Department of Planning and Development city of chicago
February 21, 2018
The Honorable Anna Valencia City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602
RE: Recommendation for the designation of the Charles M. Netterstrom House as a Chicago Landmark, 833 W. Aldine Avenue
Dear Clerk Valencia:
We are filing with your office for introduction at the February 28, 2018, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the Charles M. Netterstrom House be designated as a Chicago Landmark.
The material being submitted to you for this proposal includes the:
Recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and
Proposed Ordinance.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Deputy Commissioner
Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division Department of Planning and Development
<-> o
ends.
Alderman Thomas Tunney, 44th Ward (via email without enclosure)
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
ORDINANCE
Charles M. Netterstrom House 833 W. Aldine Avenue
WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-630 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that Charles M. Netterstrom House (the "Building"), located at 833 W. Aldine Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, legally described in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein, satisfies three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1),(4) and (7) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, built around 1873 and expanded circa 1891-1894, the Building exemplifies the significant early residential history and development of the Lake View area in the late-nineteenth century; and
WHEREAS, the Building is among the best-surviving early suburban residences built in the Lake View community area before it was annexed to Chicago in 1889; and
WHEREAS, the Lake View community area retains very few well-preserved Italianate style houses. The Building is an excellent example of the style and it also clearly shows its development over time through additions and changes in style; and
WHEREAS, the Building represents the Lake View community's significant early Swedish population as the home of important community leader and businessman Charles Netterstrom; and
WHEREAS, the Building is an excellent Italianate style house that, over time, acquired elements of the Queen Anne style; and
WHEREAS, the Building is an early example of the use of cementitious artificial stone in its exterior decoration; and
WHEREAS, the Building is finely crafted in terms of brick, terra cotta, and decorative metal and it possess beautifully-detailed Italianate- and Queen Anne-style ornament; and
WHEREAS, the Building is an unusual and visually striking building within the context of the Lake View community area including its combination of the Italianate and Queen Anne styles, its high raised basement and steep stairs, and corner tower; and
WHEREAS, the Building sits prominently facing north on an irregular lot at the intersection of Aldine Avenue and Dayton Streets. The house's distinctive tower and roofline can be readily seen from Clark Street a half block to the west; and
WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has a significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value; and
l
WHEREAS, on February 1, 2018, the Commission adopted a resolution recommending to the City Council of the City of Chicago (the "City Council") that the Building be designated a Chicago Landmark; now, therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. The above recitals are hereby adopted as the findings of the City Council.
SECTION 2. The Building is hereby designated a Chicago Landmark in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.
SECTION 3. For purposes of Sections 2-120-740 and 2-120-770 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified as:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.
The free-standing one-story garage located on the same parcel as the Building is excluded from the significant historical and architectural features.
SECTION 4. The Commission is hereby directed to create a suitable plaque appropriately identifying the Building as a Chicago Landmark.
SECTION 5. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision shall not affect any of the other provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 6. All ordinances, resolutions, motions or orders in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
SECTION 7. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage and approval.
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EXHIBIT A
Building Address
833 W. Aldine Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
Permanent Index Number
14-20-427-010-0000
Legal Description
LOTS 12, 13 AND 14 IN WESTON'S SUBDIVISION OF LOTS 10, 11 AND 12 IN BLOCK 1 IN HAMBLETON, WESTON AND DAVIS SUBDIVISION OF THE SOUTH Yt OF THE SOUTHEAST % OF SECTION 20, TOWNSHIP 40 NORTH, RANGE 14, LYING EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN IN COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS.
CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
February 1,2018
RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR THE
CHARLES M. NETTERSTROM HOUSE 833 W. Aldine Avenue
Docket No. 2018-01
\ - - - -
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago:
Pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the Charles M. Netterstrom House (the "Building") is worthy of Chicago Landmark designation. On the basis of careful consideration of the history and architecture of the Building, the Commission has found that it satisfies the following three (3) criteria set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code:
Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the, heritage of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States.
4* Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation,
rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.,
7. Its unique location or distinctive physical appearance or presence representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City of Chicago.
I. BACKGROUND
The formal landmark designation process for the Building began on August 3, 2017, when the Commission approved a preliminary landmark recommendation (the "Preliminary Recommendation") for the Building as a Chicago Landmark. The Commission found that the Building meets three (3) of the seven (7) criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance (Municipal Code, Section 2-120-580 et seq.). The Preliminary Recommendation, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A, initiated the process for further study and analysis of the proposed designation of the Building as a Chicago Landmark. As part-6f the Preliminary Recommendation, the
Commission identified the "significant historical and architectural features" of the Building as:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.
• • The free-standing one-story garage located on the same parcel as the Building is excluded from the significant historical and architectural features.
Also, as part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission adopted a Designation Report, dated August 3, 2017, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B.
At its regular meeting of September 7, 2017, the Commission received a report from David Reifman, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, supporting the proposed landmark designation of the Building. This report is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit C.
On September 8,2017, the Commission officially requested consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owners of the Building. As of October 23, 2017, the end of the request-for-consent period, the owner did not respond to the Commission's request.
Upon the end of the consent period, as required by the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance, the Commission notified the owners of the Building in a letter dated December 14, 2017, of a public hearing on the proposed designation scheduled for January 19, 2018. Notices of the time and date of the hearing were also (a) posted on a signs in the right-of-way in front of the 'Building, and (b) published as a legal notice in the Chicago Sun-Times, as required by the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance. A notice was also posted on the DPD web site.
II. PUBLIC HEARING
The hearing was convened, as scheduled and noticed, on Friday, January 19,2018, at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Rm. 201-A. Commission member Carmen Rossi served as Hearing Officer, assisted by Lisa Misher, Senior Corporation Counsel of the Real Estate and Land Use Division of the City's Law Department, as legal counsel lo the Commission, and Dijana Cuvalo, head of the Permit Review staff of the Planning, Design and Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Planning and Development. The hearing was conducted in accordance with the Commission's Rules and Regulations, specifically Article II regarding the conduct of public hearings for landmark designation.
The Commission staffs presentation recommending the proposed landmark designation was given by Matt Crawford, Coordinating Planner.
At the conclusion of the staff presentation, the Commission's Rules and Regulations allow property owners, regardless of whether they request party status, to question the staff and/or the staffs expert. No property owners presented questions to staff, nor did they request party status, nor did they make any statement. No members of the public requested party status.
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Two members of the general public, both representatives of Preservation Chicago, made statements in support of the landmark designation. Landmarks Illinois sent a letter in support of the designation. No statements were made in opposition to the landmark designation
The transcript (the "Hearing Transcript") and related exhibits from the public hearing are attached hereto.|1010|III. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
.WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code, the Commission shall determine whether to recommend the proposed landmark designation to City Council within 30 days after the conclusion of a public hearing; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code, the Commission has reviewed the entire record of proceedings on the proposed Chicago Landmark designation, including the Designation Report, the DPD Report, the Hearing Transcript and all of the information on the proposed landmark designation of the Building; and
WHEREAS, the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (7) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, built around 1873 and expanded circa 1891-1894, the Building exemplifies the significant early residential history and development of the Lake View area ... in the late-nineteenth century; and
WHEREAS, the Building is among the best-surviving early suburban residences built in the Lake View community area before it was annexed to Chicago in 1889; and
WHEREAS, the Lake View community area retains very few well-preserved Italianate style houses. The Building is an excellent example and it also clearly shows its development over time through additions and changes in style; and
WHEREAS, the Building represents the Lake View community's significant early Swedish population as the home of important community leader and businessman Charles Netterstrom; and
WHEREAS, the Building is an excellent Italianate style house that, over time, acquired elements of the Queen Anne style; and
WHEREAS, the Building is an early example of the use of cementitious artificial stone in its exterior decoration; and
WHEREAS, the Building is finely crafted in terms of brick, terra cotta, and decorative metal and it possess beautifully-detailed.Italianate- and Queen Anne-style ornament; and
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WHEREAS, the Building is an unusual and visually striking building within the context of the Lake View community area including its combination of the Italianate and Queen Anne styles, its high raised basement and steep stairs, and corner tower; and
WHEREAS, the Building sits prominently facing north on an irregular lot at the intersection of Aldine Avenue and Dayton Streets. The house's distinctive tower and roofline can be readily seen from Clark Street a half block to the west; and
WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has a significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value; now, therefore,
THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS HEREBY:
Incorporates the preamble and Sections I, II and III into its findings; and
Adopts the Final Designation Report, as revised, and dated this 1st day of February
2018;and
3 . Finds, based on the Designation Report, DPD Report, the Hearing Transcript and the entire record before the Commission, that the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (7) of the Municipal Code; and
4. Finds that the Building satisfies the "integrity" requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code; and
$.< Finds that the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are identified as follows:
* All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.
• The free-standing one-slory garage located on the same parcel as the Building is excluded from the significant historical and architectural features.
6. Recommends that the Building be designated a Chicago Landmark;
This recommendation was adopted j x^^^j^m^i^^JL^
Rafael M. Leon, Chairman " Commission on Chicago Landmarks
Resolution by the
Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the
Preliminary Landmark Recommendation for the
CHARLES M. NETTERSTROM HOUSE
833 W. Aldine Avenue
August 3, 2017
Whereas, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") preliminarily finds that:
the Charles M. Netterstrom House (the "Building"), located at the address noted above, meets three (3) criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (7) of the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), as specifically described in the Preliminary Summary of Information submitted to the Commission on this 3rd day of August, 2017, by the Department of Planning and Development (the "Preliminary Summary"); and
the Building satisfies the historic integrity requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code as described in the Preliminary Summary; now, therefore
Be it resolved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks:
Section 1. The above recitals are expressly incorporated in and made part of this resolution as though fully set forth herein.
Section 2. The Commission hereby adopts the Preliminary Summary and makes a preliminary landmark recommendation concerning the Building in accordance with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code.
Section 3. For purposes of Section 2-120-740 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of the Building are preliminarily*identified as:*
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the building.
The free-standing one-story garage located on the same parcel as the Charles M. Netterstrom House is excluded from the significant historical and architectural features.
Section 4. The Commission hereby requests a report from the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development which evaluates the relationship of the proposed designation to the City's governing plans and policies and the effect of the proposed designation on the surrounding neighborhood, in accordance with Section 2-120-640 of the Municipal Code.
Commission on Chicago Landmarks
This recommendation was adopted AASfcistMx**^^ • C'T'"~-P ...
Exhibit B
Preliminary Summary of Information
Submitted to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in August 2017
Charles M. Netterstrom House
833 West Aldine Avenue
CITY OF CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development David Reifman, Commissioner
Table of Contents
Introduction|910|Map|910|Building Construction and Description|910|The Lake View Community Area 10
Before Lake View's 1889 annexation to Chicago 10
Lake View as a Chicago neighborhood 14
Lake View's Ethnic Swedish Community 15
Early Swedish Settlement 15
Swedes in Lake View 16
The Netterstrom House as a community gathering place 20
Lake View's later Swedish-American history 21
Lake View communities after 1940 21
Original owner and builder Charles M. Netterstrom 22
Early Career 23
Charles Netterstrom's political career in the Town of Lake View 23
Charles Netterstrom's political career in Cook County and Illinois 24
Later life and the house on Aldine Avenue 25
Later History of the Netterstrom House 25
The Netterstrom House and the Italianate and Queen Anne Styles 25
Criteria for Designation 30
Significant Historical and Architectural Features 34
Selected Bibliography 35
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Charles M. Netterstrom House
833 West Aldine Avenue
circa 1872 circa 1891
1874 (ORIGINAL HOUSE) 1894 (ADDITIONS)
architect: Builder:
Not known
Charles M. Netterstrom
The Charles M. Netterstrom house is an early brick house of visual distinction and significance in the context of the Lake View community. Its asymmetric footprint, with a gable front, bay window and tall corner tower, and combination of the Italianate and Queen Anne architectural styles, give the house an unusual appearance and a strong presence on its triangular corner lot. The house was built in stages, with an original portion built by Swedish immigrant Charles Netterstrom sometime between 1872 and 1874, with later additions built between 1891 and 1894. Netterstrom was like many other Chicagoans in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; with a choice and the means to relocate, he moved to the suburban Town of Lake View. The town was later annexed to the City of Chicago in 1889 and the southern portion, where the Netterstrom House is located, is today's Lake View community area.
Charles Netterstrom had a diverse career, one that included the skilled trades, construction, and politics. He started his career as a lath nailer and quickly came to operate his own ornamental plastering business; hisexpertise and craftsmanship in plastering were likely put on display in his own home in Lake View. His masonry work was also widespread and he likely contributed to the construction of his home. Netterstrom also worked tirelessly to improve the Town of Lake View through his role as a politician by building sewers, paving roads, and pouring sidewalks. He became his community's representative in government, first as a commissioner for the Town of Lake View from 1881 to 1889, then as county commissioner from 1893 to 1894, and finally as state senator from 1895 to 1898.
Charles Netterstrom was one of the first Swedish residents to move from Chicago's old "Swede Town" settlement along Chicago Avenue to the intersection of Clark Street and Belmont Avenue in
|1010|The Charles M. Netterstrom House is located at 833 W. Aldine Ave. in the Lake View neighborhood on Chicago's north lakefront. It is a suburban house built of common brick in the Italianate style with later Queen Anne style additions and ornament.
Lake View. Between the 1870s when Netterstrom arrived and the early 1900s, the Lake View area became home to the largest ethnic Swedish community in Chicago. Chicago as a whole boasted the largest Swedish population outside of Gothenburg - Sweden's second largest city. In Chicago, the Swedish population was the fifth largest ethnic population after Poles, Germans, Russians, and Italians by 1920.
The Netterstrom House remained a part of Lake View's Swedish-American community and took on different uses as the neighborhood changed. Beginning in 1907, after Netterstrom and his family left their Lake View house, Netterstrom leased it to important community social clubs making the house a gathering point for the community. The house's role in the Swedish community continued through the twentieth century as a rooming house, accommodating predominantly Swedish immigrant laborers, and as the home of Swedish-American families.
Throughout its existence, the Netterstrom House has remained a part of Lake View's changing history. It exemplifies the!community's transformation from rural suburb to urban ethnic enclave. Today it is a visually-unusual and distinctive building within the context of this diverse Chicago neighborhood.
Building Construction and Description
The Charles M. Netterstrom House faces north onto Aldine Avenue where it intersects with Dayton Street in the Lake View community area on Chicago's north lakefront. Located north of Belmont Avenue the house sits on a block bounded by North Halsted Street on the east and North Clark Street on the west. The Netterstrom House stands out among its neighbors. Surrounding the house are frame and brick multi-family apartment flats built in the 1880s through the early 1900s. A high -rise completed in 1964 stands to the west, and several multi-unit condominium and apartment buildings built during the 1990s through the present are scattered throughout the block. In this setting, the Netterstrom House is a rare surviving and very well preserved example of the suburban single-family residences that were built in Lake View during the town's significant post-Chicago Fire period of development.
The Netterstrom House was built by contractor and future State Senator Charles Magnus Netterstrom sometime between 1872 and 1874, with substantial additions between 1891 and 1894. Building permit records for this house have not been found, but other sources such as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, historic maps, census records, city directories, secondary source biographies, and architectural and material analysis all indicate that the Netterstrom House was built in stages. These sources also assist in identifying probable periods of construction.
Deed records show that Charles Netterstrom purchased two of the three lots associated with the house in August 1872 from real estate dealer Charles W. Weston. Alfred T. Andreas' 1884 book History of Cook County notes that Netterstrom and his family moved from Chicago to Lake View in May 1874.
The site for Netterstrom's new home was located in Lake View at the southeast corner of two streets then called School Street (now Aldine Avenue) and Craft Street (now Dayton Street). Craft Street was more of a narrow path or alley and was not officially declared a public street until 1951. The portion of School Street that runs east of Clark Street was renamed Aldine Avenue in 1895.
Based on the materials used on the exterior, the interior layout of the house, and fire insurance maps (drawn with great detail in support of the fire insurance industry), it appears that Netterstrom|1010|
The original portion of the Netterstrom House was built between 1872 and 1874. Additions, including the distinctive corner tower, were then built between 1891 and 1894. The additions and the original house were given matching Queen Anne style metal cornices and pediments.
The footprints below are based on two fire insurance maps: Charles Rascher's Atlas of Lake View from 1891 and the Sanborn Atlas of Lake View from 1891.
Netterstrom House footprint before and after additions in early-1890s
Original footprint Footprint showing
c. 1891-1894 additions|1010|
The original portion of the house features brick window hoods with cast stone keystones. Cast stone is a cementitious artificial stone that was
by George A. Frear in 1868.
The later corner tower addition has flat arches with decorative red terra cotta drip moulds and foliate label ends. One larger terra cotta
Company, which was founded in Chicago in 1878.
The west elevation of the Netterstrom House shows the west gable of the original house in the middle, between the 1890s corner tower addition on the left and the south addition on the right.
built the house in stages. Charles Rascher's 1890-1891 Atlas of Lake View Township shows the house in place at that time, but as a two-story and attic residence with a raised ground floor and an L-shaped footprint smaller than today's house. The 1894 Sanborn Insurance Map then shows the house expanded to its current footprint with a comer tower, a south section, and two frame bays on the east side.
The fire insurance map information is reinforced by a visual analysis of the building's use of cladding materials and by its range of stylistic architectural details. The original house with an L-shaped plan uses the Italianate style for matching north and west gables, which share both materials (common brick and cast stone), and design elements (windows with flattened arch brick hoods and keystones). These gable walls are treated differently from the corner tower and the south portion of the house, which feature Queen Anne style exterior details and interior finishes, such as terra cotta drip moulds and machine-milled wood trim.
Netterstrom unified the appearance of his house and its later additions through the use of common brick. This material was being produced in great quantity following the great fire of 1871 by several brick makers that had built kilns and dug clay pits along Ashland Avenue, south of Diversey. Other exterior architectural details, especially the pressed metal cornice and pediments, are Queen Anne in style and are common in buildings of the 1880s and 1890s.
The majority of cottages built during the 1870s had plain flat front gables, but Netterstrom gave his
home a prominent front bay that extends two stories from the ground floor up through the main
floor. Large, two-over-two, double-hung, wood sash windows allowed ample light to penetrate the
home. The upper sash of each window was given gentle rounded comers, which follow the contour
of their flattened arch hoods. The decorative hoods are composed of brick voussoirs and corbelled
v brick imposts, and feature early cast-stone keystones with incised detail. Cast-stone or "artificial
stone" was a cementitious product that was an affordable imitation of dressed stone. It was first patented in the United States by Chicagoan George A. Frear in 1868, and was produced by at least seven competitors by 1872.
As Netterstrom's family and construction business grew, and as he rose as a local politician, the .j house was expanded and remodeled during the early 1890s to reflect the then popular Queen Anne style. Netterstrom built a two-story tower with a pyramid roof at the northwest comer of the house, which added an additional ground-floor room, a formal vestibule on the first floor, and a second floor room. The tower matches the house's exterior brick cladding, but has windows with flat arches and decorative terra cotta drip moulds with foliate label stops. A large, pressed metal pediment with an anthemion, scrollwork, and a foliate finial crowns the tower. Below the pediment is a pressed metal cornice with evenly-spaced rosettes and a dentil mold that encircles the tower. A matching metal profile finishes the north and west gables of the original house, which likely originally had bracketed wood gables. The extant wood front porch imitates dressed stone set in a rusticated pattern, and was probably built at the time that the tower was constructed in order to protect the house's new main entrance.
A hipped-roof south addition nearly doubled the.size of the house and gave it new storage rooms on the ground floor, a large new dining room on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor, and third floor attic with large dormer windows. The walls are also of common brick and are capped by a metal cornice; however, the windows were given plain segmented brick arches. The hipped roof received two dormers: east and west. On the east dormer, there are two quarter-round casement windows (and a non-historic round stained-glass window, which was added in the 1990s). The west dormer features a single band of three windows with four-paned casements, which are topped by a
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decorative pressed metal pediment. Both the tower and south addition project slightly from the house's original gable on the west elevation.
In March 1882, according to deeds, Netterstrom acquired the third current parcel, on the east side of the house, from Swedish-born clothing manufacturer Frank J. Lindsten, who had purchased the lot from Charles Weston in 1872. Although Netterstrom did not expand his house over the parcel immediately, he did later build two frame additions on the east side of the house that appear in the building's footprint in the 1894 Sanborn map. One is the height of the house and is aligned with the west gable, while the second is toward the rear on the first floor only and created a sunny conservatory off of the main dining room.
The interior of the house remains remarkably well-preserved. Netterstrom spared no expense in the decoration of his home, which despite its later use as a club house and a boarding house during the early twentieth century, retains most of its original finishes including a grand curving walnut and pine staircase. The impressive spaces that a visitor might see - the vestibule, entry hall, front parlor, and dining room - are embellished with rich pine woodwork, carved marble mantels, and fine plasterwork. According to city directories, Charles Netterstrom operated a plastering company in Chicago during the 1870s, and later went into the business with his brother John C. Netterstrom. The house's extensive plasterwork could be seen by visitors and prospective clients as a display of Netterstrom's skill and craftsmanship in ornamental plastering.
Rooms in the house have a mixture of original 1870s and 1880s-1890s finishes, which suggests that Netterstrom redecorated in the latest Queen Anne style around the time that the additions were built. Original ornate, three-part door and window trim is found in private rooms, including bedrooms and the stair hall, while more refined early-1890s, machine-milled, trim replaced 1870s era trim in formal or public rooms, like the main parlor and dining room. Similarly, oak parquet floors with contrasting chevron borders were installed over the original pine floors throughout the house in an effort to unify and update the house to match its additions.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House is color-coded "orange" on the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS) as a building preliminarily identified as significant to its surrounding neighborhood.
The Lake View Community Area
The Charles M. Netterstrom House is an exemplary early single-family house that reveals the historic development of Lake View during the late nineteenth century. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, the Lake View community historically was part of the greater Lake View Township, and it transformed from .wilderness to scattered farms and estates to suburban town to urban neighborhood in little over 50 years. The Netterstrom House reflects this important period in the neighborhood's history when it was developing as an ever-more dense suburban town.
Before Lake View's 1889 annexation to Chicago
Originally, Lake View Township stretched from the then-City of Chicago limits at Fullerton Avenue on the south to Devon Avenue on the north, and from Lake Michigan west to the North Branch of the Chicago River. The first European settlers to the area were Swiss-bom Conrad Sulzer and his wife Christine. In 1836, the Sulzers journeyed beyond the then- newly incorporated City of Chicago and established a 100-acre farm along the "Ridge," near what is now the intersection of
10
Montrose Avenue and Clark Street (now considered part of the Ravenswood neighborhood). Several other German, Swedish, and Norwegian farmers followed in the wake of the Sulzers.
The sandy marsh land along the northern shores of Lake Michigan, largely inhospitable for farming, remained vacant until 1853, when James Rees, a prominent surveyor and real estate speculator, bought 225 acres of lakefront property north of Belmont Avenue to develop as a country retreat. In 1854, Rees built a grand hotel with a veranda that offered a sweeping view of Lake Michigan. The hotel, located in the vicinity of what is now Grace Street and Sheridan Road, became known as the Lake View House, and the surrounding area was dubbed Lake View Township, which was officially organized in 1857.
In 1865, when Lake View Township was incorporated as the Town of Lake View, much of the new town remained farmland. During these post-Civil War years, a number of wealthy Chicagoans were attracted to the verdant beauty of the rural, unspoiled lakeshore and built large summer villas on multi-acre estates on the lakefront east of today's Broadway (then Evanston Avenue). West of Broadway, large farms were quickly subdivided.
Real estate dealer Charles Weston, along with two partners Chalkley J. Hambleton and George B. Davis, subdivided a large parcel of undeveloped land in 1868 bordered by Belmont on the south, School Street/Aldine Avenue on the north, Halsted Street on the east, and Sheffield on the west. They created two large blocks divided by Clark Street, with dozens of 50- by 200-foot or greater lots. According to an 1872 map of Chicago by J. R. Mayer, several of the wide lots west of Clark were developed with frame houses; at least three of these early houses survive in the alleyway west of Clark. Two of the houses at 3232-3236 North Clark Street and 3223 North Wilton Avenue are both are two-and-one-half-story frame, center hall, side gable houses with a central wall dormer. The third, at 3250 North Clark, is a two-story, pyramidal-roofed frame house. All three houses sit at
This fire insurance map from 1891 shows the Hambleton Weston & Davis subdivision in Lake View, which was platted in 1868. Section "N" in the upper right corner is a later re-subdivision by Charles W. Weston in 1872. Charles Netterstrom bought land for his house in this section in 1872. By the time this map was produced in 1891, dozens of frame houses had been built in the area. From: Charles Rascher's Atlas of Lake View, 1891. Chicago History Museum.
the rear of their lots with newer buildings in front. They are also clad in modern siding and have been divided into multiple units, but they still convey their general form and style.
In the years after the Chicago Fire of 1871, residential development of the southern part of Lake View quickened as residential development was encouraged by the extension of city transit lines. According to real estate economist Homer Hoyt, between 1868 and 1872, land values tripled along Lake View's lakefront. In the spring of 1872, Weston, likely aiming to profit from post-fire demand for Lake View land, subdivided three of the original large lots created in 1868 into fourteen standard-sized 25-foot lots. Netterstrom bought two of these lots for his home.
The value of Lake View real estate peaked in 1873 before a global financial crisis and depression that resulted in several bank failures and cooled development through the end of the 1870s. Much of the land that lay between Chicago's northernmost boundary at Fullerton Avenue and the growing settlement of Lake View to the north was sparsely developed. Groves of trees hugged the sloping ridge along Clark Street, and sandy fields west of Broadway supported celery farming, while grand suburban villas dominated the lakeshore.
For residents who could afford to build a home outside Chicago's dense settlement, Lake View offered all of the benefits that one could need. It had ample drainage due to its sandy soil, which meant fewer soggy basements, and it had new rail lines connecting it to Chicago and Evanston. New sidewalks, brick sewers, cinder roads, and carriage paths only added to the draw of Lake View's natural beauty. Both large houses and small cottages were constructed in the late 1870s and 1880s as Chicagoans of both great and modest financial means built homes in Lake View in the years before it was annexed to Chicago in 1889. Larger houses tended to cluster nearer the lakefront, while more modest houses were farther inland. Much post-Fire development took hold along the western edge of Lake View near the North Branch, where several large industrial plants, including brick and terra cotta manufacturers, were established adjacent to worker's housing of -various types, including cottages and small flat buildings.
A number of larger, high-style Lake View houses from this pre-annexation era are known through photographs, although only a few survive. Non-extant examples of these suburban houses of note include the Frederick Wesemann house, at what would become known as 515 West Briar Place, which was a visually-prim Italianate-style brick house, probably built in the 1870s; the Robert R. Clark home at the southwest corner of Clark Street and Barry Avenue, which was a similar Italianate style house with round-arched windows and a full-width front porch; and the later Robert Clark home on the west side of Halsted Street south of the first Clark home, another Italianate-style brick house also dating from the early 1870s. An example of a large lakefront villa was the house owned by Charles B. Chase known as "Lockby Hall," which once stood at the foot of Belmont Avenue where the street dead-ended into Lake Michigan beaches. Set on a large property with several secondary buildings, the Chase house was a large brick mansion with Italianate-style visual features. All of these houses have been demolished.
In addition to Netterstrom's house on Aldine, there are two larger early houses that survive. One is a wood-frame "Italianate villa," complete with tower, that is tucked at the back of its lot at 2930-32 North Burling Street, just off Halsted Street. Probably dating from the 1870s as well, fire insurance maps indicate this house was moved to this location in the early 1900s. A second house at 806 West Belmont Avenue is an Italianate style brick building with large gable brackets and an elaborate front porch and bay. These houses are some of the few physical links remaining in Lake View to this early era of development before and after the Chicago Fire.
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The Italianate-style "villa" of Robert R. Clark once stood on the southwest corner of N. Clark St. and W. Barry Ave.
Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection, Chicago Public Library
"Lockby Hall," owned by Charles B. Chase, was once located on a large parcel of land on the northeast corner of W. Belmont Ave. and N. Sheridan Rd. Chicago History Museum
Real estate broker Robert Clark lived in this Italianate style home which stood on N. Halsted St. south of the Robert R. Clark home (top left). Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection, Chicago Public Library
The Italianate-style home of Frederick Wesemann, built circa 1885 at what would today be 515 W. Briar PI. Although Mr. Wesemann died in 1900, his widow is believed to have remained in the house until 1921. Chicago History Museum
The Lake View neighborhood developed in the 1870s and 1880s as a lightly-populated suburban community of large estates and Italianate style "villas" near Lake Michigan and smaller, yet still visually-impressive homes along major roads extending north into Lake View from Chicago.
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Lake View as a Chicago neighborhood
In 1887, the town of Lake View was incorporated as a city, electing its own mayor and city council. Two years later, in 1889, Lake View was annexed to the City of Chicago, allowing it to benefit from Chicago services and water supply. Improvements in mass transportation encouraged rapid development. Within five years of annexation, slow horse car lines on Clark St. (then called Green Bay Road) and Halsted Street were upgraded to electric streetcars, and in 1896, Broadway saw its own streetcars electrified. Four years later in 1900, the Northwestern "L" elevated train (currently the Red, Brown, and Purple lines) opened, running from Chicago's downtown north to Wilson Avenue.
Development during the early 1890s was concentrated within blocks of main transit lines and consisted mainly of two- and three-story frame apartment flats. Electrified streetcars, the elevated train, and the extension of water mains and sewer lines hastened the spread of development throughout the neighborhood. New two- and three-story brick apartment flats, some with elaborate limestone facades, were built during the late-1890s through 1900s. As demand for units increased at the turn of the century, many older frame houses were converted into apartment flats. The influx of residents increased the need for goods and services; many of the early large residences that lined Lake View's main streets (Halsted, Belmont, and Broadway) were replaced by commercial development and storefronts. One notable example at the southwest corner of Aldine and Halsted is the Holabird & Roche designed Mandel Brothers Warehouse (listed on the National Register in 1993). It was built in 1903 as a distribution warehouse for the Mandel Department store, and it replaced the grand home of former Lake View mayor and Chicago Sanitary District president William Boldenweck.
By 1910, most blocks in Lake View north of Belmont and west of Halsted were densely developed with apartment flats. East of Halsted, flats quickly replaced many surviving suburban houses, including Italianate villas that were similar to the Netterstrom House. The northward extension of Lincoln Park and easy financing in the 1920s prompted the construction of lakefront apartment towers. Examples of early frame flats, masonry 3-flats, and later apartment buildings can be found in the Newport Avenue District, which exemplifies Lake View's development between the 1890s
The Newport Avenue District between N. Halsted St. and N. Clark St. is lined by frame and masonry apartment flats and exemplifies Lake View's development between the 1890s and early 1900s.
Photo: Heidi Sperry
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and the 1920s (This portion of Newport Avenue, between Halsted and the CTA Red Line elevated tracks, was designated a Chicago landmark district in 2005).
The Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II largely halted new construction in the area. During these trying decades, many apartment flats and houses were divided into single-room boarding houses. The Netterstrom House served as a boarding house as early as 1910, when according to census records the house was home to five families. A great amount of redevelopment took place in Lake View, primarily along the lakefront, during the post-war boom years of the 1950s, and continued through the 1960s and 1970s. New apartment towers and later four-plus-one apartment buildings changed the appearance of blocks east of Broadway. However, west of Broadway, most blocks remained the same. The commercial shopping district along Belmont and Clark endured and evolved as new residents entered the area. In 1964, the Chicago Housing Authority replaced several storefronts and apartment flats at the southeast corner of Aldine and Clark with the 147-unit Hattie Callner Apartment tower, which offers affordable senior housing.
Lake View's Ethnic Swedish Community
Lake View's ethnic Swedish community became the largest in Chicago by 1920, when Chicago's overall Swedish population was the fifth largest ethnic group in the city after Poles, Germans, Russians, and Italians. At the time, Chicago also held the third largest Swedish population among cities in the world.
The Netterstrom House exemplifies the historic significance of ethnic Swedish citizens to the development of Lake View as a Chicago neighborhood during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Lake View's early development also owes much to the many industrious German immigrants who settled and farmed the area beginning in the 1840s and 1850s. But a second group of great significance to Lake View history was the Swedes who began to move to Lake View in the 1880s, and had established one of the largest Swedish communities in Chicago by the early-twentieth century. As a prominent ethnic-Swedish resident of Lake View, Charles Netterstrom exemplifies this aspect of the neighborhood's social and cultural heritage.
Netterstrom's long ownership of his house, and the house's use as a social and cultural center by Swedish-American organizations, reflects the community's significant ethnic history.
Early Swedish Settlement
Some of the first Swedish immigrants came to the United States, including Chicago, in the 1840s due to food shortages and increasing poverty in their native land. Upon arriving in Chicago, many worked on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, the ambitious public-works projects of the 1830s and 1840s that established Chicago as a great transportation hub. The population of ethnic-Swedes remained relatively small, however, until the 1860s, when Chicago's Swedish population grew to become the largest in the United States. Chicago became home to the largest Swedish population in 1890 outside of Scandinavia.
Swedish immigrants lived in Chicago in three main enclaves, which were divided along religious lines. The largest area was known as "Swede Town," located on the Near North Side and centered along Chicago Avenue between Larrabee Street and the North Branch of the Chicago River. There, early Swedish residents built hundreds of small frame houses and developed a strong community with several churches, social clubs, and a thriving business center. Swedes were employed as skilled workers in various construction trades, metalworking, and printing.
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Historian, orator, and writer Johan A. Enanderwas an intellectual leader among Swedish-Americans. Following his move to Lake View he built the above frame house with a corner tower south of School. St. at 3256 N. Wilton Ave. in 1883 (demolished). Soon, Swedish-Americans followed him to the Belmont Ave. and Clark St. area of Lake View from Chicago's old "Swede Town" community on Chicago Ave. Enander was frequently referred to as the "Father of Lake View's Swedish Colony." The elevated train trestle is visible in the background. From: John Drury, Old Chicago Houses, p 225.
During the 1870s, Chicago's Swedish population doubled to over 12,000, becoming the city's third largest ethnic population after Germans, Irish, and British. The considerable amount of rebuilding following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was undertaken by the city as a whole; however, none were as involved with building trades during the 1870s as were the Swedes, which earned the expression "the Swedes that built Chicago."
Chicago's Swedish population grew again between 1880 and 1890, by 233 percent, to over 43,000. Two other important Swedish enclaves developed on the South Side in Douglas and Armour Square and on the West Side in North Lawndale.
Swedes in Lake View
Residents like Netterstrom^and Swedish-born clothing manufacturer Frank J. Lindsten quickly grew their businesses and became some of the first Swedish residents to purchase land in Lake View outside of Swedish settlements. However, Lake View did not become a destination for Swedes until famed poet, historian, orator, and educator Johan Alfred Enander moved to Lake View in 1876. Born in Vestergotland, Sweden in 1842, Enander came to Illinois in 1869 and enrolled at Augustana College and Theological Seminary in Paxton, Illinois. Soon, he became the editor-in-chief of a weekly Lutheran Church periodical the Hemlandet [Homeland], and transformed it into a nationally significant newspaper for Swedish-Americans. Between 1874 and 1876, Enander
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The intersection'of N Clark St. and W. Belmont Ave. in Lake View became the center of the late-19th and early 20th century Swedish-American community. Shops, restaurants, society and concert halls, and other organizations formed the heart of the community.
Looking northeast across Clark and Belmont toward Belmont Hall and apartments, c. 1920 (extant). The Trolley Dodger (website)
Another Swedish-American social organization was the Independent Order of Vikings , which built Viking Temple at the southeast corner of N. Sheffield Ave. and W. School St. in 1910. Still standing.
Chuckman Collection (website)
The Swedish-American social organization Order of Good Templers built the Cooperative Temperance Cafe Idrott in 1913 on the northeast corner of W. Belmont Ave. and N. Wilton Ave. Still standing.
Chuckman Collection (website)
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View looking southeast along Belmont Avenue toward the busy intersection with N. Clark Street, c. 1910. Calumet 451 (website)
Businesses, social halls, churches, and other important places in the community were concentrated in area around the intersection of Belmont and Clark. Below are a several important sites in the community and their locations relative to the Netterstrom House (identified in black).
Locations of some historical Swedish-American community sites
A -VikingTemple, built 1910 D B - Site of Johan Enander Home (built 1883, demolished) f C - Cooperative Temperance Cafe Idrott, built 1913 f
Melrose Street
mum H -flic
wwwuu i-n n |10 9|
Da
Belmont Hall, built c.1890s
Immanuel Mission Congregation Church, built 1924 Fralsningsarmens Temple/Swedish Salvation Army Church (demolished)
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published his five-volume history of the United States in Swedish, which hailed Norsemen as the true original American colonists and helped rally Swedish-American pride.
Enander attracted a great following through his writings and weekly meetings of the Svenska Forbundet [Swedish Federation]. His importance as an orator, writer, and leader of Swedish-Americans drew Swedish immigrants to settle in Lake View in the late-nineteenth century. In 1.883, Enander built a frame house with a gable front and corner tower at 3256 North Wilton Avenue (non -extant). This quiet tree-lined block, west of Clark Street between Belmont Avenue and School Street, was then-known as Oak Place. Through his writings, Enander appealed to Swedish-Americans, many of whom moved to this same area around Belmont and Clark in Lake View during the 1880s and 1890s. Enander became a household name among Swedish-Americans across the country and was frequently referred to as the "Father of Lake View's Swedish Colony."
Chicago's Swede Town along Chicago Avenue shifted demographically in the 1890s as Swedes gained economic mobility and moved out of the old neighborhood. The opportunity to build homes and move to newer, more attractive neighborhoods was a strong incentive for Swedes to leave. Swede Town soon became an Italian neighborhood as new immigrants from that southern European nation began to occupy the area during the 1890s. Many Swedes moved to Lake View to be near Enander and the growing community there, while others moved to Andersonville and North Park on the far North Side or to Englewood and Hyde Park on the South Side. According to historian Ulf Beijbom, over 43 percent of Chicago's ethnic Swedes lived in Lake View by 1894. Around 1900, the over 15,000 Swedes (both born in Sweden and in the United States) living in Lake View exceeded the Near North Side Swede Town population by just over 1,000 persons; only Lake View's German population was larger.
Lake View's Swedish community grew rapidly during the early 1900s, as nearly all new Swedish immigrants, along with many those from the old Swede Town, moved to the area. Swedes also started to establish a community in Andersonville around the intersection of Clark Street and Foster Avenue, but this area did not become a significant enclave for Swedes until the 1910s. Dozens of shops, restaurants, banks, and even light manufacturing companies, all owned and operated by Swedish-Americans, lined Belmont, Halsted, and Clark, with the community's center at the intersection of Belmont and Clark. One of the few remaining business in the area is the Ann Sather restaurant, which first opened in 1945. At the heart of the neighborhood were several churches, entertainment venues, and society halls, each of which appealed to different political affiliations, denominations, and age groups. As the Swedish population grew, it became large enough to sustain a variety of cultural organizations and secular clubs, which included singing and sports clubs, fraternal lodges, temperance and educational organizations, professional associations, and Swedish branches of trade unions and financial organizations. All added to the rich diversity of Swedish life in Lake View.
The Swedish branch of the Salvation Army occupied'Johan Enander's former home beginning in 1918, and opened a brick church to the south on Wilton Avenue soon after (both have been demolished). Belmont Hall was built in the 1890s on the northeast corner of Belmont and Clark as a four-story apartment building with stores and a large meeting hall in a semi-detached rear building. It held numerous political functions, Swedish dances, vaudeville groups, and singing societies.
Swedish fraternal organizations and social societies also opened or moved to the area. The oldest was the Svea Society, which was a conservative organization founded in 1857 for enlightenment of its members. Svea moved into Schott's Hall, a building on Belmont near Clifton Avenue, in 1901.
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There were also societies and eleven lodges that formed a significant part of Lake View's social fabric. These included the Vasa, Svithiod, and the Independent Order of Vikings (IOV), which built the Viking Temple on the southeast corner of Sheffield Avenue and School Street in 1910 (3257 North Sheffield Avenue, extant). A block away, the forward-thinking and youthful International Order of Good Templers built another important social meeting hall, the Kooperativa Nykterhetskafeet Idrott, or the Idrott (Swedish for "sport") cafe and clubhouse, on the northeast corner of Belmont and Wilton avenues in 1913 (930 West Belmont Avenue, extant). The Order also opened the "Cooperative Temperance Cafe - Idrott" on the west side of Wilton in 1923, which hosted art exhibits, concerts, and the popular Swedish Educational League.
The Netterstrom House as a community gathering place
Purpose-built commercial buildings and lodges were not the only centers of cultural and social life for Lake View's Swedish community. Area homes, like the Netterstrom House, also played a significant part and served as important community gathering places for clubs and societies, and as venues for local events. After Charles Netterstrom moved out of his house in 1907 he began to lease the home to various organizations and societies, which hosted meetings, community recitals, and social events.
In November 1907, the Harmony Singing Club opened their clubhouse in Netterstrom's building. According to a Minnesota-based Swedish singing group newspaper Musiktidning, the club made some minor interior renovations to accommodate the club and its needs. It hosted frequent events in the house and invited popular Swedish singers to perform at public concerts held in the house's garden. These concerts were frequently advertised in the local Swedish-language newspapers, including the Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter. Club dinners were popular among members and were also held both in the main dining room and in the garden. By 1910, but the club operated the dining room as an intimate restaurant that was open to the public.
The Harmony Singing Club converted the Netterstrom House into its club house in 1907 and held public events both in the house and in the garden with Swedish-American singers. The above ad is for an event at the "park' and clubhouse" with several singing groups and even a round of tug-of-war. The event was to be held at the house in June 1908.
The Harmony Singing Club offered regular business lunches from the dining room or matsal of the Netterstrom House in 1908.
Ad, Svenska Amerikanaren, August 11,1908, 20,
Ad, Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter, June 9,1908.16 .
The Harmony Singing Club occupied most of the house, but shared it with other smaller clubs including the Svenska Schacksallskape (Swedish Chess Society). The chess society formed in November 1907 and held weekly tournaments at the house, which were advertised in Johan Enander's Hamlandet newspaper. The following year, the Harmony Singing Club hosted the Swedish Old Settlers' Society, which held its annual "feast and banquet" reunion at the house. The Svenska-Amerikanaren newspaper noted that the Society formed during the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and that its 250 members included some of Chicago's most distinguished Swedish-born residents, all of whom had settled in the region before 1871.
Although the Harmony Singing Club served as a significant gathering place for the Swedish-American community, it remained on Aldine for only about two years. By 1910, the United States Census shows that the house was occupied by several lodgers, many who were recently arrived from Sweden and worked as streetcar conductors or teamsters.
Lake View's later Swedish-American history
Chicago's Swedish-born population peaked in 1920 at over 65,000, which made the Swedes the fifth-largest foreign-born group, behind Poles, Germans, Russians^ and Italians. Beginning in the late-1920s, Lake View's older established Swedish population began to slowly decrease. This process was hastened by the Great Depression, a period when many local businesses faced closure. The families of well established, older ethnic-Swedes started to move out of the Belmont and Clark area in favor of neighborhoods like Andersonville and Hollywood Park on the city's far North Side. In their place, the community at Clark and Belmont became transient as more Swedish immigrants moved in seeking temporary employment. During this time, larger single-family homes, including the Netterstrom House, and apartment flats in the area were subdivided into single-room boarding houses, which provided more affordable accommodations.
Yet, Lake View's Swedish community was resilient and remained through the 1960s. By that time, Chicago's Swedish-born population had declined to around 16,000. Swedish families continued to move to far North Side neighborhoods or to the suburbs before and after World War II.
Lake View communities after 1940
Beginning in the 1940s, Chicago saw an influx of Japanese-American refugees. Two main enclaves formed, one in the South Side Oakland community area and one on the Near North Side around Clark and Division streets. Urban renewal displaced the Near North Side Japanese community in the 1960s, which relocated north in Lake View around Clark and Belmont to form a new community. By the 1970s, hundreds of Japanese-American-owned shops, restaurants, and associations were located between Addison and Belmont, primarily along Broadway, Halsted, and Clark. Additional residents, including Korean-Americans and Puerto Ricans moved into the area during the 1970s, but overall Lake View lost over 15 percent of its population by 1980. During the 1970s and 1980s, Lake View blossomed as the city's most prominent LGBTQ commercial and s residential community. Although the neighborhood has remained largely stable in its building stock, over the last twenty years new construction has continued to replace older buildings. Today, Lake View remains a vibrant residential neighborhood. The Netterstrom House is a vital link to the area's physical origins as a suburban, then urban neighborhood.
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Hon. CHARLES M. NETTERSTROM.
Charles M. Netterstrom built his home in Lake View around 1872-1874. He held several professions. Starting as a lath nailer he soon opened his own ornamental plastering company. He later formed a paving company, which supplied paving and concrete work to many areas in Chicago and Lake View, including a several mile stretch of Clark Street from North Avenue to Lawrence Avenue. Netterstrom became a politician first for the Town of Lake View as a commissioner, then as a Cook County commissioner and finally as a state senator representing part of Lake View.
Original Owner and Builder Charles M. Netterstrom
Charles Magnus Netterstrom is significant to the history and development of Lake View as a locally prominent resident, builder, and politician. His life and work are exemplary of the community leaders found throughout Chicago's history that have contributed to the development and social definition their community.
He was born Carl Magnus Johan Jacobsen in Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway in 1847. His father, Johan Jacob Netterstrom, was born in Malmo, Sweden in 1816. Early in his life, as Sweden's population endured great food shortages, Johan Netterstrom moved to the neighboring country of Norway, which was relatively more prosperous. There he became a successful fisherman with a fleet of schooners. He married Serine Knudsdatter in 1847. In 1854, Johan Netterstrom moved again, this time with his family. Like many Scandinavians at the time he immigrated to the United States, where his two sons Charles and John, and his daughter Anna could have even greater opportunities than he did in Norway.
The family arrived in Chicago in its growing "Swede Town," where, they occupied a frame house at the edge of the enclave near Division and Halsted streets. By 1862, the family was living at 155 Division Street (currently known as 730 West Division).
Charles Netterstrom, having immigrated at the age of seven, attended Chicago's public schools. But, around the age of thirteen he started spending winters working as a cooper, a trade that he
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learned from his father, and summers as a lather for carpenter Sievert T. Gunderson. Netterstrom never settled in one trade or even area of interest. Throughout his life he succeeded in establishing himself in several ventures that took him from being a lather and cooper to a notable plasterer and paving contractor, and finally to county commissioner and state senator.
Early Career
In 1863, at age sixteen, Netterstrom started his own lathing company, taking contracts preparing newly built houses for plasterwork. Netterstrom married Swedish-born Anna M. Anderson in 1869 and soon moved into another home in Swede Town, which their growing family shared with a carpenter. Like Netterstrom, Anderson had also immigrated with her family to Chicago at a young age during the 1850s. By 1871, the family had two children.
Netterstrom's lathing business continued until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed much of the city and temporarily halted his work. With his home destroyed and his family displaced, Netterstrom like many Chicagoans after the fire looked to rebuild and chose a place outside the congested city. In 1872, Netterstrom purchased two newly subdivided parcels in the Town of Lake View, and before long started to build his new home. He moved his family into the home in May 1874.
Around the same time that Netterstrom was building his house in Lake View he also started his own decorative plastering company. The rebuilding effort following the Great Fire created great demand for tradesmen of all kinds; Netterstrom profited from the seemingly endless business as a decorative plasterer. In 1875, he became involved in a second trade as a mason with Norwegian-born Charles J. Bergh, forming the masonry company of Netterstrom & Bergh. It is possible that Bergh assisted in the construction of the tower and south additions to Netterstrom's home in the early 1890s.
Charles Netterstrom's political career in the Town of Lake View
Beginning in the 1880s, Charles Netterstrom started to broaden his career. Plaster and lath were still important to him, but there was more he aspired to accomplish. Around 1880 Netterstrom joined his brother John in a new ornamental plastering company as J. C. Netterstrom & Co., but he soon bought his brother's share and continued the company in his own name through the 1890s. In 1881, Netterstrom ran for office in the Town of Lake View, becoming a judge that year, followed by coroner in 1884, and as commissioner and trustee.
In the same year that Netterstrom began his political ascent in Lake View, he also started a notable street paving company with James Bairstow as Netterstrom & Bairstow. The company advertised street paving in macadam, brick, cedar, and granite block as their specialty, but they also became well known for their concrete work. They poured floors for malt houses and laid concrete for gutters, cellars, and sidewalks for both private clients and for municipalities throughout the Chicago area.
As Chicago developed and later annexed several surrounding townships in 1889, such as Lake View, there was a growing need for road improvements. In Lake View during the 1880s, most streets were composed of compacted gravel, with only several major thoroughfares being paved in some way. In addition, the development of the safety bicycle in the 1890s spurred an almost feverish nationwide interest in cycling. The "cycle craze" required smooth roads for efficient and pleasant travel. While the ensuing populist drive for "good roads" had a significant effect on upgrading roadways outside of cities, it also called for road improvements within cities. As
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commissioner, Netterstrom had the great advantage of both a platform to promote the need for good roads, and the business to provide them. His company successfully paved dozens of important streets in areas from Lake View to West Pullman and Chicago to far western towns, many for the first time. One of the largest projects was completed in 1887. Clark Street from North Avenue north to Lawrence Avenue in Andersonville was both paved and given a sewer.
After annexation in 1889, Lake View came under the jurisdiction of the City of Chicago. Since Netterstrom could no longer continue as trustee, he ran for alderman in 1890 for the twenty-fifth ward, which roughly included his immediate', predominantly Swedish neighborhood. Over 300 Scandinavian-Americans of the ward turned out for a meeting presided over by the venerable Johan Enander in March 1890 at Oak Hall (a meeting hall that historically stood at 3334 North Clark Street). At the meeting, The Scandinavian Club of the Twenty-Fifth Ward endorsed Netterstrom, but despite strong support from the community, he was ultimately defeated.
With defeat behind him, Netterstrom appears to have stepped away from politics in 1890 and focused on his family. In June of that year his eldest daughter Emma M. Netterstrom married Swedish-born music store owner Axel Allander. The newlyweds continued to live on Aldine and soon had their first son, Carl, in 1892. It was around this time, between 1891 and 1894, that Netterstrom greatly expanded his house, adding a large rear addition to the south end of the house, and a new entrance and comer tower. Although comer towers were not rare, they were also not commonly found among Chicago's typical front gable houses and flats. A notable example of a house with a corner tower topped by a pyramidal roof was the one owned by Johan Enander only two blocks to the west at 3256 North Wilton Avenue (formerly Oak Place). Although Enander's house was built in 1886, his significance among Swedish-Americans may have encouraged Netterstrom to add the distinctive feature to his home.
Charles Netterstrom's political career in Cook County and Illinois
Netterstrom returned to political life in 1893 when the Republican Convention nominated him by acclamation for the position of Cook County Commissioner. A writer for the Chicago Eagle in 1893 noted that, "Mr. Netterstrom's nomination is a clear case of the office seeking the man... which came to Mr. Netterstrom in the nature of a surprise, as he had not sought the office." He became Chairman of the Board and continued to promote infrastructure projects that his paving company could be contracted to handle. As Cook County Commissioner in 1893, Netterstrom supervised several county projects including the construction of the Cook County Criminal Court Building, which was designed by architect Otto H. Matz (54 West Hubbard Street, designated a Chicago Landmark in 1993).
The following year in 1894, Charles Netterstrom was elected state senator for the Twenty-First District, an area that covered three wards (21st, 22nd, and 25th) in the Lake View District of Chicago. Finally, he held the ultimate seat for the area of Lake View that he had called home for twenty years. As senator, Netterstrom was very much in favor of increasing regulation of various industries, and supported wide range of bills aimed at improving or standardizing a field, such as "an act to insure the better education of practitioners of horseshoeing." But one of his most significant contributions was the sponsorship of Senate Bill No. 65 in 1897 for "An act to provide for the licensing of architects and regulating the practice of architecture as a profession." Illinois became the first state to require architects to have practicing licenses.
Architecture was not always considered a profession. A builder or carpenter could be an "architect" and both design and build a structure. The term "architect" comes from the Greek word architektdn
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or "chief carpenter." The American Institute of Architects (AIA) was founded in 1857 and established architecture as a profession in addition to supporting the organization of some of the earliest architecture schools. In Chicago, a building boom brought on by the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 increased competition for commissions, which led to a rise in poorly constructed buildings and fraudulent builders. In 1897, a group of architects concerned about the integrity of architecture as a profession formed the Chicago Architects' Business Association (C.A.B.A.), which later became known as the Illinois Society of Architects (ISA), and drafted the bill for licensing architects. This set a precedent for architecture that was eventually adopted by every state.
Later life and the house on Aldine Avenue
Charles Netterstrom remained senator until 1898 when he returned to being a full-time paving
contractor in Chicago; his son Walter B. Netterstrom joined the company that year. In 1907, after
the death of Netterstrom's wife Anna, Charles Netterstrom and his daughter Emma and her family
moved to Western Springs. There in 1909 he founded and operated the Newsted Manufacturing Co. i
in Chicago, which produced collapsible store shelving. His son Walter headed his paving company.
Netterstrom leased his house to various Swedish organizations until passing the house to his
youngest son Arthur M. Netterstrom in 1911. Charles Netterstrom died in 1914.
Later History of the Netterstrom House
The Netterstrom House continued to change with the neighborhood as the twentieth century progressed. Arthur Netterstrom leased the house to predominantly ethnic Swedish lodgers until he sold it in 1920 to dairy company manager Peter Peterson. The Peterson family lived in the house and continued to host roomers through 1945 when the house was sold to the Anderson family. In 1994, the house was purchased from the Andersons by art dealer Woody Slaymaker for his family.
The Netterstrom House and the Italianate and Queen Anne Styles
The Netterstrom House presents two common architectural styles that defined their respective periods during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. In Chicago, these styles make up the vast majority of buildings constructed during the late-nineteenth century, from humble workers' cottages and apartment flats to row houses and high style mansions. The overall form and materials of the Netterstrom House, especially on its north and west gable walls, reflects the Italianate style. The later tower and rear additions have distinct features including steep roofs, dormers, and flat arch windows that have Queen Anne style influences, a popular style that supplanted the Italianate in the late-1870s.
The Italianate style of architecture became the dominant style for buildings constructed in the United States between 1850 and 1880. The term Italianate refers to a style derived from domestic Italian Renaissance architecture of the sixteenth century, particularly that of romantic rambling rural farmhouses or villas. Such buildings typically featured shallow roofs and an asymmetrical form, often in an L-shape, with or without a central corner tower or campanile.
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Comparable 1870s Italianate style houses in Lake View are relatively rare. On the left is a frame Italianate style "villa" with rounded arch windows and a campanile. It is located at 2930 North Burling Street. The house on the right is a brick Italianate style house with a later pressed metal corner bay. It is located at 817 West Wolfram Street.
Beyond the Lake View area there are two additional comparable 1870s Italianate style houses. On the left is the Iglehart House was built in 1854 as a farmhouse with an 1870s Italianate style front addition at 11118 S. Artesian Ave. in the Morgan Park neighborhood. On the right is the Race House, which was built of brick in the Italianate style in 1874. Both houses are Chicago Landmarks. The Iglehart House was designated in 1994 and the Race house was designated in 1988. Left: Commission on Chicago Landmarks, Right: Wikipedia (website)
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The Italianate Revival style began in England as part of the Romantic Revival, or Picturesque movement, which developed as a reaction to the formal Classical ideals for art and architecture, that had been popular for over two centuries. In place of perfect symmetry and formal Classical details, the Romantic notions of the Italianate style promised a more relaxed form. In the United States, the picturesque was considered a suitable alternative to the Greek Revival style, which gained precedence after the War of 1812 when the young republic, was searching for architectural models appropriate for a practicing democracy.
In the United States, the Old World prototypes of the Italianate style were variously modified and embellished to suit American tastes, leaving only hints of its rural Italian origins. Shallow roofs were extended over gable walls and supported by scrolled brackets, windows and doors were frequently arched and adorned with hoods, frames, or various drip moulds, and exterior porches often wrapped around to the sides of houses. The style developed into a uniquely American form and was adapted to both rural and urban locations.
In 1850, Andrew Jackson Downing synthesized and helped popularize the style in addition to the Gothic Revival in his book The Architecture of County Houses, which was regularly reprinted through the 1870s. His book became a bible for countless numbers of builders, carpenters, and architects across the United States, and was the basis for numerous pattern books. By the mid-1860s, the Italianate style surpassed the Gothic Revival style, which was also based on Picturesque architectural styles of the past.
By the time Netterstrom purchased his land in Lake View, the Italianate style had been in vogue for over twenty years. All along Lake View's lakefront, nestled among groves of trees, were grand Italianate style villas, the majority of which were built between the end of the Civil War and the financial panic of 1873. Throughout Chicago too were innumerable blocks of "marble-fronted" row houses, stately frame and brick villas, and scores of frame cottages with only the slightest hints of the style.
Although the Italianate style in general was prevalent in Chicago from the Civil War to as late as the 1880s, the asymmetrical, L-shaped form is far less common. The Netterstrom House is a type of Italianate style house that is vanishing'from both the Lake View community and the city as a whole. Until the 2000s, comparable 1870s examples included a two-and-a-half story brick house at 5123 North Wolcott in the Ravenswood community, a cross gable house with a front bay window at 856 West Diversey Parkway in Lake View, and a frame house at 823 West Wolfram Street in Lake View among others. These have since been lost to redevelopment. Current extant examples in the Lake View community include a frame cross gable house with a corner tower at 2930 North Burling Street and a brick house with and 1890s corner bay window at 817 West Wolfram Street.
Beyond the immediate Lake View area, the Race House at 3945 North Tripp Avenue in the Irving Park community is an excellent brick example (The Race house was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1988). Another formerly rural Italianate style house is the pre-fire brick John Raber House at 5760 South Lafayette Avenue in the Englewood community (the Raber house was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1996).
The Italianate style was eventually eclipsed by the Queen Anne, which became fashionable in the late 1870s when building momentum again picked up after the financial panic of 1873 and subsequent depression. The style was popularized and named by a nineteenth-century group of English architects. Curiously, the style and its precedents have little to do with either Queen Anne or the Renaissance architecture that was popular during her reign in the early eighteenth century.
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The style was instead modeled after medieval styles of the Jacobean and Elizabethan periods. In the United States, the Queen Anne style can be categorized by a few main forms that are differentiated primarily by material: brick, frame, or half timbered. Examples frequently have complex rooflines with towers, bays, and projecting pediments. Another significant aspect of this style was its coincidence with the proliferation of mass-produced building materials, which included a wide range of products from trim and doors, to metalwork and decorative stained glass. The style remained popular from around 1880, at the end of the 1870s recession, to around 1910.
The Netterstrom House exhibits specific elements of the Queen Anne style, both in its additions and on the original portion of the house. Charles Netterstrom appears to have redecorated his house in the early 1890s following examples of the newly popularized style. He added pressed metal cornices to the gable ends of the original house to match similar cornices and pediments that he added to the tower and rear additions. The tower, while not a Queen Anne feature by itself, is decorated with design elements that clearly indicate its period of construction. The windows have flat arches with red terra cotta drip moulds and foliate label stops. Unglazed red terra cotta became a popular material during the 1880s and can frequently be found adorning Queen Anne style buildings. Terra cotta before the 1880s was also unglazed, but tended to be a light cream or pale yellow color. The use of terra cotta proliferated during the 1880s. One notable company was the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, which started in 1878 and opened a plant on Clybourn and Wrightwood avenues. The rear addition has a pair of large dormers that straddle the roof and face apart - east and west. The east side features twin quarter-round fan casement windows, while the west side has a row of square casements topped by a decorative pressed metal pediment.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House demonstrates the changing architectural fashions of the mid-to-late nineteenth century in a community that rapidly transformed from a rural suburb to an urban enclave. The subtle rounded flat arches of its bay windows, the cast stone keystones, and the overall
The Charles M. Netterstrom House was photographed at left in the 1980s for the Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS). The house was given the second-highest color rating for architectural significance. At the time, the house's third owners, the Anderson family, lived in the house. They were also the house's longest occupants, owning the house from 1945 to 1994.
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The south addition features a west-facing dormer and pressed metal cornice and pediment with Queen Anne style details.
The gables of the original portions of the house feature cast stone keystones with deeply incised details.
The wood front porch is designed to imitate rusticated stone blocks. It has rusticated columns and flattened arches that mirror the arches above the gable windows. The porch was probably built following the construction of the corner tower addition c. 1891-1894.
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Criteria for Designation
According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Sections 2-120-620 and -630), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to make a preliminary recommendation of landmark designation for an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object with the City of Chicago if the Commission determines it meets two or more of the stated "criteria for designation," as well as possesses a significant degree of historic integrity to convey its significance.
The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Charles M. Netterstrom House be designated as a Chicago Landmark.
Criterion 1: Value as an Example of City, State, or National Heritage
Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House, built around 1873 and expanded circa 1891-1894, exemplifies the significant early residential history and development of the Lake View area in the late-nineteenth century.
The Netterstrom House is among the best-surviving early suburban residences built in the Lake View community area before it was annexed to Chicago in 1889.
The Lake View community area retains very few well-preserved Italianate style houses. The Netterstrom House is an excellent example and it also clearly shows its development over time through additions and changes in style.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House represents the Lake View community's significant early Swedish population as the home of important community leader and businessman Charles Netterstrom.
Criterion 4: Exemplary Architecture
Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House is an excellent Italianate style house that, over time, acquired elements of the Queen Anne style.
The Netterstrom House is an early example of the use of cementitious artificial stone in its exterior decoration.
The Netterstrom House is finely crafted in terms of Brick, terra cotta, and decorative metal and it possess beautifully-detailed Italianate- and Queen Anne-style ornament.
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Criterion 7: Unique or Distinctive Visual Feature
Its unique location or distinctive physical appearance or presence representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City of Chicago.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House is an unusual and visually striking building within the context of the Lake View community area including its combination of the Italianate and Queen Anne styles, its high raised basement and steep stairs, and corner tower.
The Netterstrom House sits prominently facing north on an irregular lot at the intersection of Aldine Avenue and Dayton Streets. The house's distinctive tower and roofline can be readily seen from Clark Street a half block to the west.
Integrity Criteria
The integrity of the proposed landmark must be preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and ability to express its historic community, architecture or aesthetic interest or value.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House exhibits high levels of historic integrity, retaining its historic location, setting, and overall design. Its exterior retains historic brick walls, artificial stone and terra cotta trim, and metal cornices. Double-hung wood sash and casements are generally retained in the building's windows.
The north gable of the original portion of the house features cast stone keystones and a later Queen Anne style pressed metal cornice.
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Above: The east and north elevations of the house. The frame east bay (red siding) is visible to the left.
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Below: The north and west elevations as viewed from the corner of Aldine Ave. and Dayton St.
The main curving walnut and pine stair is part of the original portion of the house. In the foreground, the plaster archway leads from the may entry hall, which was built as part of the corner tower c. 1891-1894. The archway occupies the location of the original front door from before the corner tower was built.
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Exterior changes to the building are minor. They include a new side doorway and porch roof at the ground floor level of the west elevation, a non-historic greenhouse attached to the east elevation, and a round church window in the east dormer that was added in the 1990s. Also, the vintage wrought iron fence surrounding the property was salvaged from elsewhere and installed in the 1990s; it is not original to the house.
A one-story brick garage with a truss roof stands at the south end of the property on the same parcel of land. No construction permits for the building exist, though historic permit records for an earlier building on the site indicate it was built at some point after 1924. The architect is not known. In the late-1920s it was occupied by automotive parts manufacturer General Mechanics Co., which had both its offices and factory in the building. During the 1930s there was an auto repair shop in the building. The building's later history is harder to track, but it appears to have remained in use for auto-related businesses. Currently, the garage building is occupied by a dog boarding and walking company, and does not contribute to the significance or history of the main house and its additions., and is not included in the designation.
The Charles M. Netterstrom House retains the ability to express its historic, community, architectural, and aesthetic values as a finely-designed and -crafted Italianate and Queen Anne style single-family house built by contractor and politician Charles Netterstrom for his family. The building's historic integrity is preserved in light of its location, design, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such values.
Significant Historical and Architectural Features
Whenever an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object is under consideration for landmark designation, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is required to identify the "significant historical and architectural features" of the property. This is done to enable the owners and the public to understand which elements are considered most important to preserve the historical and architectural character of the proposed landmark.
Based upon its preliminary evaluation of the Charles M. Netterstrom House, the Commission staff recommends that the significant features be identified as:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the building.
The free-standing one-story garage located on the same parcel as the Charles M. Netterstrom House is excluded from the significant historical and architectural features.
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Selected Bibliography
Advertisement. The Chicago Eagle, July 18, 1896. 8.
"Among the Scandinavians," The Inter-Ocean, March 20, 1890. 3.
Andreas, Alfred T. History of Cook County, Illinois: from the earliest period to the present time (Chicago: A. T. Andreas, Publisher, 1884).
Beijbom, Ulf. "Chicago's 'Swede Town'- Gone but Not Forgotten,"
Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, 15(4) October 1964.
Beijbom, Ulf. Swedes in Chicago: A demographic and social study of the 1846 - 1880 immigration (Stockholm: Laromedelsfbrlagen, 1971).
Bengston, Henry. "Chicago's Belmont & Clark: A Comer of Memories." Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, 13(4) October 1962
Bristol, W. W. Bristol's Compilation Mechanics' Lien Law, Torrens Land Title, Builders' Directory (Chicago: A. W. Bristol, Publisher, 1896).
Chamberlin, Everett. Chicago and Its Suburbs (Chicago: T. A. Hungerford & Company, 1874).
The Chicago Blue Book of Selected Names of Chicago and Suburban Towns (Chicago: The Chicago Directory Company, [ 1890-1915]).
"Charles M. Netterstrom," [Obituary] The Chicago Daily Tribune, February 13, 1914. 8.
"C. M. Nettestrom & Son," The Inter-Ocean, May 4, 1902. 29.
Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Tract Book 558-C, Weston's Subdivision of Lots 10, 11, and 12. Drury, John. Old Chicago Houses (New York: Bonanza Books, 1941).
"For the Bench, Careers of Some Prominent Candidates," The Chicago Eagle, November 4, 1893. 2.
Gamla Och Nya Hemlandet. [Chicago, IL newspaper] several years. Swedish American Newspapers Collection. Minnesota Historical Society.
Halpin & Bailey's Chicago City Directory (Chicago: Halpin & Bailey, 1862)
Hoyt, Homer. One Hundred Years of Land Values in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933). Lake View Directory, [ 1885-1889].
"Lawson-Netterstrom, a private wedding takes place on School Street," The Inter-Ocean, September 27, 1894.3.
Map of the City of Chicago, 1872. American Geographical Society Library Map Collection, University of Wisconsin.
Musiktidning: American Union of Swedish Singers' Journal, [Minneapolis, MN newspaper] several years. Augustana College.
Official Directory of the Fortieth General Assembly of Illinois - Session of 1897 (Springfield: Press of the Illinois State Register, 1897).
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Olcott's Land Values Blue Book of Chicago (Chicago: Geo. C. Olcott & Co. [1909 & 1920]).
Olson, Anita R. "The Community Created: Chicago Swedes 1880 — 1920," in Swedish-American Life in Chicago, eds Philip J. Anderson and Dag Blanck (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
Portraiture of the 39"' General Assembly, Illinois 1895 (Springfield, IL: J. Babeuf, Publisher, 1895).
Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago for the Municipal Year 1898 and 1899 (Chicago: John F. Higgins, 1899)
Rascher, Charles. Rascher's Atlas of Lake View Township, 1890 [corrected to 1891]. Chicago History Museum.
Runristningar: Independent Order of Vikings, 1890-1915 (Chicago, 1913) "Swedish Settlers at Reunion," The Chicago Daily Tribune, October 26, 1908. 8.
Svenska Amerikanaren, [Chicago, IL newspaper] several years. Foreign Language Press Survey, Newberry Library.
Svenska Tribunen, [Chicago, IL newspaper] several years. Foreign Language Press Survey, Newberry Library.
Svenska Tribunen-Nyheter. [Chicago, IL newspaper] several years. Swedish American Newspapers Collection. Minnesota Historical Society.
United States Census [various years]
Waterman, A. N. Historical Review of Chicago and Cook County and Selected Biography, Volume III (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908).
The original portion of the Charles M. Netterstrom House had an L-shaped footprint as seen above in Rascher's 1890-1891 Atlas of Lake View. The house is colored in pink (representing brick, versus yellow for wood) and is identified by its old (pre-1909) address of 1535 Aldine Avenue (then known as School Street). Chicago History Museum.
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Acknowledgments
CITY OF CHICAGO
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development
David Reifman, Commissioner
Patricia A. Scudiero, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Zoning and Land Use Eleanor Esser Gorski, Deputy Commissioner; Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Division
Project Staff
Matt Wicklund (consultant), research, writing, photography, and layout Terry Tatum (volunteer consultant), editing Matt Crawford (project manager), editing
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose nine members are appointed by the Mayor and City Council, was established in 1968 by city ordinance. The Commission is responsible for recommending to the City Council that individual building, sites, objects, or entire districts be designated as Chicago Landmarks, which protects them by law. The Commission is staffed by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Division, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 100_, Chicago, IL 60602; (312-744-3200) phone; (312-744-9140) fax, website: www. cityofchicago. org/landmarks
This Preliminary Summary of Information is subject to possible revision and amendment during the designation process. Only language contained within the final landmark designation ordinance as approved by City Council should be regarded as final.
Department of Planning and Development
CITY OF CHICAGO
i
September 7, 2017 Report to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the
DANIEL O. HILL HOUSE CHARLES M. NETTERSTROM
(NOW THE SERBIAN AMERICAN . HOUSE
MUSEUM ST. SAVA) a 833 W. Aldine Avenue
448 West Barry Avenue
The Department of Planning and Development finds that the proposed designation of the of the Daniel O. Hill House and the Charles Netterstrom House as Chicago Landmarks supports the City's overall planning goals for the surrounding Lakeview community area and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
Several plans have recently been completed for Lakeview, however these primarily focus on the commercial streets. The 44th Ward Master Plan of 2006 addresses Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs), open space, orientating commercial development to the heeds of pedestrians, and bicycle infrastructure. The 46th Ward Master Plan, updated in 2013, deals with similar needs. Local chambers of commerce have also developed• plans in 2011 and 2013 which focus on streetscape improvements to improve the character of the commercial streets in Lakeview.
The Lakeview community has expressed concerns that the area lacks planning guidance for residential development, particularly on how to accommodate residential development without diminishing the neighborhood's historic, character. In light of this, the community and Alderman Tunhey have voiced strong support for landmark designation of the Hill and the Netterstrom Houses. This is in keeping with the community's and Alderman Tunney's support for historic preservation, as demonstrated by recent landmark designations such as the Surf-Pine Grove District, the Oakdale Avenue District^ the Terra Cotta Row District and the Newport Avenue District
Historic single family houses and small flat buildings tend to be more threatened with increased development pressure. Rather than treating these historic buildings on a case-by-case basis, the Department recognizes the need for a more comprehensive approach in East Lakeview. The Department has surveyed the East Lakeview neighborhood to identify and evaluate these historic resources, and we are now exploring options to preserve these buildings either through a landmark district or a multiple property documentation.
Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA Deputy Commissioner
In conclusion, the Department supports landmark designation of the Hill and Netterstrom Houses, and the Department plans to return to the Commission with a comprehensive preservation plan for similar buildings in Lakeview.
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS'60602