6225 N. Fairfield, 1923

Here's an unusual alley building spotted by my wife on one of our innumerable drives down Granville.  She thought it might be a coach house, something I've never seen in West Ridge.  It's actually a rear lot residence and garage. Its front yard on Fairfield looks a bit like an overgrown forest.  And it's not a remnant of early development in the area either.  It was built in 1923, about the same time that the rest of the block was filling up with apartment buildings. 

There have been numerous additions over the years, so it's become an odd amalgam.  Most of it is brick, but there are several frame dormers and a tile additon on the front. There's even a little turret that's not visible in this image.

According to the permit record there was some type of carnival (with four unspecified rides) permitted on the front portion of this lot in the Fall of 1952 and 1953.  The lot to the north would have been vacant at that point, so that makes more sense. 

I remember seeing family photographs of my aunts and uncles riding ponies in their neighborhood in the 1950s . Perhaps these were the areas where local festivals were held- vacant (or underutilized)  lots on otherwise developed blocks.