Chicago Bungalow Association Announces Eleventh Historic District
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) October 02, 2014 -- Historic Chicago Bungalow owners have long taken pride in being part of a unique community, one dedicated to both preserving the bungalow’s historic character and ensuring that Chicago’s iconic housing type is adapted to meet the needs of this century’s homeowners through energy-efficiency measures and renovations.
Now residents living in a bungalow-dense neighborhood in Portage Park have another reason to be proud of their sturdy, well-crafted housing stock. They have just become the eleventh Bungalow Historic District to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The ten other bungalow communities that have received landmark designations on the National Register with the assistance of the HCBA are Wrightwood Boulevard (2004), Schorch Irving Park (2004), South Park Manor (2004), Rogers Park Manor (2005), North Mayfair (2006), Falconer (2007), Talman West Ridge (2009), South Shore (2009), West Chatham (2010) and Auburn Gresham (2012).
“We are delighted to announce Portage Park as the eleventh Bungalow Historic District to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Mary Ellen Guest, Executive Director of the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association. “We are deeply grateful to the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Foundation for providing the funding that supports our work to preserve and promote historic neighborhoods,” Guest added.
Pride is not the only benefit for bungalow owners in these neighborhoods. Properties listed on the National Register are also eligible for an eight-year property tax freeze if they undertake renovations equal to twenty-five percent of the market value of their homes.
The new district boundaries will include structures built between 1915-1930, located on West Pensacola Ave to the north, N. Lockwood Ave to east, West Hutchinson Street to the south, N. Central Ave to the west. The National Park Service granted the status after a year-long process involving the research and documentation of every home in the neighborhood including 189 contributing historic bungalows. Other non-bungalows built during the same time period with the same materials and craftsmanship were also listed, such as Detroit style bungalows, 2-flat buildings, brick garages and Portage Park Elementary School.
This level of recognition for a historically significant housing type is a rare achievement. In an effort to assist bungalow communities in nominating their neighborhoods for designation, the HCBA created the Chicago Bungalow Multiple Property Listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This research and documentation set up the historic context and historical significance of the residential building type known as the “Chicago Bungalow” and serves as an umbrella under which districts of Chicago bungalows and individually significant Chicago bungalows can be nominated for listing on the National Register.
Historic Chicago Bungalows comprise nearly one-third of Chicago’s single-family housing stock and define more than 18 Chicago neighborhoods. Since 2000, more than 15,000 bungalows have been certified as Historic Chicago Bungalows and more than 5,000 bungalow owners have received grants and loans to assist with home preservation and energy conservation.
For more information on getting your neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association please call (312) 675-0300 or visit http://www.chicagobungalow.org.
Gillian Wiescher, Historic Chicago Bungalow Association, http://www.chicagobungalow.org/, +1 312-675-0300 Ext: 17, [email protected]
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