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Your House Has A History - Chicago

COMMISSION ON Chicago LANDMARKSYOUR HOUSEHAS A HISTORYA Step-by-Step Guide to Researching your PropertyCITY OF CHICAGOR ichard M. Daley, MayorDepartment of Planning and DevelopmentAlicia Mazur Berg, Commissioner2 your House HAS A HISTORYG etting StartedTo best organize your time while conducting this research, read through this pamphlet andidentify all the resources you want to consult while at a particular library or historical suggest that you first locate a copy of your building permit (see page 4). Once you havelocated this, more information - on a wider variety of topics - can be found at the ChicagoHistorical Society.

C O M M I S S I O N O N C H I C A G O L A N D M A R K S YOUR HOUSE HAS A HISTORY A Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Your Property CITY OF CHICAGO

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Transcription of Your House Has A History - Chicago

1 COMMISSION ON Chicago LANDMARKSYOUR HOUSEHAS A HISTORYA Step-by-Step Guide to Researching your PropertyCITY OF CHICAGOR ichard M. Daley, MayorDepartment of Planning and DevelopmentAlicia Mazur Berg, Commissioner2 your House HAS A HISTORYG etting StartedTo best organize your time while conducting this research, read through this pamphlet andidentify all the resources you want to consult while at a particular library or historical suggest that you first locate a copy of your building permit (see page 4). Once you havelocated this, more information - on a wider variety of topics - can be found at the ChicagoHistorical Society.

2 But there are many other research resources available to used in this pamphlet refer to:CHSThe Chicago Historical SocietyCPLC hicago Public LibraryUICU niversity of Illinois at ChicagoAICArt Institute of ChicagoCCLC ommission on Chicago LandmarksTIP:You own a lovely home that you're proud to call your own. But someoneowned it before you. Someone built it, cared for it, and made changes throughthe years to it. And now you're interested in finding out the "who, when andwhat" of your your House can be fun, fascinating and completely pamphlet will help you begin, offering advice on how to identify basicinformation about your House and your neighborhood.

3 It is designed to takeyou systematically through the the sources discussed here, you can identify: the date your housewas built, if an architect is associated with its design, who had it built, and thechanges that have been made to it over the years. Be sure to read the appendixas well, where detailed information on resources can be , beware! Research can become addictive. It can also be may exhaust every source possible and still not find the answers to yourquestions. But no matter how many questions remain unanswered, you willhave unearthed some interesting information, learned a little more about yourcommunity, and become familiar with some important public institutions inthe , have fun, and good House HAS A HISTORY3 COMMISSION ON Chicago LANDMARKSD ating Architectural StylesMost new styles in architecture were first seen on the East Coast.

4 In A Field Guide to American Houses,for instance, the Italianate Style is dated as early as 1850, although it didn't become popular inChicago until the 1870' :Before you launch your research, it would be good to have a general ideaof your House 's style and the approximate date of its your House is newly purchased, the real estate listing undoubtedly hada date typed into the appropriate box. While you shouldn't assume that thisdate is correct, it may help get you architectural style of your House can also provide you with clues to itsapproximate age so you know where to begin your research.

5 There are manybooks available to help you formulate an intelligent guess as to style and good stylebooks are:A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia and Lee McAlester (1984)American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles, Marcus Whiffen(1974)The American House , Mary Mix Foley (1980)A Field Guide to American Architecture, Carole Rifkind (1993)Identifying American Architecture, John Blumenson (1977)What Style is It? A Guide to American Architecture, John C. Poppliers, S. Allen Chambers, Jr., and Nancy B. Schwartz (1983)What you need to know to beginSome common styles inChicago and their mostdistinctive featuresFront Gable or Worker's Cottage(beginning 1870s) - narrow House ,steep roof, off-center front doorRomanesque Revival (1880-1900)-large arched openings, masonrywalls, towers with conical roofs,asymmetrical fa adeItalianate (1860-1900) - widelyoverhanging eaves, decorativebrackets, tall, narrow archedwindowsQueen Anne (1880s-1990)

6 - steeproof usually with a prominentgable, porches, variety of buildingmaterialsPrairie (early 1900s)- low pitchedhipped roof, wide overhangingeaves, horizontal detailingBungalow (early 1900s)-lowpitched roof, wide eaves, brickwalls, and bay window with artglassAmerican Four-Square (1900-1930)- cube shape, hipped roof,broad front porch, little ornamentColonial Revival (1880-1955)-cube shape, gabled roof,symmetrical, prominent frontdoorWorker s CottageQueen AnneAmerican Four-SquareLooking up the permit granted when your House was built will provide youwith the date of application (usually within a few weeks of the beginning ofconstruction) and may offer information on the names of the owner, builder, andarchitect, the building dimension, type of construction and legal description of theproperty.

7 Cost of construction may also be included, but may have been understatedto keep the cost of the permit of historic building permits are available in the Documents andMaps Department at Daley Library at the University of Illinois of Chicago (UIC)or in the city's Freedom of Information Office, Department of Buildings in CityHall, 121 N. LaSalle St. (see next page).For ease of access, we suggest that you first try the UIC library. However, ifyour House was built after June 1954, they will not have a copy of your permit andyou must go to the Freedom of Information you are requesting a copy of a permit through the Department of Buildingsyou must complete a City of Chicago Department of Buildings Customer ServiceRequest Form.

8 This form is available in the Freedom of Information Office, orit can be downloaded as a PDF file from: The Freedom ofInformation Office is a division of the Department of Buildings and retrievesbuilding permit records for the general public. Once you have filled out theform, your request will be processed by the department staff within sevenworking days after its you are doing your research at UIC, looking up your permit is a two-stage process:FirstLook up your address (alphabetically by street name and then number) in the Address Index Card File.

9 This will tell you in which ledger book4 Before Moving On To Step TwoIf your House is not listed in the survey, you'll need to locate the building permit yourself (Step Two).While this can be quite simple, it can also be challenging. Persevere however, as the informationgained will be well worth the :The very first place to look for information on your House is in the ChicagoHistoric Resources Survey. A copy of this book is in every branch of the ChicagoPublic Library and can also be viewed at the Commission on Chicago Landmarksoffice.

10 An electronic version of the survey is available on the City of Chicago 'swebsite at: If the surveylists the date and architect for your building, you're in luck. That means a permitwas found by Commission researchers and additional information may be onfile in the Commission OneChecking the Chicago Historic Resources SurveyCommission onChicago Landmarks33 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1600(312) 744-3200 Each Tuesday has been set asideas the Commission's openresearch day. The commission'sreports on historic buildings andneighborhoods are also availablehere for a small House HAS A HISTORYStep TwoFinding a copy of the building permit filed when your House was constructedChicago HistoricResources SurveyIn 1996, the Commission onChicago Landmarks, publishedthe Chicago Historic ResourcesSurvey, a listing of over 17,000city structures that are ofnational, state or localarchitectural or historicalsignificance.


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