Like a lot of Oak Park homes, the house on Superior Street has been through some changes. Built in 1884, the house was moved from its original location on Forest Avenue by horses. The house originally had a wrap-around porch, but by the time the owners purchased it in 2011, the porch was long gone.
After buying the home, the homeowners worked with architect Kimberlee Smith of Smith Architecture, Ltd. on some interior renovations. When they were ready to tackle the porch project, they turned to Smith for design and general contractor Tony Roeder of Marion Street Services for the build-out of their new porch and three seasons room.
The homeowners had previously visited the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest to research their home’s history. There, they discovered a 1908 Sanborn map, which indicated that there was originally a wrap-around porch on the house.
Smith notes, “The 1908 map shows that there was a porch that extended around the front. That’s kind of why we ended up being where we are, because she did that research at the Historical Society.”
Working to preserve or return a home’s history is part of the job for Smith, who often collaborates with the village’s Historic Preservation Commission in her work.
“I always love working with them. There’s a reason why people come from all over the world to see Oak Park. This house is really a part of that.”
Smith looked at a home further down Superior Avenue for inspiration on some design details and says Susie Trexler, former Urban Planner for the village was instrumental in the shepherding them through the historic review process.
“When I make a presentation [to the HPC,] all of the history is included. It all has merit and meaning,” Smith says.
Roeder notes that when people come to the HPC with drastic changes in mind for historic homes, they can get a lot of comments.
“This was more collaborative,” he said. “In this process, everyone wanted the same thing.”
That’s not to say there weren’t any challenges. An older home that has been moved from its original location is bound to present some issues.
Roeder said, “The building was definitely going in different directions besides plumb and level.”
He points to the efforts of every member of his crew in making the project a success.
“Peter Soumar, our mason, made many trips to different supply yards to find matching stones for the support columns on the front of the porch. He sourced over 10 samples to make for the closest match possible to the existing stone foundation. Peter and I laughed when we saw how close the stones matched. He noted that they may have come from the same local quarry as the original foundation did.”
Roeder’s framing specialist, Steve Forrest, has built over 500 homes and has almost 60 years of experience. He put his skills to the test in crafting the new porch, addressing issues with roofs that were not at the same angle.
“There were many challenges bringing two different angles from the front and side roofs that meet at a radius on the east corner, along with the house being out of square. We are talking about a house built 140 years ago, raised off its stone foundation, dragged by horses around the corner and set on another foundation nine years later,” Roeder says.
Throughout the project, Roeder’s employees worked to use modern materials that would look appropriate to the historic home. Woodwork was the key to a lot of their efforts, including beadboard ceilings, hand-crafted trim, and a special rosette detail.
One of the goals for the project was to make it look like the new porch had always been there, and a welcome side effect was enjoying the process. All involved say that the teamwork and collaboration made the project a joy to work on.
That efforts were rewarded with an Historic Preservation Award last month. According to village Urban Planner Brenton Boitse, it is the first time that he can confirm that a winner received all perfect scores from the judges.
