2014 Fall Newsletter

all 2014 Fall 2014Fall 2014 An Enclave of Elegance Photo by Cappy Johnston From the President The Foundation’s September 27 Home and Garden Tour provided over 170 guests with a private look at the distinctive and charming Ridge Lane neighborhood and many thanks to all who attended; to the Estate of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Weeden and Jane Weeden Hall, Shelly Johnstone Paschke and Brett Paschke, Jennifer and Stanley Janowiak, and Penny and Andrew Knight who generously opened their homes for our guests and to Caron and Alan Lacy who graciously opened their home and garden to host the reception, thanks also to those who helped underwrite the day: Judy Boggess, Alice Moulton-Ely, Linda and Jerry Shields, Melichar Architects, Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, North Shore Printers, Inc., Alison Buck Floral Design, Sunset Foods, and Mariani Landscape, and the success of our annual fundraiser for preservation projects was ensured by the Tour Committee chaired by Allison Derr and Art Miller, Executive Director Marcy Kerr, and the sixty-three docents who shared unique details about tour properties with out guests, and we are excited to announce that preservation projects this year include monetary support for the Forest Park Project and funding to launch a new initiative, “The Heritage Fund,” which annually will accept applications for grants to public and private preservation projects and award support to encourage preservation of the historic assets that define our community, please join us to support preservation and share yearly benefits such as educational programs, opportunities for advocacy, special events, and our Holiday Celebration held yearly at an historic home and to be celebrated this year on December 7, With best wishes, Gail Hodges, Keep in Touch with Us on Facebook For preservation news, photos and information on upcoming events “Like” us on our Facebook page – search for Lake Forest Preservation Foundation and invite your friends to “Like” us too, What’s your Favorite Lake Forest Treasure? Let us know on Facebook, the visual character of Lake Forest is defined by its many wonderful examples of civic art and architecture from commercial and institutional buildings to public spaces, streetscapes, parks and landscapes, some well-known others overlooked, each of these historic “treasures” a valuable part of our community’s heritage, help us compile a list of all of our community treasures by going to the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation Facebook page and letting us know what your favorite Lake Forest treasure is or post a picture of it and we’ll include some of the responses in future newsletters, Fall &Home Garden Tour The Preservation Foundation celebrated its annual benefit on the beautiful afternoon of September 27th Many thanks to the Homeowners featured in this newsletter Our Foundation Partners Judy Boggess Alice Moulton-Ely Linda and Jerry Shields Our Generous Sponsors Allison Buck Floral Design Lake Forest Bank & Trust Mariani Melichar Architects North Shore Printers Sunset Foods The Committee, House Chairs and many Docents Without their support and time, this lovely event would have not been possible, Preservation FALL 2014 – VOLUME 7, NUMBER 3 Contributors: Peter Coutant, Maureen Grinnell, Gail Hodges and Arthur Miller. Photography: Allison Derr and Cappy Johnston. LaKe forest Preservation foUnDation 400 East Illinois Road Lake Forest, Illinois 60045 www.lfpf.org Market Square’s $5 Million Revitalization Effort Begins with Restoration A study in contrast The almost total destruction of the initial Western Avenue storefronts (looking east toward the train station) during the construction of Market Square in 1916 contrasts sharply with the careful placement of scaffolding during its restoration today, wrapping around the scaffolding reflects Market Square’s iconic architecture, signage, and openings placed to minimize disruption to entering and exiting shoppers and businesspeople, Photo courtesy of the Lake Forest – Lake Bluff Historical Society, Photo courtesy of the Lake Forest – Lake Bluff Historical Society, Photo by Allison Derr Photo by Allison Derr, many homeowners invest in a bit of sprucing up before the holidays and the $5 million restoration of Market Square currently the most visible and one of the most-needed preservation efforts in our community is no exception as Michael Schreiber lifelong Lake Forester and partner in L3 Capital pledged to invest $5 million over three years to reinvigorate the historic nearly 100-year-old shopping center purchased a year ago from Broadacre Management for $35.5 million with improvements to the exterior nearing completion and scaffolding anticipated to be down by Thanksgiving, “Market Square needed a breath of fresh air,” commented Schreiber during the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce October luncheon, “Our job is to create more traffic for our tenants and the community,” and as the property was in no condition to survive another lifetime restoring the exterior was identified as first priority, “We had to preserve the envelope of the building first before starting work in the interior,” said Eileen Schoeb architect and project manager with OKW in Chicago, “The brick was crumbling, the stucco was peeling, and the paint was sun-bleached to an unrecognizable color. The millwork was rotted. The 100-year-old roof was failing, the gutters were damaged by ice, and we encountered multiple issues with the windows and the walls,” and all structure work done to the seven-building 100,000 square-foot east side central business district will remain true to its initial architectural integrity retaining original elements where possible, “We’re going to keep as much as we can,” said Schoeb whose firm has experience working with historic buildings including restoration and rehabilitation of the Church of the Holy Comforter in Kenilworth, the Kenilworth Union Church, North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe and redevelopment of the Harper Theater in Chicago where Ms. Schoeb led careful restoration of brick and terra cotta facades and reconfiguration of interior spaces into retail and office spaces and the project named the 2013 Richard Driehaus award winner by Landmarks Illinois, and working on a property designed by noted architect Howard Van Doren Shaw has made the project a labor of love for Eileen who admits she would be a professional “student” if she were not an architect, “It’s been a real pleasure to climb on the scaffolding and imagine what Howard Van Doren Shaw would do if he were here right now,” and the restoration team focused initially on roof stucco painting and windows restoring decorative circular motifs and next focusing on storefronts and related facades, “You find all these hidden details that have been obscured over the years under layers of paint and plaster. It makes our work a giant puzzle that’s immensely fulfilling,” and given overall goal of enhancing versus changing the property the effort balanced progress with sensitivity to retail businesses during reconstruction as Ellen Stirling owner of The Lake Forest Shop longest-running tenant enthusiastic saying “The best is yet to come,” and Schreiber agrees “We are restoring Market Square back to the grandeur of 1916 with an eye toward increasing its viability for the next 100 years,” Jewel-Box” on Ridge lane The 1930 Mrs. John Dorr Bradley House at 151 Ridge Lane now home of Jennifer and Stanley Janowiak one of highlights of this year’s Lake Forest Preservation Foundation Home and Garden Tour, tucked away in enclave of distinctive homes that make up Ridge Lane just a stone’s throw from downtown is one of Lake Forest’s hidden treasures a mansard-roofed two-story house of classic French design punctuated with modern French Art Deco elements historically known as the Mrs. John Dorr Bradley house designed by Milman & Morphett built in 1930 a “jewel-box” version of David Adler’s larger 1913 Ralph Poole estate with excellent proportions often elusive in small 20th Century Mansard style, the Janowiaks purchased the historic house a little more than three years ago drawn by architectural features and location and Stanley loves “everything from the largest to the smallest details that (architect) Ralph Milman took to heart,” with subtle Art Deco touches like dining room ceiling molding and restored east side porch off the living room and a low long manicured hedge and wall acting as virtual plinth typical of Art Deco garden design and “Milman’s wife was a landscape architect and we believe most of her vision for our garden is still intact to this day,” and the home built in 1930 for widowed Mrs. John Dorr Bradley (1868-1945) born Frances Elvira Kales who married John Dorr Bradley (1864-1928) Chicago real estate associate of Arthur Aldis and Harvard Law School graduate 1886 involved in Chicago real estate development and management with works including the Monadnock Building early skyscraper at 43 West Jackson, and by 1898 the Bradleys built a Howard Van Doren Shaw-designed Arts & Crafts summer place further north on Green Bay Road beyond Shaw’s Ragdale, and after husband’s passing in 1928 she engaged Milman and Morphett to design new home on Ridge Lane with Ralph J. Milman (1888-1963) and Archibald S. Morphett (ca. 1898-1941) associates working with Shaw when he died in 1926 and initially in successor firm Howard Van Doren Shaw Associates and by 1930 opened own firm at 7 South Dearborn with Milman as designer Harvard-educated Paris-trained leading Shaw firm designer of 1910s and early 1920s also working for Lake Forest Improvement Trust on Market Square renovations and designing Lake Forest U.S. Post Office (1932) and his own home at 1275 North Green Bay (1930) mastering classic French design and modern French Art Deco French version of German Bauhaus International Style with esteem for the style seen in Post Office and North Shore residences, and landscape attributed to Helen Brown Milman trained in 1910s University of Illinois landscape program under Professor R.R. Root and in his Lake Forest Garden Club-sponsored Lake Forest College landscape class summer 1916 helping Shaw’s firm lay out original Market Square landscape in 1917 revising it in the 1940s and landscaping her own home gardens and Art Deco Post Office plantings later sadly lost, and finding right historic home important to Janowiaks with Jennifer growing up in Upper Arlington Ohio living in historic homes built 1926 and 1936 and couple searching in Chicago including Benjamin Marshall designed co-op building before finding Lake Forest, “What attracted us the most to this part of Lake Forest was the walk to town as well as the train,” says Stanley commuting to the Loop and enjoying walking across street for a bite at Market House and picking up fresh fruit and vegetables at Amidei Mercatino, “We feel so blessed that we have some very nice neighbors. Also being part of a secret cul-de-sac is quite special,” though secret may be out given attention Ridge Lane neighborhood garnered, Janowiak Family, A Lake Forest Enclave of Elegance: Architecture, Interior Design, and Gardens at their Best, this year’s Lake Forest Preservation Foundation 2014 Home and Garden Tour showcased Ridge Lane neighborhood off Green Bay one block north of Deer Path a “secret garden” enclave of sophisticated small estate residences built for mid-20th Century social and economic elite within walking distance from east Metra and Onwentsia Club with charm manicured lawns woods and gardens, THE WILLIAM CLOW, JR. HOUSE, 111 East Ridge Lane Original Architect & Landscape Design: David Adler & Robert Work, 1927 Current Owner: The Estate of Mr. & Mrs. Morris Weeden with Clow family second house Adler designed with modern Art Deco and classic simplified pediments and complex house and landscape plan with tall masonry wall blocking traffic effects raising entry forecourt and garden level modeled on Villa Primavesi Vienna designed by Joseph Hoffman and world-class masterworks triumphs of domestic architectural design, THE MALCOLM J. BOYLE HOUSE 140 East Ridge Lane Original Architect: Peter Daswick, 1956 Current Owners: Shelley Johnston Paschke & Brett Paschke with colonial revival newest house on Ridge Lane modern Art Deco and classic with renovations and fourteen Cockspur hawthorns trimmed into topiary and collaboration with local architect Austin DePree to add classic pool pool house updated kitchen and renovation of second floor and classic public rooms reflecting continuity with local estate style with up-to-date flair Continued on page 6, Garden Strolls Y and thanks to Craig Bergmann and Paul Klug (The Gardens at 900) and Toni and David Mathis for opening gardens for LFPF members with more than 250 guests on two summer evenings with Arthur Miller giving history of property and gardens at 900, guests at Mathis garden, Mathis Garden Allée, and then repeated Garden Strolls block again, Continued from 5 THE RANDOLPH OWSLEY HOUSE 153 East Ridge Lane Original Architect: Stanley D. Anderson, 1927 Current Owners: Penny & Andrew Knight with Alice descendant of John Adams and Randolph member of 1922 Princeton undefeated football “Team of Destiny” and career at Harris Trust and Savings Bank retiring 1960 executive vice-president, with Cotswold-style cottage irregular plan old English mode suggesting growth room by room with driveway on south and garden space open to north English-landscape style and newer kitchen area by Traditional Concepts expanding footprint east, BAGATELLE 89 East Deer Path Original Owners Mr. & Mrs. Edward H. Bennett Original Architect & Landscape Design Edward H. Bennett (1916) Current Owners Caron & Alan Lacy with Bennett nation’s leading planner co-author with Daniel Burnham of 1909 Plan of Chicago building classic French residence in 1916 on northeast corner for spouse Catherine with formal garden south and house at corner of Green Bay and Deer Path opposite the southernmost Ridge Lane Clow house defining intersection with tall masonry wall, with steeply sloping site terraced laterally down hillside from Green Bay inviting comparison to Adler’s landscaping for Clows and differing solutions as masters, a south-facing terrace overlooking marvelous garden with views across reflecting pool to statue of Flora at southern terminus of vista and west terrain drops with next level down guest house/studio pavilion 1930 serving as laboratory for new Art Deco style used at 1933-34 Century of Progress, East Side Historic Station Restoration and Renovation with Foundation waiting for restoration work on remainder of exterior after slate roof and dormers 2013 but City unable to begin remaining exterior or interior work funded by IDOT grants 2009 ($835,000) and 2013 ($1.2 million) plus matching grants from City and Metra awaiting IDOT approval of plans and cannot bid until final approval and because IDOT does not allow work after November 1 remaining exterior and interior work delayed until Spring 2015 with updates via www.lfpf.org and Spring 2015 Newsletter, Summer Garden Strolls repeated again with The Gardens at 900 and Mathis Garden Allée, Give the Gift of Preservation Dear Friends of Preservation and since 1976 LFPF helped protect and preserve more than 30 local landmarks and historic districts supporting restoration initiatives through more than $2 million in grants and enabling funds and in 2014 contributed $10,000 to two initiatives: $5,000 to Forest Park Project supporting renovation and restoration of Lake Forest’s first and most historic park restoring native lakefront woodlands and lake views securing Park in perpetuity, and $5,000 to newly-established LFPF Heritage Fund awarding annual preservation grants based on community inputs historic significance and need ensuring Annual Fund and other non-dues donations directed toward high-priority initiatives and nominations under Education & Advocacy with applications due March 1, 2015 and news on website and in Preservation, and request to support Annual Fund with signatures Gail Hodges Maureen Grinnell Stephen Bent President VP Development Annual Fund Chair and secure online donation at www.lfpf.org with 501(c)(3) note, LAKE FOREST PRESERVATION FOUNDATION 2014-2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Gail T. Hodges President Maureen Grinnell VP Development Allison Derr Arthur H. Miller VP Programs Kristen Chun Secretary Fred Moyer Treasurer DIRECTORS Guy Berg Judy Boggess Stephen Bent Ingrid Bryzinski Peter Coutant Stephen Douglass Jan Gibson Jerry Henry Dennis Johnston Linda Liang Rommy Lopat Elizabeth Moore Alice Moulton-Ely Elizabeth Sperry Kent Woloson HONORARY DIRECTORS Herbert Geist Pauline M. Mohr Shirley Paddock Linda Shields Lorraine Tweed Sarah Wimmer EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Marcy Kerr Lake Forest Preservation Foundation NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 184 LAKE FOREST, IL 60045 400 East Illinois Road • Lake Forest, Illinois 60045 • www.lfpf.org ECRWSS Residential Customer Lake Forest, IL 60045 We appreciate our Members! Together we ca the DireCtors of the LaKe forest Preservation foUnDation CorDiaLLY invite its MeMBers to attenD oUr annUaL Holiday Celebration Sunday, December 7, 2014 Wine anD hors D’oeUvres tWo o’CLoCK to foUr o’CLoCK aDvanCe reservations onLY – rsvP BY DeCeMBer 3, 2014 WWW.LfPf.orG – 847-234-1230 or [email protected] n protect the historic visual character of visual character of Lake Forest for generations to come Renew for 2015 or join in our mission at www.LFPF.org LFPF is committed to expanding its endeavors for education, advocacy and funding to preserve local landmarks 2