Paddy Lauber (left) and Kerry Shintani were honored for their rehab of a 20th century Prairie and Craftsman home in Logan Square.
From a small bungalow on the Northwest Side and a vacant car building in the South Loop to a stunning Queen Anne on the Near North Side, the 22 winners of the 2008 Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence all have one thing in common -- enriching the architectural and historical character of the Windy City.
The 10th annual awards, presented last week at a ceremony at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, were selected by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
There is no application process for these awards and the winners are always surprised when the commission calls, said Brian Goeken of the Landmarks Division of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.
Landmark winners
Nickerson House (40 E. Erie): Exterior and Interior Restoration Award. Now the Richard H. Driehaus Museum, the "Marble Palace" was built between 1879 and 1883 and features lavish interiors and marble halls incorporating 17 types of marble. Recipient: Richard H. Driehaus Museum.
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington): Award for the restoration of Preston Bradley Hall Dome, the world's largest Louis Comfort Tiffany art glass dome, with approximately
"The awards are an important way for the city to recognize the contribution of property owners to preserving city landmarks and landmark districts," Goeken said. "This year we have a happy representation of a buildings from across the city, from Pullman to Old Edgebrook. We also have a good variety of styles from a small bungalow to a large vacant building conversion such as the Old Florsheim Shoe Company building on the Northwest Side. And, the winners included private property owners, neighborhood groups and development companies."
Two winners were Paddy Lauber and Kerry Shintani for their work on their single-family home on the 2200 block of North Kedzie in the Logan Square Boulevards District on the Northwest Side.
The large single-family masonry residence was built in the early 20th century and boasts Prairie and Craftsman architectural influences.
The couple received the Exterior Rehabilitation and New Addition award for rebuilding a portion of a side masonry wall that had lacked adequate foundations and constructing a new two-story rear addition.
Commission officials said the award-winning formula was for efforts that were "consistent with the original character and style of the existing house." Lauber and Shintani also labored on interior renovations and added new landscaping.
Of special note this year is the recipient of the Community Involvement Award: the Beman Committee of the Pullman Civic Organization in the Pullman District on the South Side. The group received a laurel for a well-researched and detailed "Homeowners Guide" that profiles every property within the historic district.
The guide also explains the importance of Pullman's landmark status to help owners better understand and appreciate the restoration process.
The committee also received the award for creating the first Historic Pullman Homeowner's Assistance Restoration Matching Fund. Since 2004, the fund has helped five to seven homeowners each year by providing up to a maximum of $1,000 in grant funding for exterior building restoration and rehabilitation.
To date, more than 300 Chicago landmarks have been designated by the City Council, including 50 landmark districts. Here are the highlights of the residential 2008 Chicago Landmark Awards for Preservation Excellence:
Nigel and Deborah Telman received the Exterior Rehabilitation award for the historical renaissance of their residence on the 4800 block of South Ellis.
This Gothic Revival home was built in 1902 and had was vacant and in serious disrepair before the couple purchased it and launched an ambitious rehab effort.
Work included rebuilding the arch of the porte cochere (a 17th century-style porch where vehicles stop to discharge passengers), extensive masonry repairs and careful window restoration.
The Kenwood District was once referred to as the "Lake Forest of the South Side." It was annexed to the city in 1889 and today, the area has one of the city's finest collections of architectural styles, ranging from Italianate and Colonial Revival to Queen Anne and Prairie School.
The once-vacant three-story apartment building at 4534 S. Ellis was renovated by the development firm of 4534 South Ellis Development LLC. The award for Interior Rehabilitation was bestowed for a total gut interior rehab.
The company also made brick and stone repairs, restored the masonry porch and added new windows and doors that match the original architecture. The core of the district is centered on the intersection of 45th and Berkeley and is largely comprised of handsome masonry row houses dating from 1890.
Marquis and Dianne Sauvage received the Exterior Rehabilitation and New Addition award for their single-family home on the 500 block of West Hawthorne.
The Queen Anne-style wood-frame house, built in the 1890s, was covered with synthetic siding. The Sauvages removed the siding, then repaired and restored the wood siding and shingles underneath.
The couple also installed new windows and repaired the front porch. The Sauvages also built a new two-story rear addition with historic coach house-style architecture. The wood-sided addition has an enclosed garage and contemporary window configurations.
The district is known for its large homes on big lots with a variety of architectural styles such as Victorian-era, Arts and Crafts and Colonial.
The award for New Infill Construction went to Armitage 910 LLC Residential for its three-story masonry building at 910 W. Armitage.
The contemporary metal-and-glass building has a ground-floor retail storefront with punched openings and double-hung windows above.
The commission said the exterior is consistent with the historic scale and character of the area, "a remarkably intact, late 19th-century neighborhood commercial district." The upper floors of the building contain residential units.
••The Exterior/Interior Rehabilitation award went to the Neighborhood Housing Services Redevelopment Corporation for the former 18-unit single-room occupancy apartment building at 10461 S. Corliss.
The NHS converted the property to a six-unit apartment building. Rehab included the removal of the non-historic front porch, masonry repairs, roof repairs, new windows, new doors and a new front porch.
Built by George Pullman for his Pullman Palace Car Company, houses in Pullman (1880-1894) are distinctive for their picturesque rooflines, brick work, wood front porches, and characteristic multi-pane wood windows.
••Another Exterior/Interior Rehabilitation award went to Park Bank Initiatives, which purchased the house and carriage house at 10701-1705 S. Cottage Grove and renovated them into affordable housing units for low- to moderate-income families.
Efforts by the bank-affiliated nonprofit community development organization included: masonry repairs and new wood windows, wood porches, wood siding and shingles that are compatible with the original architecture.
The effort also included "the repair of the last remaining carriage-way arched opening in the Pullman district," the commission said.
Dubin Residential received the Adaptive Reuse and Exterior Rehabilitation award for its conversion of the Florsheim Shoe Company Building at 3963 W. Belmont into 175 residential loft units (20 percent of the lofts are affordable units for low- and moderate-income households).
The 84-year-old building features a "pioneering concrete-frame, metal-and-glass multi-story industrial loft building designed by noted architect Alfred S. Alschuler," the commission said.
The building, which was built for the shoe company, had been vacant for many years when Dubin Residential purchased the property in 2005 and began a $56-million conversion.
Exterior work included: repair and cleaning of the terra-cotta and brick; new aluminum windows designed to match the original steel-sash industrial windows; roof-top terraces, and a green roof.
The award for New Rear Addition went to Fred Proesel for his home on the 6300 block of North Louise on the Far Northwest Side.
The 71-year-old home had an original one-story front porch that had been enclosed at some point in its history. Proesel expanded the master bedroom with a new second-floor addition over the porch.
The walls and architectural detailing of the existing sun porch were retained in place, while supplementary new structure was added to support the bedroom addition.
The commission said "the design of the addition is consistent with the historic character of the building and retains the architectural features of the rear porch."
Old Edgebrook was developed in the 1890s as a railroad suburb with large homes on big lots. It's surrounded by the Billy Caldwell Cook County Forest Preserve.
The New Dormer Addition award was bestowed on John and Sharon Murphy for their home on the 3600 block of North Springfield.
The bungalow owners "recaptured valuable living space in the attic by sensitively adding new dormers which demonstrate how changes can be made in a way that respects the historic character of the district," the commission said.
Other work included new windows, new roofing and new wood siding and trim. Residences within the Villa District were built largely between 1907 and 1925 and exhibit the influence of the Prairie and Craftsman styles as well as the popularity of the American Four-Square.
Eric and Margaret Nelson received the Exterior Rehabilitation award for work on their home on the 1100 block of North Winchester on the Near West Side.
The Nelsons removed a non-historic two-story front porch, stripped the paint off the masonry, repaired the damaged brick and installed new windows, front door and staircases to return the home to its historic appearance.
The East Village District contains nearly 300 properties built between the early 1880s and the 1920s -- primarily two- and three-flats as well as single-family houses and multi-family residential buildings.
Conversion of an old car company building won the Adaptive Reuse and Exterior Rehabilitation award for the Motor Row Development Corp. The project at 2301-2315 S. Michigan included three vacant buildings that were constructed in 1915 for Alfred Cowles and for the Saxon Automobile Company.
The project included two three-story buildings (1915) and one five-story building (1911), which were converted from commercial use into 52 residential condos with interior parking and a retail space.
The project included: extensive masonry repairs; new windows; new storefronts; rooftop additions, and preservation of a roof-top water tank.
The Motor Row District on Chicago's Near South Side, considered to be the largest intact early "automobile row" in the United States. At its peak, as many as 116 different makes of automobiles were being sold on Motor Row.
For more information on Chicago landmarks: (312) 744-3200 or http://www.cityofchicago.org/landmarks
