer than the other two, though the access to it is rather grander and features an observers balcony (now a corridor).

Park Gables has a much grander pool, but the "entry" spaces to it are just "regular nicer than average Chicago basement" (it should be said that Park Gables appears to be well maintained).

Park Gables really resembles a 1920's film set, with ornate tile work, terra cotta columns and "tented" or awning ceiling. However, the most impressive of the group, the piece de resistance if you will, is Park Castle, which resembles San Simeon.

It sports an L shaped pool, elaborate mosiacs and a lit fountain! Note the potted plants, forming a ceramic topiary border around the pool.

Optima Tower

2011-02-25T17:12:00.003-06:00

Just to keep the blog updated this month, a view of one of the regions more modern towers, designed by David Hovey.

Mystery Device

2010-10-15T12:50:00.004-05:00

OK, dear readers. I am going to let you in on something special and personal. I am going to show you photos from my very own apartment (there are pictures elsewhere on the web, but *I'm* not telling [you where they are]...).

So anyways, there is this mystery device on one of the beams on the ceiling in my living room above - or actually just directly in front - of the fireplace. Nobody seems to know quite what it is, does or was for. Anyway, last weekend I had the power off to do some rewiring because I am so big and butch (I actually did pull new wire, but it was mainly to take down a fixture to prep the ceiling for painting). So while I had the power off in that part of the house (well, ok, apartment) I decided to take this "thing" down to see what it was. Well, lo and behold, there was absolutely NO wiring, only two anchors for the screws in the beam. I'll try and get some better photos, since the picture doesn't show the label, which is "B&L Inc" if I remember correctly.

Here's another view (as I said, I'll try and get more shot), albeit a very blurry photo. The picture doesn't show the label or hole where something attached to the knob might have mounted.

My initial thought was that it was either a heat sensor or smoke detector for the fireplace, or else some sort of thermostat for the central heating system to turn it down/off when there was a fire, but since the convectors aren't individually controlled that seems off. I was (not so secretly) hoping that it WOULD (have been an old light fixture or spot light I guess) be something with conduit so I could install a spot focusing on the chimneypiece and mantel.

Any ideas as to what it was or could have been? I'm going to leave it up for the time being, since I don't want to fill and patch the holes and restain the beam.

Two Holsman High Rises

2010-10-14T16:54:00.004-05:00

So my regular readers probably know of my Henry K. Holsman obsession. So here are two for you. The taller (the brown building with stepped roof), 1321 E. 56th Street, of the two was meant to be the western twin of two buildings which the depression stopped. The units are spacious full floor units. Across the street is a more modest building - the red brick building which contains more modest units. Immediately to the left of 1321 you may notice a church, behind which lurks another Holsman complex. And to the far left, there is a small Harry Weese house (which I swear is blond brick except that every time I see it its, quite obviously, not).

So, finally, an update.....

2010-09-16T15:18:00.003-05:00

About six months (too) late!(?)

We'll, I've been busy with my own place and a too hot for me summer. But I thought I'd throw out a new posting for you, my loyal reader. This entry focuses on a rather fun little building, a stretched six-flat with a lot of floors added to make it a rather taller building. I suspect that the units are also quite small but designed to give the facade a grander look with the sunrooms at the front.

Another Apology

2010-03-23T16:45:00.003-05:00

Sorry to be vacant from the blogosphere of late. It's just that I've been, well... buying an apartment for myself. So that means lots of time. Which means lots of stress. But maybe I should do my other dream blog.... called, entitled, titled, whatever - "This Old Co-Op"...

No, nope, sorry, NOT the view from my new pad. My new place isn't that high up, but still is higher than the surrounding buildings.

Guilford, CT

2009-12-11T13:24:00.003-06:00

Yes, it's multi-family housing, seriously! It's an apartment complex in Guilford, Conn (condos, but, really, that is just the ownership form of apartments). It was recently featured in the Times and when I had the chance to take a quick look at it, I did!

The most interesting thing to me about these is that they are really a lead brick in (mostly) colonial Guilford. They were designed by Wilfred Armster and built in 1984. It reminds me a lot of the work (architecture, that is) of Bart Prince (protege of Bruce Goff) in many ways, but with a more rugged aspect and slightly more refined construction type and detailing - much more solid appearing.

Here's the link, just for fun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/garden/13who.html?scp=1&sq=guilford&st=cse

Dry Spell

2009-12-11T13:20:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the dry spell; my computers have crashed and I lost of lot of photographs, however, I have been uploading the photo's which I was able to save to Flickr and have some new (and exciting) ones for you, to upload and post about....

So to get us started off, my flickr link;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30052777@N07/sets/

Chicago or Vancouver?

2009-09-23T12:01:00.003-05:00

One could almost be forgiven for thinking that this view might be the West End of Vancouver, except for the semi-decrepit Lake Shore Drive bridge and viaduct and the detritus of the Spire site.

You have, from right, the DeStefano tower along the river, Jeanne Gang's Aqua nestled into the shadow of the Standard Oil Building (unfortunately, reclad in boring white granite, not happy red anodized aluminum), the various New East Side buildings of the New East Side, mostly by SCB (Solomon Cordwell Buenz), the BCBS building by Lohan Associates et al, a peak of 340 on the park (the best of the newer bunch) and the older buildings, most fun of the lot being Outer Drive East, with it's spa and holidome. Harbor Point is furthest to the left, which is also a SCB design of the early 70's (from 1975 in fact) with a gaggle of 80's high rises around it.

Lake Meadows

2009-08-21T14:43:00.008-05:00

Well, I'm just chock full of posts this month (and week even, in fact). But I just had to post this. This morning I had a great opportunity, the chance to go up on a south side rooftop. So here are the results.As those of you who are intrepid might guess, this was taken from a Lake Meadows rooftop, from the Luxury Building no less (that would be the smaller building closer to Lake Shore Drive, which is the only building which is not rental, has central air conditioning, inset balconies and in addition, a bigger unit mix - i.e. larger units).

Here you can see some of the mix of buildings on the near south side. The distant buildings are the towers of Indian Village - the area of East Hyde Park and Kenwood which was to have been a new streeterville or even Manhattan-esque area. In the immediate foreground there are townhouses and a vintage street (aka gated community), a newer mid-rise complex - early 90s if I recall correctly.
Here is the view south, looking at the simplest of the slab buildings, which are the most pure of the zielenbau of Skidmore's plan for LM. Here is a view of the stereotypical curtain-walled glass towers, with the more recent "infill" townhouses in the forground.
Another view, towards the northwest, with more of the townhouses. Quite frankly, they are an abomination, firstly because of the purity and elegance of the scheme - and the luxurious quality of the towers in the park. But also because of the poorly designed pastiche-laden neo-traditionalism. If they had done modernist housing, ala South Commons, the result would have been much more successful. And looking north towards the loop with Prairie Shores (Perkins & Will) to the left and Michael Reese Hospital (Hopefully long for this world) to the right.

As you may, or more likely, may not know, Lake Meadows was built by the New York Life Insurance Company as an investment. It was also slum clearance and necessitated the Robert Taylor Homes along the Dan Ryan, which was built as replacement housing. It was intended as a mixed-race, middle/upper-middle class development, not a project (obviously). In fact, it became a haven for many members of the black elite, who actually paid more rent than the white residents who were subsidized. It is interesting the see the photos of the mixed-race mixed doubles tennis (no, sorry, the couples weren't interracial) - where else would you have seen black tennis players in the 1950s, let alone two couple of different races playing together?

However, the social exclusion of LM and the slightly, but only somewhat, later Prairie Shores, led even Hizzoner Daley Sr, to commission South Commons as a mixed-income and mixed-race complex, that, however, is a discussion for another time and (another) post (one which talks about the change in aesthetic, as well as social aims and goals of that project, sorry, complex, don't want to confuse things).

Protest!

2009-08-21T08:34:00.003-05:00

While I usually try to steer clear of political issues with this blog, I found this to be rather amusing, well, more interesting than amusing, as it proves that Chicago is still a labor town. They've been out there a few mornings lately, but since I don't always take the bus, either the el or my bike, I can't say for certain how often.

Back to Boston

2009-08-20T12:21:00.009-05:00

550 Beacon Street

Since we've been visiting New York, I felt we had to go back to Boston to get some of my backlog of posts cleared out of the archives (and believe you me, there are a lot planned, believe me...).

So here we have 330 Beacon Street in the Back Bay, Boston's Back Bay that is. Here in the middle of the posh 19th Century Subdivision (yes, for that is what it is, a subdivision, albeit, tres upscale) lurks an interloper, an interloper of a modernist ilk. It would be Hugh Stubbins' 330 Beacon of 1959. Not only is it discretely fitting itself in with it's red brick and bay windowed facade, but it also make no grand gestures, but simply fits in quietly.

Interestingly, the back facade (the rear faces both the Charles River and an expressway) is glazed and balconied. In fact, in a paraphrased quote, the orientation doesn't matter to Americans as much as the view (and as long as the physical plant can provide comfortable temperatures year round). What struck me when I visited this spring was something that I hadn't realized; that it is red brick and not white brick as I had thought from my trusty "Multi-Story Housing" book. In fact, I shall get more images from that and another book from the era it was built in. I had to cull the floor plans from elsewhere, however... (disclaimer, as a technically inept person and luddite, my computer, pc, wordprocesser or whatever you want to call it, and hence scanner, at home are not working, I am somewhat limited with and in my imaging abilities).

In fact, the building is also quite interesting in plan as well. It has a modified skip stop corridor configuration. Here is the corridor floor, which is every third floor.
There are a few north facing, single sided units, while the rest of the units are through units, with two exposures.
Some of the units are duplexes, and most are quite large. At the core floor, there are three cores with two units per core lobby.

A future post will feature more plans, vintage and interior shots...

Reference:

Key Urban Housing of the Twentieth Century
Plans, Sections and Elevations
Hilary French
W.W. Norton & Co
2008

The Legacy....

2009-08-19T13:31:00.005-05:00

The Legacy at Millennium Park is one of my favorite of the new crop of residential loop high-rises. I didn't think that I would really like it from the rendering and plans, but...
I find that I do. It is quite elegant and particularly dramatic when viewed from the park with it's 72-story, 800+ foot height subtly tapered form. The reflective glass effectively mirrors the sky and some of the surrounding buildings in the right light.

Chatham Towers

2009-08-11T08:19:00.007-05:00

Chatham Towers is one of the most interesting middle income developments in urban American from the 1960s. They were built in 1964 as a cooperative near City Hall, next to Chinatown, designed by Kelly & Gruzen. Unusually, they are raw concrete in one of the most purely brutalist complexes in the United States - residential complexes that is. In form they are close to many English social housing schemes, however in detail they far surpass them (being site built for a higher price point helps, of course). Interestingly, they reputedly have Swedish windows - the blinds are between the glass of the double-glazing, which is extremely common in Swedish windows from the 30s until the 80s, as well as being center-pivot windows (also common in Sweden in this era). Apparently, there was some controversy about the use of gypsum board (aka drywall) within the units at the time as well.

Here is a view from an overpass, framed through tree's, showing the assymetrical penthouse. A view of the balconies, showing the detailing, the ribbed concrete and elegant balcony edges and the windows. The slots beneath the windows are for fresh air supply I assume, for the air handlers.

A view looking up at the balconies and facade. The balconies are assymetical in the sense of some floors not having them to create a more interesting silhouette. Another view looking at the buildings obliquely. A shot from the privacy and retaining wall, framed through the garden trees.

A parting glance, looking at the towers in shadow. This shows the balcony silhouette quite well. The concrete is in amazingly good condition, probably due to the less severe New York winters.

I will follow up with plans and further details when I get a chance, however I wanted to get these photos out quickly.

Broadway Update

2009-08-05T10:06:00.003-05:00

It is called 40 Mercer (at least the upper residential tower portion) and is by noted French Architect, Jean Nouvel.

Broadway Penthouse

2009-08-05T08:35:00.005-05:00

Here is the second entry in my flurry of New York postings. In this entry, I was fascinated by this penthouse which I saw as I walked up Broadway. While it's not great architecture, it's site lends itself to a dramatic vista as one walks up Broadway and see's it's position change, to looking at it from above to below. The blue sunshades are also quite arresting, especially from a distance.

The superstructure here is also interesting, harkening back to the early moderns of the Bauhaus era or to a steamship (or for that matter, a dock). Coming closer, one can see that the superstructure actually does include a crane, which is a fantasy for many architects to include in their projects (myself included). Getting still closer, it becomes apparent that the sunshades are indeed, actually blue in color!Closer still, they are transparent as well. One can also see the crystalline glass box sheltering under the brise soleil. Despite nestling beneath that, despite the sunshade, I imagine the solar load on the mechanical system is astronomical. However, as these are obviously luxury apartments, I don't that that is really much of a factor.

Here in a final view, one can see the tower above the base or podium of the building, which sports a less glass box and more "technical" or mechanistic curtain wall (or perhaps it's actually a cladding system). I am going to do some research to find out more information about this building. But for those of you that are intrepid, curbed (http://curbed.com/) is where I am going to start first.

Tudor City

2009-08-03T14:03:00.005-05:00

Tudor City in the Rain

Well, once again I realize that I have been truly neglectful of this little project, my blog. In fact, I haven't updated since the very end of May, and I have all of June and July to get written and posted. Since I went to the multi-family capital of America this weekend for a visit and took my trusty little camera with me, you, my dear readers, can have some visual treats.

Tudor City

First off we have Tudor City, once owned by Husband to the Diva, Harry Helmsley, who got into quite a bit of trouble trying to redevelop it before selling. I'll update with further information, but briefly, it was built in the 1920s, on the eastern edge of Midtown Manhattan. It is literally directly across the street from the UN (as in United Nations) however, when it was designed, there was no Congress of Nations or other body on that site (well, bodies, not the governmental kind, or even human, but the edible kind) just docks and stockyards, hence the inward facing design.

It was quite a lovely space, with a large garden with tall, mature tree's making the Neo-Gothic (Tudorbethan or Jacobethan) towers all the more surreal when seen through the leafy canopy. At ground level the arboreal splender appears to be a modestly scaled, nicely detailed space, however the penthouse levels above do make a dramatic impression when viewed from below in typical Manhattan fashion (nearly all of my photos were in portrait mode from the verticality of it all - at least Lower Manhattan and Midtown.

Another shot looking upwards. The tops of the buildings are really magnificent against the cloudy sky with rain pouring down. A view of the central courtyard, more of a garden than a park. The undeveloped area was a big bone of contention when H. Helmsley owned Tudor City.

A parting glance. The last shot shows one of the more modest building tops.

It's happened again...

2009-05-29T12:37:00.005-05:00

Once again, I'm behind on posting. Hopefully I can rectify this situation soon, but the meantime and meanwhile, a little something to tide you over...

How about this preview of an upcoming post about a modern masterpiece...

Some Art Deco Gems

2009-04-22T08:55:00.008-05:00

Well, today we'll go back in time a bit from yesterday's posting and take a look at some of Chicago's art deco heritage. Our first example is from Edgewater Beach, which, unfortunately, didn't photograph well, due to the quite large trees out front. In front, however, you can see the unique reverse arched windows, which I have never seen before in this vintage in Chicago. To the left, the building next door also has a deco flavor, albeit one inspired by prairie and gothic verticality.
Our next example is from the gold coast, and represents what I see as more of a typical - even traditional deco (really more modern, due to lack of ornamentation) townhouse form but in a three-flat. Interestingly, it mimics in scale the older house to the right, which indicates that it might have been a remodel - a dreaded facadectomy even. But a full renovation is more likely. Here we have a rather interesting small apartment building from Lake View. This one is quite ornamented, with a rather unique rusticated stone trim, but at the base and the two center columns. This is paired against the sleek silver metal and glass block entry and the horizontally divided lites in the windows. If you were to peek around the side you would see metal casements along the sides and rear of the building as well. Our last two examples are in Rogers Park - West Rogers Park (or West Ridge if you prefer) along the "Farwell Corridor" as I've dubbed it. I've called it this because of the fine examples of large and grand apartment buildings there. These two large six-flats have wonderful decoation on their blond and yellow-blonde facades. The second one, in particual, has wonderful stonework with a florid deco influence. The interior of this building also, apparently, features much Hollywood Deco inspired detailing, such as doorways and plasterwork.

Even though Chicago really isn't a deco stronghold, we do have some nice, very nice in fact, examples, even among our vernacular housing stock.

Some Midcentury Fun

2009-04-21T13:52:00.006-05:00

Some mid-century fun for the mid week. Here are some of our more mid-century kitsch buildings.
First off we have the fantastic "murals" at.... the home of the eternal flame... home of the stained glass (ala Brady Residence stairs) graced mail rooms..... Chinese Village shod courtyard.... yes, oh yes. Why, of course it is, it's...Imperial Towers. These two shots only show some of it's charm(s). Not to mention the incredible "I Dream of Jeannie" style worm wood paneling and kitchen screens which original condition units still have.
Next we have a canopy (one of a series) at Sandburg Village, which shows some of it's age with it's butterfly construction, as well as some corrosion staining....
And lastly, a nearly matching canopy with sculpture at 555 W. Cornelia. More on this building and it's ilk in the future, I should think, since I have some theories about it's design, in relation to other buildings here and a possible antecedent to these. The precedent will be a lot of fun once I get it posted, I promise.

Cambridge, Mass

2009-04-09T12:29:00.013-05:00

Well, as you can see, I've just be off gallivanting across the eastern seaboard with a little jaunt to the Boston area, which is both rife with vernacular apartment buildings and rich with very interesting, and elegant, examples as well.

Here we have the first entry in the series, with an example from Cambridge, Massachusetts (home of, well, you know what University). The Boston area is known especially for it's "Triple Deckers" aka a three-flat in our parlance. However, in this case it is a masonry building with grand pretensions, with yellow brick and limestone on the street elevation and red brick on the sides - none of our Chicago common brick here, one notices. It also sports a massive copper cornice and features copper bays on the opposite side from the courtyard.

Interestingly, I noticed few masonry three story apartment buildings, but many four and five story buildings - all in masonry, of course. As an aside, one can go much taller with wood frame construction, but that side note wasn't the case in the 19th Century with it's fire regulations (which often keep to much the same rules and regulations today). In this case we have five stories, with what appear to be many small flats within.

The building, this building in particular was alone, has similarities to buildings along the street as well as to similar sized buildings in central Boston as well. We also have rich beaux-arts detailing around the entry and in the previously mentioned cornice.

Nicely for the observer, the building to the right has been demolished, allowing a side view of the "courtyard" with it's bay window and fire escape. The windows of which have been nicely trimmed in limestone sills and heads.

An Update

2009-04-08T17:11:00.003-05:00

At long last, dear readers, an update to my blog. This blog has too long neglected, and I have a treasure trove of photos to post for you.

We'll start off the rains at the end of the drought with an April Shower from the almost Gold Coast, a rather unique four story building, which once was, perhaps a luxurious row house.

It has a lovely gold brick facade with a bay window on the middle two floors and a side entry, along with Roman arched windows at the first floor and a stone base and nicely detailed brickwork, simply defining the building.

More Old Town

2009-02-11T14:10:00.003-06:00

Here are some recent views of the studio apartments on Burton Place, nearly across the street from our previous example. They were a late 1920's renovation of existing buildings, one of several such done by the same team of Edgar Miller and Sol Kogan et al. The interiors are equal to the exteriors, unusually, in this case.

These were done when the neighborhood was much more bohemian and 'artistic' than it is today and it was also, at the time, the epicenter of the gay community in Chicago as well, such as it was. It was, during that era, quite exciting, and lasted as an artistic area up until well into the 1970s and even into the 80s.

Quasi Brutalist Neo Fortress Architecture

2009-02-09T12:33:00.003-06:00

Here's an example of something typical of the mid to late sixties and early seventies in the inner city areas of the city - a fortress like, battlemented building. This one in Old Town, where there are a fair number of buildings with this theme, as well as in Hyde Park and Kenwood (though in rowhouse, rather than apartment, form). This format is, I suspect, a reaction to the unstable times then - increasing percieved crime, riots and the like - this was an ugly time in urban American (and I don't mean shag carpet and avacado appliances neither).

The interesting this about this building is that it looks as if it were a major remodelling of an older building - either a rowhouse or a three flat. It also, from the stoop, looks as if it was one of the nearby complex of quirky art deco buildings.

I also must apoligize, as always, for not keeping my blog updated more - I have been having computer "issues" (read; major problems) and will attempt, try and endeavor to keep this updated.

Red Brick Mannerism

2009-01-11T12:00:00.004-06:00

Here we have a rather unusual building, which has architectural pretentions, mainly to a Lutyens inspired upper class classicism, or more accurately, mannerist sensibility. It was built, as far as I can discern, in 1913, just before the great war. It has some incredible broken pediments at the entries, and a spare classical vocabulary at the cornices, and even, to some degree, a functionalist expression of the functions of the interior on the exterior - yes, those are real working chimneys and flues on the exterior. It was built as a luxury building with quite ample and even generous, if not ostentatious, accomodation, with an extravagance of interior detailing, and an even bigger luxury for the time, copious provision of bathrooms.

Happy New Year

2009-01-11T11:40:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year, sorry for my dearth of postings in December and so far in the New Year. I've been gradually catching up with some incomplete postings from last year (see the Courtyards de Luxe for instance). However, I have been taking new photos and up to have some interesting postings up for you in the very near future, so soon as now (this posting) and as soon as today for some others.

And I'll leave you with a springy shot of a gothick building....

Springfield, Springfield

2008-12-13T13:36:00.004-06:00

No, nope, sorry. I'm sorry, no, it's not a Simpson's Tribute, and nope, sorry, it's not a Governator Blowdryavitch posting, it's Springfield, Mass! Yes, in Springfield Massachusetts, this lovely ten-family building was built in the early years of the last century. It has quite a lot in common with our humble high-class six-flat planwise, but with the addition of two floors and an additional luxury, a lift. With the elevator, it really breaks with our local building tradition, however, it does make for a rather luxurious building, which is, in fact, what this was intended to be.

Despite this, it was built quite economically, with, and I quote "less than $200 worth of stone in the whole front". However, it also featured an incinerator connected to the provision of domestic hot water and heating via the boiler. The intent was to give a comfortable and home-like appearance, rather along the order of the Arts and Crafts movement, albeit with a dash of New England thrift and dosh of Yankee practicality, one would imagine, being in an industrial town (I believe, they call themselves a city). In fact, it was, it appears, to have been a great success, with the average local rent being $6.50 a room, while this fine building garnered $10/room.

As you can see from the plan, there were a few units with a slightly different plan, intended for smaller families. Closets were ample for the time and the finishes were of great quality, while not ostentatious and good provision was made for service staff as well, in a maid's room.

The information came from The Architectural Record, however, unfortunately, I cannot recall the issue or year, as it was not on the pages these came from. The architects were a local firm called Huestis & Huestis and the builder was a local of the name Russell C. Parsons.

Viking Apartments

2008-12-13T11:29:00.004-06:00

Continuing on our Wisconsin themed posts (you did know, didn't you, that we had this theme going?), I present here, the patented plans of the Viking Apartments in Milwaukee by one Herbert W. Tullgren in 1931. Yes, I did say patented, U.S. Patent # 1,896,734. His plan, used several times in Milwaukee, features a skip-stop elevator set-up with duplex or maisonette units, with the elevator stopping only at the living room floors. While I'm not a big fan of design patents, I do find it rather interesting that he did so. Unfortunately this set-up is not very common in the US due to our, perhaps admittedly over-stringent fire codes and overly paranoid and litigious society, however it works quite well for creating a house like, even exclusive feel to what would otherwise be an ordinary apartment, as well as saving money on construction by having fewer elevator doors and creating more rentable, leaseable and saleble space within the building, or by allowing more, larger units with fewer elevators (the other solution for large elevator apartments would be more elevators with smaller lobbies). It is also an attractive simple art deco or moderne building of white masonry construction.
As a sidenote or aside, the building is on the National Register for it's contribution to it's local area.

Out of town two flat

2008-11-23T21:16:00.004-06:00

Here's an adorable two-flat, set of two-flats, actually, from a quick trip to Racine last weekend. Those wide bays, mission arches on the parapet wall and two entrances, each entry seems to have it's own porch, all add up to a nice change from the densely packed Chicago two-flat. I'd love to see inside, I'd hope they are as substantial inside as they look to be from outside.

Do blondes have more fun?

2008-11-09T22:12:00.005-06:00

Do blondes really have more fun? Certainly, in Chicago, it would seem that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - just look at all of the Sarah Siddons that Caro... Oh, sorry, wrong blog, but yes, Chicago IS a blond brick city, just look at all the examples of it, from the humble bungalow, to six flats, to courtyard buildings to Pei Ieoh Ming's rowhouse (or townhouses if you prefer) in Hyde Park with several hundred thousand tri-levels in between.
Blond brick is omnipresent, though it seems to be concentrated when it appears. Here is a yellowish tinge in Edgewater.
An early example in Ravenswood, with wonderful cornices.A more formal example along the north lakefront.A mid-rise example.

And since blondes have more fun, I'll leave you with some examples of fun blond brick entryways from the Farwell Avenue Corridor. I would say that certain gentlemen did prefer blond, the builders of these buildings, that is.
Cos' I'm a blond,yeah yeah yeah, don't you with you were me, b.l.a.n.d.e., oh I don't know.... I really shouldn't write these posts late at night...

Farwell Corridor

2008-11-09T21:40:00.006-06:00

This posting is about the Farwell Corridor, as I term it (which also includes Morse, but that's neither here nor there), in West Rogers Park (or West Ridge, if you really, really prefer). This short stretch features a treasure trove of high class apartments (as well as some newer, somewhat interesting higher density housing) from Tudor to Art Deco and between.
It features everything from two and three flats to...
Courtyard buildings.
With Tudor-Gothick facades.
It features from truly grand de Luxe three-flats with impressive facades.
Which feature elegant facades with generous sizes, which must have large sized rooms.
As well as some truly massive six-flats.
With incredibly rich and varied facades.
From Neo-Classical to Tudor/Gothick to nearly Art Deco.
To imposingly massive...
I suspect that some of this development was due to proximity to good transport, both streetcar (along Western Avenue) and heavy rail (currently, today's Metra), as well as a combination of zoning and speculation. These really are good examples of some of the best of Chicago's residential architecture of the era, and even of American residential design of the era. There was also the convenience of proximity to a large park nearby.

Six-Flats deLuxe

2008-11-09T21:03:00.004-06:00

Even though the humble six-flat is the workhouse of family apartment housing, they are sometimes elevated to something more, which I call the six-flat deLuxe which can be found in middle-class areas, and more especially upper-middle and upper class areas which fairly high densities, such as Lake View or Hyde Park.
Here we have an early example from the south side's grand boulevard, Hyde Park Boulevard, where many high class buildings were built as "exposition" buildings for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This building appears to have one of the finest features of the de luxe building, which is side by side living and dining rooms, rather than having the dining room at the rear, either in front of the kitchen or facing the rear at the end of a long corridor.
Here we have another six-flat, but this time with a conventional layout, with the dining room at the end of a long, winding and twsiting hall in front of the kitchen, maids room and butlers pantry. This ordinary exterior belies it's interior, which hides two light wells, linen room and cedar room (NOT closets, but rooms), multiple bathrooms and luxury features.
Here we have a red brick entry with elegant features and sparse details.
And another similar example. Some buildings have another version of the front dining room plan, which places the dining room behind the living room besides the front hall, with the foyer or entry hall next behind the living room and the kitchen next to the front stairs which open front-wards onto the entrance hall and posess three staircases, two service and one main, as opposed to the standard rear kitchen layout, which has two sets of stairs.
Here with have another example of a side-by-side living room and dining room building, which has, if you look carefully to the right, where you can see, side porches and service stairs.
Our last building also features in the 20's variants, which four examples fall into, however with a more conventional plan, dressed up in a tudor or gothick facade. I hope you've enjoyed out little tour of six-flats de Luxe, of which I shall be getting some plans up and posted soon as well, to better explain the three basic layouts.

Suburbia

2008-11-06T20:42:00.009-06:00

So is suburbia all bad? Not when this is your view from your balcony and you have a subway at the local shopping center to zip you downtown.
You could live high up in a high rise, with a sunny balcony facing the view, enjoying the comfort of apartment living.
Or you could be in an atrium rowhouse at the foot of the high rises, even closer to the beach.
Enjoying your own private garden with a garden gate in your sunny courtyard.
Or in this hillside development of rowhouses, overlooking the playing fields.

So where is this bucolic, idyllic suburban ideal you ask? Why it's Hässelby strand of course, the westernmost suburb on the Green Line. No silly, not THAT Green Line, it's not Oak Park. This is in the land of the planned suburb, built by city for comfortable living to alleviate massive overcrowding in the 1950's, the beginning of a golden age of prosperity and modernity in Sweden's capital Stockholm. The views overlook Mälaren, the castle and pine studded lake that Stockholm City (yes, downtown Stockholm is called "city" in Swedish) straddles the outlet of into the Baltic.

So has this suburban idyll been abandoned? Hardly, here we have Nysäter outside of Göteborg (Gothenburg) which has recently been completed with a mix of custom houses, spec houses, cooperative (there are no condominiums in Sweden) and rental apartments.
Here we have a view of the spec houses, a big difference from American suburban building. Not a lick of vinyl siding, hardi-board or fypon to be seen. No Swede would accept something with cement board siding and popcorn ceilings.
Here is a view of the for rent housing - rental housing was traditionally the dominant form in Sweden with long tenure in units, since the bulk of housing was municipally owned, rents were raised only to keep up with expenses and inflation for many years.

Obviously, these are construction views, once the landscape fills in and the gardens grow up this will become lush and bucolic.
Here we have another view with the rental housing to the right and the spec houses to the left. Mixing of ownership types, the owner occupied single-family and the for rent apartments is quite common in Sweden. Many small town Swedes will emphatically tell people that there are no bad areas in their town and nowhere of lower social status (it is considered bad form to flaunt material possessions or to show off here, as well as to have a social hierarchy), in fact, it would be unseemly to noticeably have more than one's neighbors, and it is seem as appropriate that what different social classes there are should mix comfortably.
Here we have a view of the for-sale housing. Showing parking forecourts. And another view showing the rooftop decks or terraces at the top of the buildings. Swedes are very outdoorsy, and you will be hard pressed to find a dwelling unit in Sweden without outdoor space of at least a balcony. And finally, a view of the entry to the for-sale housing. There are two units, a ground floor flat and an upper floor maisonette, which are connected into a pair forming four dwelling units total.
And a last view of the for-sale units. And if people ask me nicely, I might just do a search for the sales brochure and plans for these units.

The Courtyard Building, Part VIII; Courtyard Variations - Gothick Courtyards

2008-11-01T13:30:00.008-05:00

You may have noticed some discontinuity in my postings on this subject. I have several in process and underway (i.e. heavy editing) which I mean to get finished up soon, once the leaves are off the tree's so I can take some better photographs, but in the meanwhile to both tide you over and whet your appetites, I offer; Gothick Courtyards.

Gothick is a typical style of 1920's and 30's to some extent, fantasy architecture - the architecture of escapism. It isn't quite as common in Chicago as in some other cities, and is certainly not as common in single-family residential construction, that being dominated by the bungalow which is omnipresent (though gothick can be found here as well).
In fact, there are some similarities to our own time here, as these were built at the end of a long era of massive housing construction - one wonders whether the current crop of residential building will be looked back on as fondly or so longingly? One guesses not. But you never know. It will be interesting to see if our new crop of buildings loose value as much as many did during the depression and after the war (WWII), but that is really subject of another post entirely, a completely new topic.

Here are some samples of Gothick Courtyard buildings from the north and northwest sides. This example, our first building, comes from West Rogers Park new the infamous duo, Park Gables and Park Castle, which represent the ne ultra plus of Far North Side courtyard buildings, however, this fine example, from just a block further north, sports some wonderful medieval details, stunning metal windows (with odd round arches oddly enough) and round turrets, which are well castelated. As well as half-timberings, rustication in stone, random stone in the brickwork and many other fine details.

However, when one turns the corner, this is what one gets, Chicago common brick and wood double-hung windows, just like any other (every other, one could say) courtyard building in Chicago. Luckily there is no building to the side which enables us to see this deception (or unfortunately, if one wishes to maintain the fantasy, as one certainly would).

Our next example comes from the Northwest side, and has been called Bavarian and described as a castle, like many other buildings from this era. This one has much in common with our first example, however it is in a more typical yellow butter colored brick, but has more emphasis on pointed arches and little Tyrolean sheltering roofs over the entry doors, as well as full on Germano-Medieval Gothick decor in the common entrance halls, yet again with the 1920's conceit of round arched openings in both doors and windows. Note the immense false fire place present in the entry hall.

With research, one might be able to identify whether or not this feature is authentically Germanic or at least German inspired (not a stretch, with Chicago's German heritage). There is also a quatrefoil motif both inside and out here as well, as can be seen in the bathroom shot - look closely at the tiled tub fronting and the flooring pattern of the tiles.

R.I.P. [Facadectomy]

2008-10-01T13:42:00.006-05:00

I just noticed the other day that one of my favorite small commercial buildings is getting a facadectomy, which is really quite tragic as it has a lovely 1920's Moorish inspired, fantasy laden facade. This little soon to be former gem is located at the intersection of Ridge and Glenwood on the Northeast corner. Unfortunately, I suspect that it is going to be redone with something yuppified and "tasteful" rather than it's original, rather elegant splendor. I also always thought that the second floor would make a great apartment, something with an open plan, rather loft-like, with a 20's Hollywood studio-atelier effect.

These facadectomies happen, although luckily, very fortuitiously, not very often. Sometimes that can be quite interesting, or even, lucky. In fact, a whole post on these is probably warranted as I have seen some quite good ones of late, as well as some poor ones. I have also become aware of some elderly facadectomies lately which are also quite interesting - and successful.

Rainy Day Post

2008-09-29T11:08:00.003-05:00

Some photos for a rainy day...

All taken in Edgewater beach at the beginning of Autumn 2008.

Minneapolis Cooperative

2008-09-27T11:37:00.009-05:00

Minneapolis Cooperative

This is an out of town example which has intrigued me for a while. It is a rather nicely done, medium sized apartment building, built for mutual ownership in the Twin Cities. It was designed by one Arthur Dahlstrom, who appears to have designed luxury villas, churches and the like for well heeled clients in the area. This also appears to have been designed for a moderately well-heeled clientele. The individual units are reasonably spacious and efficiently planned, with large living rooms with fireplaces and built-in bookshelves, with good relationships to the dining rooms and entries. However, the apartments have what I consider to be a defect, albeit a minor one, in that one must travel through the living and dining room from the main entrance to get to the kitchen or bedrooms. In fact, the only access to the bedroom wing is through the dining room. The kitchens, on the other hand, appear to be well planned, with a breakfast and casual dining nook under a window and there is generous closet space as well.

I am wondering, and hoping, if we have any Twin Cities readers, if any light can be shed on this building, which is hopefully still standing, as I have had no luck finding any references to it.

Reference: The Architectural Forum, September 1925, p. 146.

Corner Buildings - Part I

2008-09-23T17:58:00.015-05:00

Corner buildings can take many forms and styles, depending on size, lot, neighborhood and class of apartments. And then there is also the question of whether or not one of the streets is a commercial thoroughfare. Then of, then of course, there is the era in which it was built.

Most often, a corner building will be a six-flat with a three or six-flat attached on the side street. Or a nine-flat with a three or six-flat on the side street. In this case, I am referring to the side street as the side which has a unit facing onto it lengthwise. Usually this is an east-west street as well, but not always, of course.

Our first example is a nine-flat with a six-flat to the rear, in deep red brick, with rather more vertical decoration than typical.

Our next example is one with commercial premises on the first floor facing a major street. This has rather art deco inspired trim in orange brick and limestone. Also note the level change; the cornices have been carried through, but the window heights change based on the lack or presence of the first floor commercial space.

In the first photo you can see the first floor commercial space, with four flats above it, with an attached six-flat to the "rear".

In the second photo you can see the change in levels between the two halves of the building. This was skillfully handled here, with continuous cornices and parapet height for both halves of the building. The detailing is simple, yet done in a workmanlike manner, which unfortunately is somewhat marred by the recent addition of through the wall air conditioning units (at least the
radiators were retained).

Our next example is a rather unique looking building, appearing to be rather neo-classically monumental, yet also, to me, somehow more Midwestern arts and crafts than Chicago. Being in the city, however it has many typical features of a corner building, six units on the main street and six on the side street. Yet it still looks to be that it should be in an area outside of the Chicago planning tradition, not quite conforming to the norms - being on a larger than average lot with massive set backs on the main street parkway may have something to do with this impression I think.

Our last photographic example for today (for there will be more) is of a rather misleading building. From the front or short end/side, it appears to be a rather imposing, even imposingly grand, three-flat, facing onto a deep lawn at the wide parkway, necessitated by the large set-back. Yet it is actually a nine-unit building, as evidenced by the side entry servicing a six-flat with the front entry serving what is effectively a three-flat. It has typical arts and crafts decor, unfortunately some of the sun-room windows have been lost, as have the original entry doors.

Lastly, I leave you with a plan of a corner building. This has two sets of unequally sized and non-mirrored, non-identical six flats. Three of the units are one-bedroom flats, while one is a large two-bedroom unit. Interestingly, the larger one-bedrooms face the side street, while the smaller one bedroom apartment faces the main street or avenue.

The Courtyard Building, Part VI; Courtyard Variations

2008-09-22T20:06:00.022-05:00

There are some variants to the standard courtyard building, which, while not rare, are not common, such as the half courtyard. On the other hand, there are some truly rare forms, such as the, as I call it, reverse courtyard - an almost phallic shaped building centered on the lot with an entry courtyard on either side - as if two half courtyard buildings were joined, fused back to back. This has several subforms, I believe one could argue, but I am only going to address one which follows typical courtyard fashion in decor and entrances, as well as the landscaped side entry courtyards. At the bottom plans will show these two variations. Actually, this post will only deal with the half courtyard variation, as I am finding it is too lengthy of a topic to combine postings such as these.

The half courtyard is found throughout the city, where ever lot sizes didn't allow for a full courtyard, or other reason. They are even sometimes built contigiously with another one to form a courtyard from separate buildings (especially in the two-story variant[s]. They can vary from a typical sized half building (50 foot lot, maybe even smaller sometimes) to fairly large, and even grand buildings, with grandly architectural pretensions. At the bottom of this first section is a plan of the typical half-courtyard building.

Our first example is a modest side street red brick example of a half-courtyard. It, rather unusually, has a front bay window, due to the residential nature of the street, with fairly large set-backs and deep parkway. It has the typical front living room and dining room unit of the average courtyard, and in this case, half-courtyard.

The second example is also a fairly typical side street building, albeit a 20's building of butter yellow brick with neo-classical commercial detailing, typical of the period, along with some moorish, medieval and other hollywood inspired fanciful decoration of limestone.

Our next building is also a side street building of butter yellow brick, but this time with full on art deco detailing, if in a rather classical manner. Which of course, is the origin of much 1920's design, despite it's modernity.

The last of these side-street buildings is more of a blond brick, but similarly toned, with a somewhat wider lot. This one sporting more chaste decor and many bays along the side of the court. I see that there is a chimney at the side. One suspects that there are lovely wood-burning fireplaces withing. I suspect that there are none, at most a decorative mantel at most.

This next example is a bit grander, and certainly much more architectonically oriented. It is entered through a charming entryway with gas light of wrought iron, sports neo-colonial balconies, small, precise windows precisely located with simple, chase cornices. There is a certain precision to the detail, which is all very rigid, almost mannered, which is rare in Chicago, to find something this manneristic, however, it's being in the Golden Rectangle of Hyde Park should explain that. Being in Hyde Park, of this era, there was often a higher architectural quality achieved than elsewhere in the city (often, in fact, the south side exceeds the north, particularly the lakefronts - the lakefront areas which are now au courant - architectually in this era).

Here is another view, showing the ivy covered walls enclosing the courtyard and one of the faux gas lights, the sign of 70's and 80's condominium conversions in many buildings across the city, later banned by Peoples Gas (many of them were done* without permission or permits)

*Installed, I mean to say.

Our last example hails from the North Lakefront, Rogers Park to be exact, which is a more typically Chicago building. It has a typical vocabulary for Chicago residential architecture; sunrooms, gables, buff brick and limestone trim. All somewhere in or at the intersection of Prarie Style, Jungendstil and Craftsman aesthetics.

Here we have the plan of a typical half courtyard building. The units are simple, modestly sized, if not small, with the largest unit, as is typical, at the front facing the street, similarly laid out and sized middle units and a "special" or differently planned apartment at the back, facing the rear of the courtyard and the alley.

Sherman Gardens

2008-08-30T11:00:00.012-05:00

Sherman Gardens is another of Holsman, Holsman, Klekamp and Taylors large cooperative projects. This one is probably their highest density design, with three mid-rise buildings around a landscaped courtyard in downtown Evanston. The land plan of this is quite interesting, being in a trapezoidal block, which however, they were not able to get all of, which means that there are interloping buildings within it.

As you can see from the aerial view, the three buildings are clustered around a central courtyard. Two of the buildings take a similar dumbbell plan while the third takes an ell shaped plan. The buildings also have many units with balconies facing onto the court (as well as onto the surrounding streets), which have canted, fluted glass fronts as part of the railing system.

East View into Court

View into CourtBalcony View

The construction system is the same as their other projects, however, it appears that Sherman Gardens was built with a higher-income tenancy in mind, as there are some grander moderne flourishes to the entries, sculptural panels screening the service stair windows and a main entry from Sherman into the court. The buildings also have some larger unit combinations - maisonette units in a few of the building.

Lobby Entry View
Lobby Entry View
Main Entry View

View of Main EntryView through Main Entry Vestibule

The Courtyard Building, Part V - Courtyards de Luxe

2008-08-28T16:02:00.006-05:00

This post is dedicated to the ultra large courtyard building, which I am giving the terminology of Courtyard de Luxe (or perhaps a taxonomy of Courtyard Giganticus) of which there are several well known and lesser known examples throughout Chicago.

The first of these is the legendary or near notorious Tudorbethan Park Gables of Indian Boundary Park, which is one of the very finest examples of both the style and of a large courtyard, in this case a double-courtyard in fact. In many cases, unusually, the exterior decor here carries into the interior, carrying the theme of gothicism inside with vaulted ceilings and beamed rooms.
And I'm not even mentioning it's neighbor, the Park Tudor, which has more of a castellated, gothick feel than Park Gables.

The next example in this post is The Sterling Apartments, probably less well known, in fact, as much as unknown I would say. This one is of the single-courtyard type, but with multiple entries along the front and sides, as well as off of the side courtyard and it runs from side street to side street, for an entire block front. As you can see from only half of the floor plan it is a large building with a variety of accomodation types, from studios to two-bedroomed suites.

Some other examples of these large types can be found in Kenwood, South Shore, Beverly and other areas (such as Uptown-Buena Park, in the Pattington) which were upper middle class.

The Courtyard Building, Part IV

2008-08-26T21:57:00.008-05:00

After covering the basics with the courtyard building, we're now moving on to the courtyard itself. The best of these buildings were built on wider than average (or multiple) lots, which enable the courtyards to be exceptionally wide (Park Gables in Rogers Park for instance). One disadvantage to the design of these buildings is the "back side" of the buildings, with the service entrances, back stairs & etc. When they were built, deliveries were common, classism was much greater and there were servants and more stay at home householders to take receipt of deliveries and keep the back entries necessary.

But this is mere digression, since we were (well, are) discussing the courtyard themselves. The best of these are lushly and elegantly landscaped, and by this time have mature plantings, perhaps maintained lovingly by tenants or landlords.

Our first example is a nicely maintained, but rather plan example - the shot was taken in spring. Part of the reason for it's not having heavy landscaping is the width, which is quite narrow, as well as it's north-facing orientation, which prevents sunlight from fostering many plants.

In our next example, the courtyard is simply landscaped, but comes across as both warmer and lusher; two factors enhance this - the south facing building gets more light then the first example, while the lower building height allows more light from the east and west in (the first building has an English basement, while this one has a conventional first floor and partial height, if you will, basement).

The next example has landscaping which nearly conceals the entire building from view - while it makes the building less visible, it does provide shade and helps to keep the apartments cool. In fact, sometimes the landscaping and trees make summertime photography impossible. I will have to make some winter time treks to photographically document many buildings after my summer time reconnaissance missions.

The last example has a rather nice balance of landscaping - ground cover, tree's, etc in a fairly wide and sunny (west facing) courtyard. The lawns and plantings are all well tending and lovingly designed to compliment the building.

Odd Duck Three-Flats

2008-08-23T11:22:00.006-05:00

One of the more fun things of being an apartment building spotter is spotting odd duck, sore thumb, missing tooth or mismatching buildings. They can be the result of tear downs, unbuilt lots (aka land banking) or just odd circumstances in urban history. Often, they take the form of three flats, which today's post will focus on, in specific, what I am calling 'symmetrical' three flats, with a symmetrical front and side entry (or center entry, with an English Basement set up).

Our first example of this is actually the most "typical" example in it's detailing and decoration; a buttery orange-yellow brick, an octagon bay front (also, somewhat related to a bungalow in this respect). It sports it's original windows and front door and chaste classical trim, albeit of a medieval/heraldric type.

Our next example is a step up, if you will, into a more typically 20s neo-classical style - this time colonial in blond brick (very typically Chicago however, in this color choice). Here we have three windows on the front, chippendale window heads and quoins, all in limestone. This aesthetic is typical of "higher class" apartment houses from this period. Many 1920s apartment buildings feature this sort of decoration, as we shall see in further examples.

Here in our third example, we have a continuation of style and an increase in scale and granduer, although in this case the decoration seems to be a bit earlier, in a teens or early proto-deco manner (and with interesting esses in the third floor window key's. This example also ditches sash (i.e. double-hung) windows in favor of inward swinging casements.

In our fourth and final (yes, I'm sorry, it's the last one for today) example, we have what is in some ways the grandest, yet most domestic and homey of the four. This one is in red brick with a very wide facade, which most likely accommodates both living room and dining room in front. It has a very domestic neo-colonial cornice, friezes, window keys, divided lite windows and garlands in limestone as well as a simple awning or portico above the entrance. There is also a false roof or gable, which probably was originally slate or tile, but is now asphalt shingles.

I realize that I've cheated a bit in this entry, or used a false title, yeah, I was dishonest, as it was really more about symmetrical facade three-flats rather than their odd duck status, although each of these examples is on it's own, with no directly similar buildings around, which doesn't show up well in the photographs - perhaps more context should be added, but I do hope you've enjoyed this, dear reader...

The Courtyard Building, Part III

2008-08-20T16:59:00.009-05:00

Obviously, the main, overridingly distinctive feature of the courtyard building, both architecturally and functionally is the courtyard. While there are many different unit plan combinations, the basic premise of a large courtyard is a constant, consistent theme of the type.

The post will deal with the while future entries will deal with the court itself, this posting deals with the entry into the courtyard. Often, all that enters the courtyard is a simple sidewalk, perhaps, if one is lucky, with a few plantings around it, along the length, or I should say, depth, of the courtyard. However, in a few lucky instances, there is something rather more, both interesting and elegant (as well as functional).

In the first three examples, which are above, there are simple gates across the front of the courtyard, inset a bit from both the street and main facade. In the first example, the gate is simply an openwork trellis. In the second, it appears that the gate is either new or rebuilt to accommodate a gate with an electric strike. In the third example, the gate replaces a fence which was yet further in, which has been, in turn, replaced with nothing in a recent renovation.

This is a gate or fence, which blocks direct entry into the courtyard. The court entry can be unlocked, or more often than not, has been turned into a keyed entry with buzzers and intercom system from entry to units. Sometimes, it even becomes a pavilion of sorts, decorated in the style of the building, or even becoming the featured decoration of the buildings court. The courtyard is often, especially when wider, lushly landscaped and luxuriantly verdant.

In the first example above, there is an open gate, in an ornate fence, welcoming residents and visitors into the court. In the second and third examples, there is a pavilion blocking entry (and controlling access) into the courtyard. In the second example, it connects to the main block of the building, while having one end (and I am cheating somewhat here, since this isn't a full courtyard building - although more than half - albeit an excellent example of an entry pavilion). In the last example, the gate stretches across the entire narrow mouth of the courtyard with elaborate terra cotta ornamentation and tile roof, in a Spanish Revival- Neo-Colonial amalgamation. There also exist moorish and gothic-medieval variations of this as well.

The Courtyard Building, Part II

2008-08-17T11:18:00.006-05:00

Here we have a larger building, with grander pretensions than most, being designed by noted and renowned architect, Robert S. De Golyer, who designed many well-known lakefront high-rises among other projects.

This is located in southern Evanston, at a street corner. In plan, it is fairly typical of a corner courtyard building, with the courtyard proper, and then another wing along the side street frontage. The unit layouts are typical as well, if a bit larger than most.

Plans

As in most courtyard buildings, the largest, best and most desirable units are those in the front, which in the case even reach four bedrooms (not uncommon in Evanston). The exterior is noteworthy in that it is a Colonial Revival red brick composition with rather elegant entryways and a simpler system of architectural detailing than most building would have had.

View from Southeast

View into Courtyard

Reference:

The Architectural Forum, ca. 1919.

The Courtyard Building, Part I

2008-08-07T15:00:00.010-05:00

I think it's probably time to move on to the largest of the typical apartment types in Chicago. Yes, it is definitely time to move on to the courtyard building.

From the name of the building, it's quite clear that there is a courtyard of some kind, however, this isn't an enclosed courtyard (see the Rebori Cooperative for an example of a semi-enclosed court) but a U-shaped, normally front facing courtyard. A few scattered examples actually go all the way through the block, but by this fact, aren't true courtyards.

Our first example lives in Lake View, on a side street. It mainly contains smaller apartments, almost all variously sized one-bedrooms. The plans shows only half of the building, which typically sits on a triple or quadruple lot of normal depth.

Plans; note north is to the right in the unit plans and to the bottom in the overall plan.

Very often, usually, in fact, the largest units are at the front of the building, with the best exposure, that is, towards the street, and are often two bedroom units (although not in this case). The rear units can also be quite large, but there are many, many variations of this, based on the size of the building, age of the building, etc.

Overall Elevation
Detail Elevation

The details of the elevation are fairly standard, similar to what would be found on many other buildings, from bungalows to three-flats. In this case, dark brick with stone trim.

Reference:

The Architectural Forum, Vol. XXXI, Number 5, November 1919, p. 152.

Stockholm

2008-08-07T14:21:00.006-05:00

Ah, Stockholm, my second favorite city (Sorry London, you done been beat, you gots some work to do). A city of apartment dwellers, with good design standards and high quality of life.

And here are some initial plans to whet your appetites for future postings to come. I have an extensive library of plans and a treasure trove of images, along with a great knowledge of Swedish architecture and planning to share with you in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned.....

Holsman, Holsman, Klekamp & Taylor

2008-07-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

Holsman, Holsman, Klekamp & Taylor was one of Chicago's more venerable firms, descended from Henry K. Holsman, and the ancestor of today's real estate firm, Parker-Holsman. This entry is going to focus on one of their 1950's projects, centered around the intersection of Hood and Wolcott in West Rogers Park.

These were built by the architects development arm, Community Development Trust. This company specialized in high density, for-sale owner-occupied housing, which at that time meant cooperatives - or more specifically, mutual ownership in trust - via a not-for-profit corporation. These can be found across the city, and in fact, the Chicago area in general, as there is one project in Evanston.

Not only was this an usual ownership and development form, there was also technical innovation as well. They are built of bearing wall construction, of solid masonry - refer to the image at right, which shows the system, as built at the Lunt-Lake Apartments. They also feature radiant heating and an innovative structural floor system allowing lower floor to floor heights and enabling more floors within the overall building height.

In plan they are also economical, being fairly similar in size (unit-wise) to tract houses of the era. The structural system gives them almost an Eichler-esque interior feel, that of a single-family post and beam construction building, particularly on the top floor walk-up units. Units range from two to three bedrooms, with extra storage and laundries in the basements. In the walk-up buildings there is a dining area, with the top floor units having vaulted ceilings and fireplaces. The elevator buildings have four corner units on each floor, with one or two elevators depending on height.

Walk-up PlanElevator Plan

The site planning with lush greenery and open common space gives them a unique feel for the Chicago area, which typically favors very dense site development. With their mature landscaping they truly present an idyllic scene today, very much to the ideals of post-war planning.

View into central court

View of typical 5-story entrances

Entry view of 4-story entrance
(with intact lighting)

Entry view of 5-story building
Alternate entry type for 5-story building
(notice the "hat" shaped lighting fixture)

View of 5-story building

View of corner of 5-story building

The A. N. Rebori Cooperative Apartments

2008-07-26T12:35:00.001-05:00

This post dedicated to Mr. Steve Hickson, for his interest in this building.

Street View from Southeast to Northwest

The A. N. Rebori Cooperative Apartments are located in Chicago's Gold Coast, somewhat discreetly tucked away on a street corner. This is a rather unusual building in many respects, and in many regards, is like the architect, Andrew N. Rebori's, other works.

Rebori is best known for his art deco studio apartment buildings just to the west and north of this building, which have quirky, picturesque shapes and plans (and are often, I believe, remodels) along with double-height studio living rooms.

This building does, in fact have the double-height studio living rooms, with double-height windows on the exterior, but clothed in a neo-classical, historicist garb. Also unusual for Chicago are the duplex or maisonette units, that is, units with two stories internally, as can be seen in the plan. All of this is wrapped around a lushly landscaped courtyard garden, secluded by a limestone and red brick colonnade.

As can be seen by an examination of the plans, the entrances are to the sides of the central "gateway" in the center of the wings or middle of the blocks as they project towards the street. At the sides are smaller units and in the northeast corner is a particularly large and grand unit with it's on street entrance off of the avenue. Many of these plan features can be seen later in his art deco "studio" apartment buildings, which are, comparatively, well featured on the web and in publications. The incorporation of service/exit stairs is also quite ingenious, as is the lack of elevators, as one only need climb to the third floor to access the upper units here. A solution which is often used, yet little known, in Chicago

Courtyard View
Vintage view

A San Francisco Sojourn*

2008-07-25T21:29:00.001-05:00

And now for something completely different. Apartment buildings from a different city. On my most recent jaunt to San Francisco, I took a number of photographs of that cities vintage apartment stock. In some ways it is (housing stock-wise) very similar to Chicago; age, density and typology, while at the same time being completely different in aesthetic and plan (well, maybe not so different - or not?).

In San Francisco, there is very little brick construction, partially due, I'm sure, to ease of construction - think about schlepping bricks up the hills, availability of timber (mostly redwood, even for framing), lack of stringent fire codes as well as milder weather. There is also the California style of Spanish (or Spanish Colonial more accurately) influences, hence a massive amount of stucco in Mission styles and 1920s Classical Revival styles.

Most people seem to be familiar with the famous "Painted Ladies" of San Francisco's Victorian era, but less well known is the Edwardian and 1920s housing stock. There is also a large, vast by Chicago standards, trove of Art Deco housing as well. Another one of the big differences between the two cities (beyond mild weather, hills, earthquakes, trolleybusses and streetcars) is the lack of alleyways. Since there are no alleys, garages are either often originally incorporated into the front facade, or have been renovated into it.

Here we have a little red Mission style two-flat in the Mission District. This is identified by the cornice line which reflects the old mission churches of Old California, tile roofs and heavy massing. Of heavy San Francisco tradition are the light catching bay windows on the second floor. Although this house is on the "sunny side" of the city, it can still be foggy in the early morning hours here as well, making these windows quite useful. We also have a garage incorporated into the ground floor and a rather unusual appearing round entry with an almost craftsman appearing "roof" at the entry. The low and wide window on the first floor is also rather unusual, and strangely proportioned. Also note the little third floor (attic? or even just decorative) bay in the gable. My suspicion is that this was constructed immediately before the First World War, in the early teens.

Here we have a green two-flat, which I believe is locally known as a "Marina Style" building. This building reflects the 1920's version of Spanish style revival architecture as well as subtle hints of 1920's Classicism. In this case there are some echoes of Chicago buildings with octagonal bays, however, here the facade continues from lot line to lot line. These building also typically have dumbbell plans and light slots, making some rooms rather similar to Chicago apartments. This example comes from the Haight - Alamo Square border.

The interesting thing about these garages in the base, one is that they are often large enough for multiple cars, the other that they occur weather the slope is up from the street or down from the street (and of course they do occur on the sideways slope as well).

In this yellow example we have another example of this type of two-flat building. In this case, an almost indeterminate melange of 1920s forms and earlier decorative styles. An almost medieval cornice detail - or even a hint of Jugendstil or shades of Sezession massing and detailing. The windows and detailing make me think that this was constructed around 1920.

As with Chicago, these types also came in single-family and three story (though very few) versions. There are a large number of these in Richmond and Inner Sunset - two western areas of the city.

Now we move up and into larger format buildings. Here we have another building from the Haight to the left. This one is stuccoed in 1920's fashion, but notice the wood frame construction, as evidenced in the clapboard siding on the right side and the brick veneer base with garage doors. To the right is a corner building from the Mission District with much the same style of layout. The Haight building shows 1920's detailing, while the Mission building shows a light Colonial Revival treatment.

From these two examples it is only a short jump to the Art Deco extravagances which the city is justly known for (one hopes). The first few examples hail from Richmond and are similar in scale to the two previous examples, however, they are much more decorative with a riot of deco extravagances.

The three examples are all richly decorated with ornamented cornices and bay windows, all above the typical garage base which dominates San Francisco. This same style also applies to larger scale building, when the size changes the rhythm of the building less than one would imagine.

Here we have a grand deco entry way to an otherwise plain entry and two views of a spectacularly sited deco extravagance. Notice that the ever present bay windows are here too, with stunning city and park views.

Lastly we have some downtown examples. The first of which I don't really quite know how to categorize, however it is a spectacularly decorated building with extremely ornate bays, as you will note, on a very steeply sloping downtown street - Nob Hill, actually. I find it rather deco influenced, even though it's detailing is rather more Spanish Revival. The flat, plain facade surrounding the bays really implies a deco composition, though I suppose one could really argue that this is a 20's device or even conceit.

Nearby, also on Nob Hill, we have a riotous show of color and ornamentation in tropical greens and gold. Yet here again we find the typical bay windows and spandrel decoration. The decorative panels are typical deco detail, which can be found throughout the deco world.

The entry in this case is truly incredibly lush. I think that this is a good place to mention something about entries. San Francisco has a large number of grand or very charming entryways, both modern and traditional. Many of the apartment buildings have very inviting entry porches or forecourts, many unfortunately gated off today, but still lovely. Some even have cave-like entries, with atrium lighting from above, which incorporate carports within them (these are outside of our scope, as they are in single-family houses). However, there are still vast numbers of wonderful wood or marble lined entries all throughout the city, many of them lovingly preserved.

Our last building is at the top of Nob Hill, at the peak of the city. This is the Clay-Jones Apartments atop the hill, visible from miles around. Today it has a radio mast functioning as a spire, making it even more visible than it would have been.

This building was built in the very late 20's - 1927 to be exact - and contains two apartments per floor in the upper part of the tower above the setback, both of which are quite nicely laid out. The architect was one Albert H. Larsen and the construction cost was $585,000.

This concludes our little San Francisco Sojourn. I think I may do another post in the future, but another trip out west will be spent doing more documentation of their local housing types and enjoying the Bay Area as much as possible. You'll note that I didn't touch on the more well known, much better known, in fact, twentieth century architecture, that of the Mid-Century, with such luminaries as William Wurster et al or the eponymous Eichler House.

*Apologies to Robert of A Chicago Sojourn

Parlez vous francais

2008-06-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

Mais oui allons-y!

- Blossom Dearie

Who ever said that we don't like things ala Francais? It's a little bit of Paris on the prairie, in full on Second Empire mansard luxury, but in three-flat form!
In fact, except for the storm windows and triple-hung windows it could almost be in France. And, unusually, the interiors also match the exterior. That and the fact that the vehicles are from Wolfsburg, not Billancourt. Though one really expects a Déesse out front

Front Entries

2008-06-21T14:58:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd do a quick post on the various front entries of Chicago buildings (shades of Doors of Chicago perhaps?). Here is just a selection of the variety of styles one can find. From art deco to neo-colonial and between.

Booth Hansen

2008-06-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Yes, dear readers, that is in fact, oh how I dread to say the name, SoNo*, product of Booth Hansen, one of Chicago's leading architectural firms, what we in the trade would call a design firm. This is, I think, one of their best, and one of the best new residential towers. In fact, so much more so than I had expected. The dark glass and black metal cladding make a dramatic, almost Miesian statement. For contrast to the under construction building, here are some shots of their recently completed building in the Gold Coast with it's sleek, glassy sweep of a south facade.

I also hope this entry doesn't shock my usual readers, but I am, in fact, a fairly staunch modernist, and this building appeals to me. It's a shame that their other new, in planning, building, won't look as good - I am, of course, referring to 5440 Sheridan Rd, which has been cut in height.

Unfortunately I don't have a good shot of the front - south - facade, but the edge condition, if you will, much like SoNo is quite spectacular, almost dissolving with the balconies. These are also, as you can plainly see, construction shots.

*I do have to say that this name is totally, utterly and completely ridiculous. I mean, I live in SoHo by that token - South of Howard that is, like most Chicagoans. The list of these silly names goes on for ever; luckily I cannot remember any others at the moment and will spare you the torture...

Balconies; Six-Flats with Balconies (Part I)

2008-05-26T11:02:00.000-05:00

Another one of the distinctive and unique features of many Chicago apartment buildings are the balconies on the front. Usually they are not really truly useful, but just more of a decorative feature. However, they do often make an attractive facade and can provide some use. Of course, they are usually on buildings with larger apartment and bigger lots with more front yard area (this might have something to do with zoning/building line setbacks).

Some, however, can be very attractive and useful, and quite distinctive.

The example to the right is a neo-colonial example from the south side, which has a massive pediment and cornice as well as almost ante-bellum columns. In fact, this is one of the most unique buildings, in that there is really nothing quite like it elsewhere in town. In fact, it stands rather alone and is much grander than the more typical six-flats across from it.

The next example is across the street from the first one. This building features incredible massive front balconies, porches really, of brick with a roof over the third floor. Unfortunately the parapet has had a cornicectomy at some point, but the massive balcony piers remain, with their craftsman inspired detailing.

An interesting tidbit about this building is that the building at exactly the same position in the block, on the next street to the east has the same bay and window arrangement - two round bays of three windows each and one window per floor at the balcony, yet that building has a completely different feel and treatment, being of red brick and in a neo-heraldric (as opposed to medieval or renaissance) with limestone trim, Gothic arches and shields, and other signs of heraldry.

Our next example also features a similar arrangement on the facade, and even a similar brick color, however, the feel, due to the treatment of the facade, is quite different. In this case wooden porch columns in a similar vein to our first example extend only the support the deck of the third floor porches. In this example, the first floor units are at a disadvantage in that they do not have private porches or even a door out to a stoop. The railings are of iron, and have been since I can remember, they might once have been of wood or cast iron which disintegrated over the years. And I apologize for the poor visibility, once spring and summer arrive, some buildings are simply hidden, which in this case, being a south facing building, is to the residents advantage.

This is another open ended post which will be continued with further examples in the, hopefully, near future.

Glasgow?

2008-05-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

Glasgow or some other Charles Rennie MacIntosh fantastical construct?

So, Glasgow or..Chicago?

Endangered!

2008-05-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

This fine building off Addison (just west of Halsted, behind the police station) is reputedly in danger of demolition. I wish there was an easy way to stop that from happening. It has some very distinct Jugendstil, or more accurately, Sezession details and the detailing varies per entry (of which there are several.

The Sunroom - Part I

2008-05-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

One of the most distinctive - and defining - characteristics of early 20th century residential architecture in Chicago and a paragon, local sign or epitome of domesticality is the sunroom. These rooms are either at the front or back of a residential building, however, in this post we are going to address the front, as the rear sunroom is actually often just an enclosed back porch. They occur all the way from bungalows to high rises (though it may takes some sleuthing to determine this).

They were even noted at the time of construction as being noteworthy in the national, serious, architectural press. "Special attention should be called to the extensive use of the run parlor, sometimes taking the whole end of a room, or being added to the front and covering portions of the living room and dining room" (1) was written about the apartment houses of this area. Many apartment buildings have these "sun parlors" throughout the city, and without further ado, here are some examples.

Here is an earlier red brick example with colonial inspired brickwork, Dutch Colonial, in fact, with windows in the living room on either side of the sunroom. The brickwork is also heavily accented with varied soldier courses and rowlock courses along with limestone trim. The eyebrows above the first floor windows are particularly distinctive.

Next we have a similar version, also in red brick, but with the sunrooms pushed to the outside of the front of the building. This example is rather chaste, comparatively, when one looks at the previous example. The detailing, however, is quite typical of Chicago, with craftsman or prairie overtones. Even though this building has a symmetrical elevation, the plan becomes off center, with two different unit plans, one apartment will gain an extra bedroom (or larger living room or den) at the front.

Next up we have what is pretty much the prototypical Chicago apartment building; deep, dark reddish brick, sunrooms, sparing limestone trim with heavy brick ornamentation, metal cornicing and a symmetrical layout. This example is also exceptionally well maintained. It also have a nice "gable" above the front entry. A word, a quick note, should be said at this time about orientation. One would think that the sunroom would and should face south, if it could. But, as the if implies, this isn't always possible with the Chicago grid, though the majority of buildings face either east or west by virtue of the bulk of the city blocks being oriented north and south, but buildings, and hence, their sunrooms, can also face north.

Next we move on to another type of sunroom, the chamfered or "bay" sunroom. This generally called an 'octagon' in bungalow terminology, but I think that this would be more typically correct in a three-flat which is closer to a a bungalow (a close relative to be sure, planwise). This is a nice example of a fairly plainly decorated building which shows the chamfers very nicely. In this case, the lack of additional windows on the facade indicated that the sunroom and living room "run together" or really are one large, bayed room. The center windows indicate a front, rather than internal staircase as well.

Here is another, nearly identical example, except in a butter yellow brick, which also has slightly more exuberant decoration, such as the arched parapet wall, brick trim and stone 'quoins' below the first floor window sill.

Rather unusually there is an arched window at the upper stair landing; these are not terribly common in Chicago. Both likely in that they don't fit craftsman traditions to some extent, but more likely because of cost. Remember, most of these buildings were built speculatively for investors, either live-in or absentee, so cost was an issue, then as now, as would have been speed of construction, which was much longer then than now.

(1) The Architectural Forum, December 1919, "The Apartment Building for Moderate Rentals, Part II", Elisha Harris Janes, P. 194

Six Flat Façades

2008-04-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

There are many different façade treatments in the Chicago six-flat (as with all the other types too). They vary by era, class of building, builder, etc...

We'll start with some elderly façades - well, older anyway - which were typically graystones. I would assume that the term greystone comes from the what I presume to be Indiana limestone, which I guess was the most fashionable material at that time.

Here are two examples of this, both with bay windows, one with (non-original) balconies, which I suspect is somewhat newer and an older one without.

The second example has a very grand, formal, front entrance which is highly ornamented in a classical manner. The entrance is central, taking equal space from each of the first floor apartments. It has also had its, most likely tin, cornice removed. The first example has retained it's stone cornice, but lost it's original balcony railings and fascia. It has a side entrance, which steals a bedroom from one of the first floor units. Both have internal staircases, lit either from above by a skylight or from the rear via a lightwell.

Then we progress on to what I call a "flat-front" façade, with inset balconies at the front. The balconies are "internal" in that they form a room within the face of the building, usually with a bedroom fronting onto it, with a side door from the living room onto the balcony. This is a case where the living room has the short end to the street, as opposed to the long side to the street - which only allows one room to the street. This allows a bedroom to share the orientation of the living room to the street, and may make the overall depth of the building somewhat shorter. This example has deep red brick (I will have to touch on color in a future post, but it has to be said that there are many different brick colors that were used) with colonial trim, and has retained what appear to be it's original balcony railings, dividers and thin stone cornice.

There is also a typical variation on the storied Chicago window, with a wider, operable window in the center of the three window unit. This building has luckily retained it's original mullion patterns as well.

I am going to leave it here for tonight; tomorrow or the next day, I will get into the next type, the sunroom front, which has one of the most typical, characteristic of Chicago vernacular details, the front sunroom. But to whet your appetites, I am going to include one which is somewhat, somewhere in between the characteristic and typical sunroom front and the flat front. This example has the sunrooms merged into a central bay housing the front stairs and vestibule forming a sort of half-sunroom on the front elevation.

Needless to say there are many more front treatments and typologies to be explored. The sunroom has huge numbers of wonderful examples, and then there are the custom and higher end buildings, with classical, architect designed features which evolved into the few, but not, luckily, too rare art deco buildings which can be found here and there.

Upcoming Posts

2008-04-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't forgotten about this little project, my blog. I am planning some future posts as I write. Lets see, we haven't quite finished with six flats yet, not by a long shot. Then we have courtyard buildings to move on to.

And then there are some other topics. I'm planning on doing a feature or featurette on Holsman, Holsman, Klekamp and Taylor, who have done some of my favorite post-war buildings in Chicago. I may throw in some single-family just for fun and maybe some unexpected examples of things here and there, hither and tither.

I am thinking perhaps, of the futurist, as opposed to futuristic, buildings along South Hyde Park Boulevard would be fun to do. In fact, a south side trip is in order to get more photographs.

Just to keep us going, here's a six-flat facade, the treatment of which there are innumerable examples of.

20's Six-Flat

2008-03-22T10:37:00.001-05:00

Here we have, in this example, a 20's six-flat with a rather unusual, but not terribly uncommon, plan, with a master bedroom and bath in front, while the two secondary bedrooms and bath off the kitchen, which is separated by the dining room from the front bedroom and living room. This would be wonderful for families with older children, but not, perhaps with newborn infants or toddlers, tough good for roommates and having an office, den or family room in one.

This one also has a rather nice, simple Hollywood Spanish-Deco facade as well, in an nice, somewhat unusual orange brick with nice stone (one assumes, Indiana Limestone of course, naturally it could be from elsewhere).

Another Six Flat

2008-03-21T23:20:00.001-05:00

This time a somewhat newer six-flat, this is a 20s vintage plan with larger rooms and better proportions and closet space as well. An interesting detail is the inset back stair and lack of a large, or, in fact, any discernible back porch. This one, this example, unlike our last one, doesn't have a light well and sports what might be called a true dumbbell plan, which widens out to the lot lines at the ends, allowing the middle windows to be set back from the property line; another unusual feature is the rear facing bedroom (maids room at one time most likely) which is rear facing. Since this room faces the rear, it also has better light than most would. This vintage tends to feature ornate decorative fireplaces and this is no exception, with typical book niches at the sides as well.

The elevation is in blond brick with softly curving bays across the front of each unit with soft art deco ornamentation, which is not a typical treatment, though it occurs in very late 20's buildings (see future post for more on these facades). This is also a rather attractive way of handling the center entry and stairway while not having a flat front facade.

The Six Flat

2008-02-02T10:47:00.000-06:00

Well, we've moved on, ever so slowly, from the three flat up to the six flat. These can take many forms, layout wise. But today's feature is an early (1906) form, on the higher end of the spectrum. From what I can deduce and determine, the six-flat began to take form around the end of the 19th century. Probably about 1890, and many were built on the south side in conjunction with the Columbian Exposition, some even in neo-colonial styles - Hyde Park and Kenwood are rife with them. That is where today's example comes from.

I think that in plan, they would be called "long hall" apartments in New York, and that the plan, in Chicago, is often called a railroad, though this isn't strictly accurate as that term implies having to travel through one room to get to the next, from one room to another with no hallways or corridors between them, this example certainly doesn't do this, except into the servants or ancillary spaces, which are off the dining room, and certainly the public (and family private) spaces do not.

The building is entered through a center foyer with marble paneling and then one proceeds up marble stairs into the stair well, which is top lit by a skylight, from where one accesses the individual apartments. The units are entered into a spacious foyer or reception hall with a generous opening into the living room, which takes up the entire front of the apartment. The door from the foyer spans the entire foyer wall. The large, light, bright and spacious living rooms feature French doors out to a small balcony and a large three-windowed round day, as well as craftsman-prairie school inspired woodwork and a large built in bookshelf which encases a tiled and metal (the interior is metal with fleur-di-lis decorations) decorative (formerly gas fired) fireplace. Behind the living room, off the entrance hall, is a spacious front or master bedroom with ample space for furniture and two windows. Interestingly, this building is not quite symmetrical, and one half has a niche for built-ins in the bedroom, and connecting doors into the second bedroom.

From the front hall, a glass paneled door leads into the rear hall, which leads to the dining room. Off this hallway is the bathroom, which faces a central light-well or (very) small court and the second bedroom. The hallway also features obscured casement windows onto the light well and a fairly large hall closet. The second bedroom is also generous, with two windows spaced for furniture between.

The large dining room is at the end of the corridor and has a low slung triple or Chicago (style) window. Most of these have been remodeled in various periods. Many of them were done in a twenties "panel" style, while others still had the Edwardian paneling in a somewhat craftsman inspired style.

Through another door is a small butlers pantry, with cabinets which appear to have been added after the fact. Then on into a bright kitchen off of which are the third, or maids, bedroom which sports it's own bathroom and a pantry. The back of the building is taken up with a very large back porch, which were originally screened porches. Behind this is a large yard, as there is no alley for automobile access for garages or parking (many streets in Hyde Park do not have alleys, as most of the rest of the city has). The basement is taken up with the usual features, large laundry room, boiler room and water heating apparatus, bicycle room (former coal storage), a small janitors or basement apartment, and a very generous store room for tenants, with spacious storage lockers.

The Three-Flat

2008-01-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

I was going to start with the two flat, but a dearth of images, and more especially plans, stymied that plan. They will be covered ad nauseum in later posts.

Many three-flats follow the same basic plan of the two-flat, living room, dining room on one side with the bathroom and kitchen directly behind, off a corridor, and the bedrooms and stairs on the other side. Three-flats begin to vary this, with what I term the zig-zag layout, with the living room in front and the dining room behind the stairs - in this variation an actual entrance hall or foyer is also often provided. Then the kitchen can be directly behind the dining room of, completing the zig-zag in the other corner of the apartment, with a bedroom directly behind the dining room.

The plan above is a good example of this with the public rooms in opposite corners from each other (I include the kitchen in this). The bedrooms and bathrooms are fitted into this plan, and a nice touch, not accessed directly off of any of the public rooms, but from the foyer or back hallway.

The image to the right indicates this type well enough; this was typical in the teens more than any other era, and into the twenties, before the plan was refined into what many have called the golden age or era of apartment design (not just in Chicago, but nationally). A nice deep brick color and sparse limestone trim with heavy, solid porch columns make this a nice, discreetly elegant addition to any block. It also shows the waning craftsman influence which then flowered into a typically Chicago style of decoration, particularly on the bungalow, but also on multi-family dwelling as well. This one was not shorn of it's cornice like many, but has a minimal limestone coping above the third floor windows. Many of this type had a massive square projecting, protrusion like tin cornice, which I suspect was a stand, readily available product, cheap enough for developers of the era to be able to install and dress up an otherwise plain building. Unfortunately many of these have not been kept up and removed over the years - this was also done for aesthetic reasons in the middle of the last century when fussy ornament was out of style and older buildings were modernized (not the least for ease of maintenance).

Typologies

2007-12-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

There are a large number of different basic types of apartment buildings in Chicago. As most everyone knows, the basic unit of Chicago housing is the bungalow (in it's long, varied history and forms). However, once one moves into multi-family housing, there are more complicated forms.

Chicago has never really been a row house city to the extent that other large 19th and early 20th century cities are (Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Francisco come to mind). The basic building blocks of apartment buildings start out with the humble two flat and move on from there.

The Two Flat
The Three Flat
The Four Flat
The Six Flat
The Courtyard Building

Of course, there are a huge number of variants in all of these, though they typically follow a few set patterns and aesthetic treatments.

Illustrated is a fairly ordinary limestone two-flat in a winter scene.

Welcome

2007-12-09T15:51:00.001-06:00

Welcome to my blog about one of my biggest interests, no, passions, well, obsession, which is the traditional or vernacular Chicago apartment building. The focus of this blog is going to be on pre-war buildings, however I will try to feature some from newer vintages and other locations for fun as well.

There are a lot of things that make Chicago a great city, but our housing stock is one of the unsung heroes in that greatness. I had originally wanted to name this blog "Beyond the Bungalow", but unfortunately, that name has already been taken as the title of a book about Bungalows and the Craftsman movement. However, fear not, this blog will not dwell on 4+1's in the least (though, at some point, they may be illustrated as an example), but was suggested by a friend (Thanks Geaux!). And sorry Herr Van der Rohe, but neither your luxus palazzo residence or luxurious steel and glass towers is home to the average Chicagoan (wonderful as both types are) who lives beyond the lakefront.

One of my first tasks will be to categories or create a typology of the basic types of apartment buildings found in Chicago.