One house in particular became a quiet superstar: Model No. 84. It was first sold in 1909 and heavily advertised in national magazines and in newspapers from Washington DC to San Francisco.
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| Chicago House Wrecking Company ad from 1911 that featured the No. 84. The house's signature look: stacked bay windows and a shed‑roof dormer over the porch. |
And in Maywood, you can find two identical No. 84 models standing side-by-side. Both match the catalog illustration of the No. 84 perfectly.
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| 1318 S. 7th Avenue, Maywood. |
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| 1310 S. 7th Avenue, Maywood. |
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| Chicago House Wrecking Company No. 84, from the 1910 catalog. People often confuse the No. 84 with the Sears Modern Home No. 190 (sold 1911–1914). And to be fair, the floor plans and dimensions are identical. But the porches reveal the truth. |
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| Sears No. 190 from the 1914 Modern Homes catalog. It has a hipped porch roof supported by three skinny posts. |
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| The No. 84 has a shed porch roof, two chunky posts, plus that little triangle on the porch side. |
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| The porch of the house at 1310 S. 7th matches that of the No. 84 down to the last detail. |
These homes went up around 1912, probably built by a contractor. At that time, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad ran literally next to these homes, and the station was two blocks away.
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| The CA&E station on 5th Avenue in the early 1900's. Photo courtesy of GreatThirdRail.org. |
The First Owner of 1318 S. 7th
Owned by Elizabeth Baldwin, a department‑store salesperson who lived here until 1920.
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| Elizabeth Baldwin. |
The First Owner of 1310 S. 7th
Built for Dr. Elmer J. Bartholomew, an osteopathic physician, and his wife Mary. After Elmer’s death in 1919, Mary supported herself as a dressmaker and by taking in boarders. She stayed in the home until 1950.
In 2013, the house (then a two-flat) was gutted and converted back to a single family home (there is literally nothing original left inside). This was not great for the house, but a sign of renewed investment in a neighborhood that, not long ago, struggled with gang activity. Today, the presence of flippers signals a healthier Maywood.
1 comment:
I think this post is very important for researchers, to bring to light the slight difference between these two houses -- but that slight difference makes the I.D.!
It's very interesting to read about the folks who originally lived in these houses, too.
I referenced your post (and also brought up the 190 clone by Chicago Millwork Supply Company), in my latest blog post about a Radford design that also had this centered front turret-style dormer.
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