Giles Calumet District

“Taken as a whole, the Giles-Calumet District exemplifies the visual coherence and attractiveness of late 19thand early 20th-century architectural design as applied to Chicago neighborhood buildings. Individual buildings are handsomely detailed with historic ornament and beautifully-crafted materials.”

“The last properties built by the Springer family went up in 1892 when Charles E. Springer commissioned thirteen 3-story brick row houses from architect Myron H. Church. Larger and more visually impressive than the earlier, two-story red brick row houses erected by the Springers, these were built of light brown brick in the unusual, for Chicago, Flemish Revival style at 3801 through 3829 S. Calumet Ave.”

“The Great Fire of 1871 reduced his fortune somewhat, but he remained well-to-do. By 1875 he was living in a large house located on the north side of E. 38th St. between King Dr. (then known as Grand Boulevard) and Calumet Ave., just outside the boundaries of the District.”

“John Turner Long, the architect of two groups of row houses on S. Calumet Ave., designed such significant buildings as the Yale Apartments and the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church, both Chicago Landmarks.”

“While intact residential buildings from the 1880s through the 1920s are found throughout Chicago, streetscapes that combine the historic character, visual presence, and overall integrity that the Giles-Calumet District possesses are relatively rare, especially in South Side lakefront neighborhoods where twentieth-century redevelopment has altered the original visual character of many areas.”

“Several of the oldest buildings in the District are located in the 3700-block of S. Giles Ave. Peter Welcome built the two-story brick Italianate-style house at 3749 S. Giles Ave. in 1885 for his family.”

“The District contains an unusual grouping of row houses, a building type of importance to Chicago architectural history. The row houses at 3801 through 3829 S. Giles Ave. are designed in the Flemish Revival architectural style, unusual and visually distinctive in the context of Chicago neighborhood architecture.”

“Designed by James Fitzgerald, the house is distinguished by continuous stone lintels ornamented with small incised rosettes and by a boldly-profiled pressed-metal cornice. The same year, James Hannon commissioned two attached brick flat buildings, each two stories in height.”

“The house was designed for Ald. Anderson by noteworthy architects Michaelsen & Rognstad, who also designed the On Leong Merchants Association (a designated Chicago Landmark) in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood, as well as significant buildings in several Chicago parks.”

“This house takes visual cues from these row houses, being two-stories in height and brick. Simple oriel bay windows supported by brick corbels and decorative brickwork in the rooftop parapet are the building's chief exterior ornament.”