Belden

 

This house is located at 6205 N. Sheridan Rd., Edgewater Neighborhood, Chicago.    It is known as the Joseph Downey House or Berger Park South Mansion.    A building permit for this house was obtained in 1906.  Construction  was completed in 1906.  The architect was William Carbys Zimmerman.   The contractor was M.F.  Powers.  Costs were approximately $20,000.

The building style is American Four Square.    This included cubic forms, hip roofs, and overhanging eaves.

The building is 2 and one half stories high.  The exterior is tan Roman bricks with grey limestone trim.

Also included is a coach house with similar color brick and Four Square style.

Joseph Downey  the first owner was born in Ireland.  He immigrated to Chicago  at the age of  12.   At an early age, he worked as a brick layer.  He became partners with builder James McGraw.  He eventually became a successful building contractor on his own.  One of his well known buildings was the Illinois Central Railroad Station.

From the 1940’s to the 1980’s, this house was used by the Viatorian Catholic order as a residence for its novitiates.   The order sold the house to the Chicago Park District in the 1980’s.     The Downey House and the adjacent Gunder House became part of Berger Park.

This house is located at 6219 N. Sheridan Road Edgewater Neighborhood, Chicago

Gunder House

Essanay Studios were founded by George Spor and William Anderson.  The operation was based on Chicago first at 496 Wells Street and then at 1333-45 Argyle Street.  The studios were in Chicago from 1908-1917 and the relocated west.

The Argyle Building is now part of Saint Augustine College.  In the basement are two vaults used to store the highly flammable nitrate based film.

Essanay Studios

This house is located at 7421 N. Sheridan Road, Rogers Park, Chicago. It was built in 1919. The architect was Edgar Neuman. He worked for the architectural firm of Adler and Sullivan. The Emil.Bach House built by Frank Lloyd Wright is located adjacent to the Lang House. It was built 4 years before.

During World War 2, the mansion was used as a dormitory for Mundelein College. In the past, the basement housed a radio station.

This building was constructed in 1928.  It is located at 5550 N. Kenmore Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago.   It is twelve stories.  The architects were Alexander L. Levy and William J. Klein.      The building style is Gothic Revival.

     Unfortunately over the years, the building became dilapidated due to lack of maintenance.   In the 1990’s, the Holsten Development Company acquired the property and under took a $7.5 million renovation project.  The apartments, lobby and corridors were revamped.  New elevators were installed. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing were updated.  The masonry, windows, and roof were repaired or restored.

     Currently, the building features a roof top garden, an air conditioned exercise room.  Mia Francesca Restaurant occupies  the ground floor. 

     The Bryn Mawr was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.