Berwyn has long been recognized as the epi-center of bungalow style, with the Art Institute of Chicago calling the near west suburb one of the most significant populations of Chicago-style bungalows in the Chicago area. For Berwyn Historical Society President Kristine Dillon, who also is one of the original eight founders of the Bungalows and More Tour, Berwyn is rich in bungalows and quite a bit more.
Tour history
The walk began in the summer of 2005 with a Berwyn resident who really loved bungalows. She decided to start a tour of bungalows and donate the proceeds to the Berwyn Historical Society. Dillon and past Historical Society president David Olson were among those recruited to help out with the original tour.
“Originally, there were eight of us,” Dillon recalled. Our goal was just to get 100 people through the homes and showcase not only the bungalows of Berwyn but also other homes that were good representations of a particular housing style.”
The first year, the walk coincided with American Bungalow Magazine’s visit to the village, and the following year the magazine published a 12-page spread on Berwyn and the bungalow tour. Dillon credits the publicity with helping the event grow. After missing only one year, the tour has become a community staple that she thinks attracts residents and non-residents alike to the village.
For many tour participants, she said, the fun is in seeing the different personalities of each house. “Our homeowners are very house-proud, and it is such a treat to see what people do with their homes. We’ve had people purchase homes here in Berwyn after participating in a tour.”
At the end of the day, according to Dillon, the Berwyn Bungalows and More Tour showcases what makes Berwyn so special to its residents.
“It’s really a positive event for our community,” she said. “We’re showing our best side. It attracts residents and people who grew up here and come back interested to see what the young people have done to the houses. Current Berwyn homeowners like to use the tour as a source of inspiration for their own homes. On the exterior, these bungalows can look like duplicate soldiers in a row, but when you go inside, it’s anybody’s guess what you will find.”
This year’s highlights
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the walk, this year’s homes include previous years’ favorites, including not only bungalows but homes built in the Prairie, Victorian and Four Square styles.
New to the walk this year is the house Dillon and Olson refer to as the “Phoenix House.” Olson said the home was unoccupied and neglected for many years. It showed the effects of vandalism, broken windows and a leaky roof.
Of the Riverside Drive home, she said, “For those of us who live in the area, anyone who is an old house enthusiast saw this lovely home deteriorating over the course of many years. Finally in 2007, we started to see signs of activity in the home. I noticed the windows had been replaced and had been done so very sensitively to the original. For us, it was a joy to see it come back to life, like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Built in 1926-27, the original owner was Ignatz Winkler, a cut-stone contractor whose stonework is seen in the home’s limestone exterior. Olson noted that Winkler also provided the stone work for the Hotel McCormick, a luxury hotel once located at Ontario and Rush streets in Chicago.
Beverly and Trent Weable will share their Chicago-style bungalow with tour participants and are returning for a second round on the tour. The Weables have been working to rehabilitate their home, and Beverly noted there are new changes to the home since it first appeared on the tour in 2008.
She said the home was built sometime in the early 1900s.
“What we know is that the first tax bill is from 1918 and the standpipe from the bathroom is original and is a type not allowed after 1920,” she said, “so we’re not 100 percent sure, but we say the build date is between 1918 and 1920.”
She credits the charm of Berwyn bungalows to the craftsmen who once lived in the area.
“We’re lucky being in Berwyn because we had such great talent with the Bohemian carpenters who did the woodwork,” Weable said. “The woodwork in our home is amazing. We have built-ins in the dining room and between the living room and dining room.”
Previous owners had removed the original wood colonnade that separated the living and dining rooms, and Weable was relieved to find that they stored it in the attic so it could be reinstalled. She is thankful that the woodwork was never painted which made it easier for them to return the bungalow’s original charm.
When a neighbor replaced his bungalow’s art glass windows with vinyl windows, the Weables scooped up the art glass originals for the back wall of their kitchen.
“They are gorgeous,” she said, “and just make my kitchen sparkle.”
Olson admitted that the Berwyn Bungalow and More Tour is quite different from neighboring Oak Park’s more famous Wright Plus house tour, but in his mind the Berwyn homes can be just as interesting for tour participants. “Many of these are common homes, but they’re beautiful too and wonderful to see.”