During 2023, the Homes section in Wednesday Journal provided a lot of sneak peaks into local homes, history and architecture. We also got to know a lot of the people in Oak Park, River Forest and beyond who make our villages such wonderful places to call home.
January
In January, we visited 404 Home Avenue. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed George Smith home had recently been listed for sale after being in the same family for almost sixty years. The shingle-style house was in need of some updates, and John Waters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy created some images of what a restored home would look like. The home sold for $485,000 in March.
February
In February, we re-visited the Gunderson Gut, a home in Oak Park’s Gunderson Historic District located on Gunderson Avenue. Owner Matthew Eade spent the better part of the pandemic updating the historic home. In 2023, he won an Historic Preservation award for his efforts.
March
We learned about a home in River Forest with long-term family ties in March. The house at 7416 Oak Avenue had been in the same family for five generations. Jill Gordon’s ancestors first bought the land in 1898 from Mr. Quick, who developed the Quick subdivision in town. The family ran an ornamental plaster business onsite for years. The house sold for $626,000 in August.
April
April saw a push to organize from neighbors of a proposed development on the corner of Ridgeland and Chicago Avenue. When a dental practice left the 1950’s corner building, developer Ambrosia Homes announced plans to purchase the lot and build a 36-unit apartment building. Neighbors formed a group called Oak Parkers for Wright Sized Development and decried the building’s size and design.
May
Things were looking up in May. In fact, about 48 inches up, as we saw an historic home at 509 Fair Oaks raised up for a basement makeover. General contractor Tom Sundling of Thomas Patrick Homes, who is working with architect Tom Bassett-Dilley on the green makeover of the home, brought in Heritage Movers from Wisconsin to lift the home to allow for a higher basement. The home remained lifted for months as foundation and utility work took place.
June
In June, we covered the Oak Park Area Board of Realtors Realtor of the Year, Al Rossell. It was the second such award Rossell has garnered over his decades of working in real estate in Oak Park. Through the turbulent 1960’s, working to integrate Oak Park, to his decades spent as a resident of Pleasant Street and working at Jack Carpenter Realty, Rossell has become a fixture of the Oak Park community.
July
A bungalow on Fair Oaks was the focus of a July story when it earned Landmark status in the village. 1201 Fair Oaks, also known as the Swenson-Gottlieb house, was built in 1931 as a collaboration between architect George E. Pearson and the builders George Ellefsen and Arne Bentsen. The second owner of the home was David Gottlieb, who earned millions as a pinball machine manufacturer. He founded a company in 1927 that devised the button-operated flipper used in the operation of almost all pinball machines manufactured at that time. Gottlieb was a major benefactor of the hospital that bears his name.
August
In August, we examined a local Prairie Style masterpiece by architects David Postle and John Fischer. Built in 1915 for John Meier, the house at 420 N. East Ave. has Prairie and Tudor influences. Constructed by local builders Joseph Guy and John McClintock, the 5,500 square-foot home was listed for sale for $1.8 million and found a buyer in rapid time.
September
Two local experts shared their expertise on architectural embellishments in September. Will Quam’s popular Instagram account Brick of Chicago celebrates the brick details that make up many buildings throughout the Chicago area, and Debbie Mercer has created a website that documents the many uses of terra cotta in historic buildings in and around the city.
October
In October, we saw a two-flat returned to a single-family home on Elmwood Avenue. The 1873-era home was originally a Queen Anne Victorian-style home that received a Prairie Style makeover in the early 1900’s, when it also was converted to a two-flat. Homeowners Kim and Don Vander Griend restored the home’s exterior and interiors while making it into a single-family home for their family.
November
We documented the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio’s makeover in November. The landmarked tourist attraction received a new, period-appropriate roof courtesy of Oak Park contractor Von Dreele Freerksen. Doug Freerksen detailed the meticulous care taken in restoring the home’s chimneys and creating a new cedar shingle roof that looks like the home that Wright designed.
December
In December, we looked east to Austin, where a local bungalow was awarded a Driehaus Award for restoration. Homeowners Katrina and Mike Morrissey have spent the last decade restoring their Austin bungalow. When it came to the kitchen, they rediscovered and rehabbed the original subway tile. Mike built cabinets that replicate the original pantry cabinets, and they added a vintage sink to create a kitchen that feels at home in their 100-plus-year-old home.