I always enjoy seeing these frame houses on Morse, especially in the winter when their colors stand out against the snow. I suppose that's why I kept the snow in this illustration, even though it overtaxed my modest coloring skills.
These frame homes were built after Rogers Park was annexed to Chicago in 1893. Their construction dates range from 1894 through 1901. These strike me as custom built homes rather than standard builder models. They're located on very generous lots, with 50' frontages and 170' in depth. Not a bad size for a city home.
The stucco house in the middle is particularly interesting. The assessor dates it as 1896, but it has a distict English cottage appearance, which was popular in the 20s. A narrow side porch leads to the main entrance, where the overhang is supported by slender round columns. The same columns are installed in the front yard, each (for some reason) with a chicken statue on top. Sanborn Maps show that this home originally had a wrap-around porch, and those columns might represent the remnants of that porch. This would have made the home more of a Queen Anne style, which would be consistent with other nearby homes of the same period. So I'm guessing there was a major renovation in the 1920s.
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| 1818-1826 W. Morse (north side) |
These frame homes were built after Rogers Park was annexed to Chicago in 1893. Their construction dates range from 1894 through 1901. These strike me as custom built homes rather than standard builder models. They're located on very generous lots, with 50' frontages and 170' in depth. Not a bad size for a city home.
The stucco house in the middle is particularly interesting. The assessor dates it as 1896, but it has a distict English cottage appearance, which was popular in the 20s. A narrow side porch leads to the main entrance, where the overhang is supported by slender round columns. The same columns are installed in the front yard, each (for some reason) with a chicken statue on top. Sanborn Maps show that this home originally had a wrap-around porch, and those columns might represent the remnants of that porch. This would have made the home more of a Queen Anne style, which would be consistent with other nearby homes of the same period. So I'm guessing there was a major renovation in the 1920s.
I've also been puzzled by the chickens on the columns.
ReplyDeleteBut I would definitely miss them if they disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI know the woman that lives there. she has been there for about 40 years and is originally from Italy. She added the sloped roof line to take the rain and snow away from the house without the use of gutters. She added the columns and the chickens a few years ago because she likes the way they look. pure and simple. she's an artist and it shows in her gardening.
ReplyDelete