A Guide to Chicago Architecture

In Chicago, there are dozens of different types of residential buildings. The city features many of the same types of homes again and again, in neighborhoods from Lawndale to Rogers Park and to the reaches of the Far West Side. Here are four distinctive urban home styles that help give city residential buildings an only-in-Chicago feel.

Chicago Greystone

Recognizable features: Perhaps the most uniquely Chicago in nature, this architectural style is defined by exactly what it sounds like: its grey stones. Chicago Greystone isn’t one set of architectural features (in that there can be Queen Anne Greystones, Romanesque Revival Greystones and Beaux Arts Greystones, among others) but is defined by its use of a particular kind of building material – a limestone façade usually made of stone from a quarry near Bloomington, Indiana. Typically, though, Chicago Greystones are detached or semi-detached buildings (compared to New York Brownstones, which are commonly townhomes) sitting on long, narrow lots. They’re also often divided into multi-flat dwellings, which came about due to the lack of residences after the Chicago Fire.

Where to find them: Though there are Greystones throughout the city, neighborhoods like North Lawndale (which has made preserving Chicago Greystones a priority), Hyde Park and Lakeview feature plenty of these distinctive and beautiful homes.

Notable example: The Harriet F. Rees House, now at 2017 S. Prairie Ave., was commissioned by a wealthy widow in 1888 to be built in gorgeous Chicago Greystone style. In 2014, the Romanesque Revival home and its coach house were moved from its original address at 2110 S. Prairie Ave. to protect it from Wintrust Arena and McCormick Place developments.

Gilded Age Mansions

Recognizable features: The Gilded Age lasted for about 20 years in the U.S., starting in the late 1870s and continuing through the late 1890s. In Chicago, that era – defined by rapid industrialization and a high concentration of wealth at the top of the social strata – happened to coincide with the rebuilding of the city after the devastating Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Barons in all manner of industries chose the era’s most famed architects to design their homes, which were meant to be showpieces and display their immense wealth. Though Gilded Age mansions could be built in a number of architectural styles, they featured luxurious appointments like stained glass windows, decorative wood floors and elaborate trim pieces. The era also tended toward architecture that reflected safety and stability, so, frequently, Gilded Age homes will have a solid, sturdy appearance.

Where to find them: Many of the Gilded Age mansions near the lake have been torn down to make way for skyscrapers, but there are still plenty of gorgeous, well-preserved examples, often in the Gold Coast, Near South Side and Wicker Park.

Notable example: The Francis J. Dewes House at 503 West Wrightwood Avenue in the Park West neighborhood was built in 1896 for Dewes, who was a brewer. The building is both a Chicago Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Chicago Worker Cottages

Recognizable features: About as far from a Gilded Age mansion as you can get, the Chicago Worker Cottage was designed as a simple, functional home built to sustain the growing number of residents in the late 1800s. Throughout the Great Lakes, worker cottages of all types dominated as industrialization brought growing numbers of people to cities from rural areas needing cheap, reliable housing. In Chicago, worker cottages often have a triangular, gabled roof that faces the street instead of the side of the house and feature extremely narrow floorplans. There is typically a raised or half-raised basement underneath (with steps to the first floor) and the front door is commonly off-center. Often, worker cottages are made of brick, a seemingly safer material to the still-fire-nervous in the city, though there are many wood examples, too.

Where to find them: Worker cottages can be found throughout the city. Though they’re extremely easy to take down, they can be and have been rehabbed to provide more living space. There are even preservation efforts to keep these historic houses around. You can’t go far in the residential areas of Chicago without running into a worker cottage.

Notable example: A submission to the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks called the Martin Schnitzius Cottage at 1925 N. Fremont Street a “distinguished and exceptional example” of the worker’s cottage. This Lincoln Park house, which was built in 1891 in the Queen Anne style, features a bit richer ornamentation than the typical worker cottage with its decorative wood and terra cotta front bay but still hews to the particulars of the type.

Chicago Bungalows

Recognizable features: Coming fast on the heels of the worker’s cottage, the bungalow – beginning in the 1910s – came to dominate the residential landscape in Chicago. Built of brick and inspired by the American Arts and Crafts movement, bungalows are sturdy and stacked, usually one-and-a-half-storied houses over a basement. They often have low-pitched, hipped roofs, frequently with large windows of leaded glass and prominent bays or porches facing the street.

Where to find them: There are currently 14 historic bungalow districts in the City of Chicago, in communities including Auburn Gresham, Rogers Park Manor and Portage Park, among others. They’re a part of the wider area called “The Bungalow Belt,” a wide swath of neighborhoods that forms a semi-circle of residential communities around the center portion of the city. The Chicago Bungalow Association seeks to preserve these well-built and solid homes.

Notable example: Along the 4600 and 4700 blocks of Wrightwood Avenue in Belmont Cragin sit 55 bungalows that typify the style, all a part of the Wrightwood Bungalow Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places 20 years ago. More than half were built by the same construction company between 1916 and 1926, though there are some details that differentiate the houses.