I've had many occasions to drive past a couple of intriguing blocks on the Northwest Side en route to visit friends or to go shopping. The houses look unlike the typical Chicago bungalow - but they are bungalows nonetheless.
The neighborhood, Schorsch Village, is located near the former grounds of the now defunct, yet incredibly notorious Dunning Insane Asylum.
According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, "In 1916 the first housing boom occurred when Schorsch Brothers Real Estate bought a tract west of Austin and south of Irving Park. They called the area West Portage Park to remove the stigma of association with Dunning. "
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If you have a hankering to read a good chicago blog, check out "Me and My Shadow" -- it's something my friend writes and the link is under the "new list" heading on the left rail of this page. It's great reading! Really!
http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/
xox
By the way I discovered an international asylums website, where Dunning is of course mentioned: http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
the look of the houses, and the date of the subdevelopment suggests the builders were going after the generic "Old English" look, which was very popular at the time. The old Chicago fieldhouses designed by Clarence Hatzfeld were built around that time also have a similar cottage look.
FranCarmen- The "kodachrome" style photo was taken on Saturday, and since I don't use film much anymore, thanks to the technology of photoshop, I was able to get that look. Actually, I am helpless with that program --- I just push buttons, undo and try something else until I get close whatever it is I envision (or am trying to fix). Thanks for visiting!