Claremont Cottage District

“The earliest worker's cottages in Chicago from the 1830s through 1850s utilized Greek Revival details, including simple rectilinear door surrounds. Later cottages built in the 1860s through early 1880s were constructed with Italianate-derived ornament, including incised lintels built of wood or stone.”

“Hine's independent practice began soon after the publication of the Claremont cottage catalog in 1885. Among the designs Hine executed during the first year of his independent practice was the large Queen Anne-style George Brown Mansion in Chesterton, Indiana in 1886 (listed on the National Register of Historic Places).”

“Such worker's cottages were standardized enough in their overall forms and details as to allow ease of construction. Yet they could also be personalized depending upon materials and ornament used.”

“Through the unified use of Queen Anne architecture and ornamental details, the Claremont Cottage District creates a distinctive and recognizable sense of place within the Near West Side Community Area.”

“In their high level of design, craftsmanship, and physical integrity, this is a rare surviving development of Queen Anne style “worker's cottages.” The 1000-block is located between W. Taylor and W. Grenshaw Streets on Chicago's Near West Side within the larger Tri –Taylor Historic District, which was listed in the National Register in 1983.”

“However, the cottages in this district are distinctive for their design and detailing. No two cottages in the district are identical. Each one is clad with eclectic ornamentation and exterior building materials a little differently than the last, but the striking visual appeal of the block is in its uniformity.”

“Throughout the late 1880s Hine designed several notable buildings, including the John I. Jones House in Oak Park, a striking Queen Anne residence; a Presbyterian church in Ashland, Wisconsin., St.”

“The buildings feature a variety of exterior building materials including pressed, patterned, and painted brick, carved stone, rusticated stone, colored glass. The cottages also feature a well preserved assortment of turned wood ornamental details that contribute to their cheerful, picturesque quality: brackets applied beneath overhanging eaves; flared wood fans; grooved bargeboards with fan motifs, and faceted wood block ornament.”

“Unlike other enclaves of worker's cottages in Chicago from the period, the entire district was designed and built as a unified whole. The most common exterior changes to buildings in the district include the addition of enclosed porches on two cottages, reconfigured entries on the first floor of two cottages, replaced windows and doors, covered building facades, replaced material on the oriel windows.”

“Development of the area began as early as 1837, as small, wood-frame cottages occupied by Irish immigrants sprang up west of the Chicago River. The Irish were soon followed by German, Czechs and Bohemians, and French immigrants.”