Department of Planning and Development
CITY OF CHICAGO
March 15,2021
Chicago City Cierk -Council Diu.
2021 MAR 15am11:1£
The Honorable Anna M. Valencia City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602
RE: Ordinance designating The Miracle House at 2001 N. Nordica Avenue as a Chicago Landmark
Dear Clerk Valencia:
We are filing with your office for introduction at the March 24, 2021, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that The Miracle 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,
Bureau of Citywide Systems & Historic Preservation
ends.
Alderman Chris Taliaferro (via email w/out enclosures)
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
ORDINANCE
The Miracle House
2001 N. Nordica Avenue
WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-620 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that The Miracle House (the "Building"), located at 2001 N. Nordica Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, as more precisely 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 (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the Building was the result of a campaign to raise capital funds for the expansion of a Catholic parish complex that resulted in not just the construction of the Building itself, but also St. William parish a mile away, thus it reflects the important contributions religious communities made to Chicago neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the futuristic design of the Building also reveals the cultural optimism about the future and an embrace of new design that captivated America in the 1950s, even as the Cold War menaced; and
WHEREAS, the Building stands as a unique work of modern residential architecture in Chicago with a structural system based on two giant steel arms from which the house is suspended, instead of resting on foundations with heavy, load-bearing walls; and
WHEREAS, the Building is unique for its almost all-glass exterior making it innovative in its openness and connection with its exterior surroundings; and
WHEREAS, the Building is significant as the work of Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc., which started out as a small, family-run architecture firm in 1946 in Chicago, but was a booming office with 45 employees in 1953; and
WHEREAS, Belli & Belli played an outsize role during the modern era in Chicago and throughout the nation. The firm's designs were marked by structural innovation and an expressive modern aesthetic that was arguably more popular than the austerities of the International Style; 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
WHEREAS, on February 4, 2021, 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.
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
2001 N. Nordica Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
Permanent Index Numbers
13-31-126-026-0000
Legal Description
LOTS 13 AND 14 IN BLOCK 3 IN HILLSIDE, BEING A SUBDIVISION OF THE EAST 1/3 OF THE SOUTH 1/2 OF THE WEST 1/2 AND THE WEST 1/3 OF THE SOUTH 1/2 OF THE EAST 72 OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 31, TOWNSHIP 40 NORTH, RANGE 13, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
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CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
February 4, 2021
RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR THE
THE MIRACLE HOUSE
2001 N. Nordica Avenue
Docket No. 2021-01
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 The Miracle House (the "Building") is worthy of designation as a Chicago Landmark. 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.
Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
I. BACKGROUND
The formal landmark designation process for the Building began on December 3, 2020, 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.). As part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission preliminarily identified the "significant historical and architectural features" of the Building as:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the Building.
Also, as part of the Preliminary Recommendation, the Commission adopted a Designation Report, dated December 3, 2020, the most current iteration of which is dated February 4, 2021, incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A (the "Designation Report").
At its regular meeting of January 7, 2021, the Commission received a report incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B (the "Department of Planning and Development Report") from Maurice D. Cox, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, stating that the proposed landmark designation of the Building supports the City's overall planning goals and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
On January 11, 2021, the Commission received written consent to landmark designation of the Building in a form dated January 8, 2021, and signed by Dr. David Scheiner, M.D., the owner of the Building.
II. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
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 and all of the information on the proposed landmark designation of the Building; and
WHEREAS, the Building was the result of a campaign to raise capital funds for the expansion of a Catholic parish complex that resulted in not just the construction of The Miracle House itself, but also St. William parish a mile away, thus it reflects the important contributions religious communities made to Chicago neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the futuristic design of the Building also reveals the cultural optimism for novelty and the future that captivated America in the 1950s, even as the Cold War menaced; and
WHEREAS, the Building stands as a unique work of modern residential architecture in Chicago with a structural system based on two giant steel arms that act as a suspension bridge rather than load-bearing walls and columns; and
WHEREAS, the Building is unique for its almost all-glass exterior making it innovative in its openness and connection with its exterior surroundings; and
WHEREAS, the Building is significant as the work of Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc., which started out as a small, family-run architecture firm in 1946 in Chicago, but was a booming office with 45 employees in 1953; and
WHEREAS, Belli & Belli played an outsize role during the modern era in Chicago and throughout the nation. The firm's designs were marked by structural innovation and an expressive modern aesthetic that was arguably more popular than the austerities of the International Style; and
|1010|WHEREAS, the Building meets three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, consistent with Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, the Building has 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:
Adopts the recitals, findings and statements of fact set forth in the preamble and Sections I and II hereof as the findings of the Commission; and
Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated this February 4,2021; and
Finds, based on the Designation Report and the entire record before the Commission, that the Building meets the three (3) criteria for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (5) of the Municipal Code; and
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; and
Recommends the designation of the Building a Chicago Landmark.
This recommendation was adopted h\y^-^rt^^^^ C S " 0 ) .
|1010|Exhibit A
LANDMARK DESIGNATION REPORT
The Miracle House
2001 N. Nordica Avenue
Final Landmark Recommendation adopted by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, February 4, 2021
CITY OF CHICAGO Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development Maurice D. Cox, Commissioner
CONTENTS
Introduction|910|Map|910|The Galewood Neighborhood in the Austin Community Area|910|Building Design and Construction|910|The Contemporary Style of Mid-Century Modern Residential Architecture 10
Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc. 11
Criteria For Designation 14
Significant Historical and Architectural Features 15
Selected Bibliography 16
The Miracle House
2001 N. Nordica Avenue Built: 1954
Architect: Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc.
The bold, mid-century modern "Miracle House" stands at 2001 N. Nordica Avenue in the Gale-wood neighborhood within the larger Austin Community Area. The genesis of the house is perhaps unlike any other in Chicago for it was built as a grand prize for a raffle sponsored by the St. William Catholic parish located nearby. The name Miracle House first appeared on the raffle tickets and it has stuck with the property. In 1953, Fr. Frank Cieselski of the expanding parish conceived of a house raffle to raise funds for a new church, school, convent and rectory. Edo Belli, a 36-year-old Chicago modernist architect, and a Catholic who had attracted the backing of Archbishop Samuel A. Stritch for other diocesan commissions, offered to design the house free of charge and was given complete freedom of design. Indeed, Fr. Cieselski urged the architect to produce a boldly futuristic design that would capture attention and boost ticket sales.
Today the house stands as a unique work of modern residential architecture in Chicago with a structural system based on two giant steel arms that act as a suspension bridge rather than load-bearing walls and columns. The Miracle House is unique for its almost all-glass exterior, making it innovative in its openness and connection with its exterior surroundings
The Miracle House was the result of a campaign to raise capital funds for the expansion of a Catholic parish complex that resulted in not just the construction of the house itself, but also St. William parish a mile away, thus it reflects the important contributions religious communities made to Chicago neighborhoods. The futuristic design of the house also reveals the cultural optimism for novelty and the future that captivated America in the 1950s, even as the Cold War menaced. The house is also significant as the work of Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc., a small, family-run architecture firm founded n 1946 in Chicago, which by 1953 was a booming office with 45 employees. Belli & Belli played an outsize role during the modern era in Chicago and throughout the nation. The firm's designs were marked by structural innovation and an expressive modern aesthetic that was arguably more popular than the austerities of the International Style.
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The Miracle House is located at the northeast corner of Armitage and Nordica Avenues in the Galewood neighborhood within the Austin Community Area, seven miles west of the Loop.
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The Galewood Neighborhood in the Austin Community Area
The Miracle House is located at the northeast corner of Nordica and Armitage Avenues in the Austin Community Area, seven miles west of the Loop. The Galewood neighborhood is located in the northwestern portion of the Austin Community area and it is bounded on the west by the city's boundary with Elmwood Park marked by North Harlem Avenue, on the north by the Milwaukee District West Metra rail line, on the east by North Narragansett Avenue, and on the south by the city's boundary with Oak Park marked by West North Avenue.
Galewood first developed as a 320-acre frontier farm settled by New York transplant Abram Gale in 1838. In 1899 a portion of the farm was leased to the Western Ho Golf Club which remained there until the late 1920s. In 1927, the golf club and what remained of the farm were subdivided for residential development by G. Whittier Gale, grandson of the original settler. Many of the homes in the neighborhood are bungalows, as well as a variety of revival styles of architecture including Tudor, Georgian, and French eclectic from before World War II, and Cape Cod and Ranch-style homes from the postwar era. Galewood has a distinctly suburban feel with the houses deeply set back on large, manicured lots.
Building Design and Construction
The Miracle House has an important tie to the Galewood neighborhood of Chicago and the local St. William Catholic parish. The idea of selling $1 tickets for a raffle with a chance to win a futuristic house was motivated by St. William's need to expand its campus, an expansion that the raffle succeeded in funding. To that extent, the raffle not only added the Miracle House to the neighborhood in 1954, but eventually by 1961 also a new church, convent, school, and rectory at the four corners of the intersection of Sayre and Wrightwood Avenues. Belli & Belli designed all these buildings in the modern style, and for the church Edo Belli employed a thin-shell concrete wall and roof structure, a new technology of which Belli & Belli was an early adopter. Coincidentally, Belli & Belli's offices were located in the neighborhood.
When Edo Belli agreed to volunteer to design the Miracle House, Belli & Belli had already designed the first of what would become a large number of churches, institutions, and hospitals for the Catholic church in general and the Archdiocese of Chicago in particular. In addition, the firm took on commercial work, but Edo Belli had not yet designed a single-family dwelling other than for himself and his family. The Miracle House was a project that Edo Belli actually had to be talked into taking on by Cardinal Stritch, as residential design was not a common part of his firm's practice.
The house would be located on a large lot (100' x 200') at the northeast corner of Nordica and Armitage Avenues. Exactly how this property was identified or the decision-making that led to its purchase is unknown, but its proximity one mile south of St. William parish was certainly a factor.
Construction began as soon as Belli's design was completed in late 1953. As word of the planned raffle to win a futuristic house got out, donated labor and material started pouring in to assist with the construction, for a good cause and for the publicity. The Chicago Bridge & Iron Company contributed the massive steel arches, and General Electric donated all the necessary appliances making this an all-electric house. Sol Polk, of Polk Brothers, a famed Chicago appliance and electronics retailer, provided all the furnishings, free of charge. Sol Polk also led the promotion of the raffle. Trade unions offered their services pro bono. Jim Belli, Edo's son, be-
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Donation ili-STO
A raffle ticket from which the house derived its name. Purchasers were entitled to a tour of the house in the months leading up to the drawing.
An architectural model of the house built by Belli & Belli clearly showing the unique structural system that suspends the house from bridge-like trusses. The structure allowed the architect to reduce load-bearing walls and columns and open up the house to more light and free-flowing interiors.
The raffle succeeded in raising funds for the nearby St. William parish to build this church, as well as a new convent and rectory, also designed by Belli & Belli in 1957.
lieves the only thing not donated was the windows.
When construction of the Miracle House finished in late 1954, purchasers of a $1 raffle ticket were entitled to a house tour in the months leading up to the drawing in December of that year. The raffle was also promoted with custom-made glass ash trays depicting the house. The raffle drawing was held at the old Lion's Club in Chicago in December of 1955. Movie star and former neighborhood resident Kim Novak announced the winning ticket. She had attended St. Williams and her parents lived on Sayre Avenue, a half block away from the Miracle House site.
The winner of the house was a Joseph Novelle, who lived a half block away on Nordica. He owned the house briefly, selling it in 1957 to the Marano family, who put on a compatible addition in 1965 as their family grew. The Maranos remained in the house until 1989, when they sold it at auction to Alexander Fletcher, a Chicago fireman, who lived there for 10 years. In 1999, Dr. David Scheiner, M. D. bought the house and still lives there today as only its fourth owner over the house's 65-year history. (Dr. Scheiner had a long-established medical practice in Hyde Park, Chicago, where one of his patients was Barack Obama in the years before he became President.)
When it was completed in 1954, the house measured 20' x 56' with the primary elevation facing south onto Armitage Avenue. The house is suspended from two 36-ton steel arms spanning 100' in an east-west direction. The bridge-like structural system eliminated the need for load-bearing walls, allowing for ample glazing and an open interior free of columns. The exterior at the second floor consists of a glazed curtain wall while at the first floor the exterior is rendered in Lan-non stone which is also used on the interior of the first-floor living room.
The first floor is a split-level with the ground level layout occupied by a living room and a recreation room (originally bedrooms) on the lower level. The kitchen and dining rooms are located on the second floor. A main bedroom fills the third floor. The large expanses of glass create a light-filled and spacious interior with terrazzo and travertine floors. Perhaps the most incredible room is above the south-facing carport - the kitchen, a beautiful projecting room with three walls of glass emitting light on the south, west, and east.
To accommodate a growing family of eight children, the Marano family added a bedroom addition to the house in 1965. Belli & Belli was offered the commission but declined due to the substantial number of hospital and commercial commissions on the boards at the time. A neighborhood architect, Ray Basso, took the job and generally respected Belli's original design, containing his work to the north side of the house, where the unique, original design stands on its own as approached from the south.
For years, the Miracle House was a drive-by destination for locals in the Galewood community and fans of modern architecture. Postcards were printed and celebrities visited, including Hugh Hefner, who grew up in the neighborhood. Today, the Miracle House is still recognized as a local landmark in the Galewood community.
|1010|The primary elevation of the house facing south onto Armitage Avenue. The second-floor kitchen with glazed curtain wall is suspended over the driveway creating a carport, reflecting the centrality of the automobile in residential architecture in America in the postwar era. The first floor is clad in coursed Lannon stone, a widely used material in the mid-twentieth century.
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Lannon stone walls on the exterior carry into the interior of the first-floor living room. Floors are polished travertine. The short terrazzo stairway leads up to a split-level recreation room.
Another view of the living room showing a flitch-matched wood wall panel and clerestory windows. Unlike more austere forms of modern architecture, the Miracle House is a
"Contemporary" style that held more broad appeal.
The suspended structure allowed for large areas of glazing, as shown in this view of the second-floor kitchen with terrazzo floors. Such opening up of exterior views of large manicured lawns was another characteristic of mid-century modern residential architecture.
The Contemporary Style of Mid-Century Modern Residential Architecture
The Miracle House is a clear example of mid-century modern residential architecture, a catchall that includes a range of styles that are fluid and where commonly agreed-upon definitions remain elusive. Virginia McAlester's Field Guide to American Houses, revised in 2013, is regarded as the most definitive guide to American domestic architecture and it defines the "Contemporary Style" as best representing the Miracle House design.
While different styles fall under the mid-century modern umbrella, they all were responding to social and technological changes and new ways of living in postwar America. These transformations are well described in a 1960 issue of House & Garden:
Few periods in history can match the past decade in the number of spectacular changes it has witnessed in our daily lives. From a nation well supplied with automobiles we have turned to a nation living on wheels with the not too surprising result that the garage has become the real entrance of today's house. In a matter of months TV grew from a rather expensive toy into standard household equipment and in the process added to the house a new room— the family room. Insulating glass walls of the southern California house have become equally comfortable for the climate of northern Illinois. The whole country has succumbed to a passion for cooking, eating and lounging outdoors, but at the same time land on which to build, cook and lounge has become progressively scarcer.
Despite their stylistic differences, mid-century modern houses typically have attached garages incorporated into the building. Open floor plans and large living rooms for TV are commonplace. Large windows take full advantage of views of large, landscaped lawns. All these characteristics are visible in the design of the Miracle House.
The Contemporary Style rejected historical styles of architecture, however the style allowed for a greater variety of materials, textures, and forms making it more popular compared to more austere forms of mid-century modern house design.
The design of Contemporary Style houses is clearly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's Usoni-an Houses which were built with natural materials, free-flowing interiors, and a blending of interior and exterior spaces. Contemporary Style houses were popular from 1945 to 1965 when they were designed by architects for individual clients or built in large numbers by developers, most notably by Joseph Eichler who built thousands of Contemporary Style homes in the San Francisco Bay area.
The Contemporary House style emphasized the convenience of open floor plans and the blending of indoor and outdoor spaces. The houses are typically two stories in height with flat or shallow-pitched and exposed roof structures. Exterior walls are clad in a variety of materials including brick, wood, and stone often used in combination. Entrances are often recessed or off-center. All these character-defining features are visible in the design of the Miracle House.
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Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc.
The Miracle House was designed by Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc., a significant Chicago firm during the mid-century modern era and a practice that continues to this day. It was founded in 1946 by Edo J. Belli (1918-2003) and his brother Anthony J. Belli (1924-2007). The firm has designed commercial, ecclesiastical, institutional, and industrial buildings across the country and abroad and its work has been recognized with awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Association of Licensed Architects, and other professional and community organizations.
Edo J. Belli was born in Chicago in 1918 and began his education in architecture at the architectural program of Lane Technical High School. He graduated from there in 1936 in the middle of the Great Depression and began an architectural apprenticeship with Chicago architects Holsman & Holsman. His compensation included a paycheck of $4.95 a week and tuition reimbursement for night classes at the Armour Institute, later the Illinois Institute of Technology. When work was slow, Holsman & Holsman "loaned" Belli out to other firms including Quinn and Christiansen, L.E. Janik, and Graham, Anderson, Probst and White. Belli completed three years of coursework at the Armour Institute, primarily in structural engineering. The historical record is unclear as to whether he earned a degree from Armour, but he successfully passed his state exam in 1940 and became a licensed architect.
At the outbreak of World War II in 1941, Edo Belli put his architectural training to use by joining the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions (the "Seabees"). His brother also served in the war as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot, flying 14 missions in the European Theater with the Army Air Corps. After the war, the brothers returned to Chicago and established an architectural firm in 1946. In the early years, the firm started off doing small remodeling work until Marmion Abbey came along in 1949 and the religious work took off.
Edo Belli was a modernist who led the firm's idiosyncratic and highly expressive aesthetic. Anthony, whose architectural education at the University of Illinois had been interrupted by the war, learned on-the-job and took courses at the Institute of Design in Chicago. His focus was on the technical and extensive construction administration of the firm's "turn key" products. By the middle of the 1950s, in an age when many Chicago architectural firms pursued a corporate model, Belli & Belli stayed a family-owned practice, despite its great growth. In the 1960s Edo's sons Allen and James joined the firm.
Belli & Belli received a great many commissions for Catholic schools, churches, and hospitals in the mid-twentieth century in Chicago and across the United States. Belli & Belli's cost-saving innovations in structural engineering and their idiosyncratic and expressive modernist aesthetic found favor in the Catholic world at a time when the church was opening up to all forms of modernism, including architecture.
Eleven designs by Belli & Belli have been recognized with awards including St. Patrick High School, Chicago (1955); St. Nicholas School, Aurora, Illinois (1955); and St. Gertrude Church, Franklin Park, Illinois (1957). In 1993 Belli & Belli's work was also exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in "Chicago Architecture and Design, 1923-1993: Reconfiguration of an American Metropolis."
ii
St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago (1963)
St. Joseph's is characteristic of Belli & Belli's idiosyncratic, expressive, and colorful take on mid -century modernism. The form of the building consists of three slab-like wings clad in smooth limestone punched with a grid of window openings. The wing ends are clad in an eye-catching harlequin pattern of black and turquoise blue enamel panels. The design palette also includes a tinted-glass cylindrical curtain wall that extends the full height of the front facade, and contains elevator lobbies and lounges on each floor.
St John Bosco, Chicago (1966)
The St. John Bosco Church is in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. The exterior walls are exposed-aggregate concrete panels and dalle de verre stained glass.
St. Francis De Sales High School, Chicago (1955)
Designed by Belli & Belli in 1955 in the Beverly neighborhood, St. Francis De Sales reveals Belli & Belli's embrace of curvilinear forms.
Frank Cuneo Memorial Hospital, Chicago (1959)
Cuneo Memorial Hospital demonstrates Belli & Belli's whimsical yet thoughtful approach to hospital design, including a roof line that resembles an artist's palette.
St. Gertrude Church, Franklin Park (1954)
Edo Belli claimed that this was the first church to employ a thin-shell concrete structure.
Criteria for Designation
According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Section 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 within the City of Chicago if the Commission determines it meets two or more of the stated "criteria for designation," as well as possess sufficient historic design integrity to convey its significance. The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Miracle 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, State of Illinois, or the United States.
The Miracle House was the result of a campaign to raise capital funds for the expansion of a Catholic parish complex that resulted in not just the construction of the house itself, but also St. William parish a mile away, thus it reflects the important contributions religious communities made to Chicago neighborhoods.
The futuristic design of the house also reveals the cultural optimism for novelty and the future that captivated America in the 1950s, even as the Cold War menaced.
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 Miracle House stands as a unique work of modern residential architecture in Chicago with a structural system based on two giant steel arms that act as a suspension bridge rather than load-bearing walls and columns.
The Miracle House is unique for its almost all-glass exterior making it innovative in its openness and connection with its exterior surroundings.
Criterion 5: Work of Significant Architect or Designer
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
The Miracle House is significant as the work of Belli & Belli Architects and Engineers, Inc., which started out as a small, family-run architecture firm in 1946 in Chicago, but was a booming office with 45 employees in 1953.
Belli & Belli played an outsize role during the modem era in Chicago and throughout the nation. The firm's designs were marked by structural innovation and an expressive modern aesthetic that was arguably more popular than the austerities of the International Style.
14
Integrity Criterion
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 value.
The Miracle House has excellent integrity retaining its historic site characteristics on its corner lot, overall form, massing, materials and detailing.
In 1965 the Marano family commissioned local architect Ray Basso (Belli and Belli were offered but declined the commission) to design an addition on the north side of the house, which did not compromise the original design. The addition accommodated four additional bedrooms, a maid's quarters, and a 2 '/i-car garage.
Aside from the north addition, the only change to the original structure was the addition of a removable canopy over the west side second-floor balcony. This was done at an undetermined date prior to 1999.
Significant Historical and Architectural Feature
Whenever a building, structure, object, or district 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 evaluation of the Miracle House, Commission staff recommends that the significant features be identified as follows:
• All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of the building.
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Selected Bibliography
Basso, Ray. Drawings, 1965. Belli & Belli, Drawings, 1953.
Belli, Edo J., Betty J. Blum, and James Belli. Interview with Edo J. Belli. Chicago: Art Institute, 2005.
Gunderson, Erica. Ask Geoffrey. Chicago Tonight, WTTW.
Kantowicz, Edward R. The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith. Ireland: Booklink, 2006.
Koenig, Harry Corcoran. A History of the Parishes of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois: The Archdiocese, 1980.
McAlester, Virginia, and A. Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture. 2019.
St. William Parish, 1916-1991. [Place of publication not identified]: St. William 75th Jubilee Book Committee, 1991.
Kantowicz, Edward R. The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith. Ireland: Booklink, 2006.
Zukowsky, John, and Mark Jansen Bouman. Chicago Architecture and Design, 1923-1993: Reconfiguration of an American Metropolis. Munich, Germany: Prestel, 1993.
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Acknowledgments
CITY OF CHICAGO
Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor
Department of Planning and Development
Maurice D. Cox, Commissioner
Kathleen Dickhut, Deputy Commissioner; Bureau of Citywide Systems, Historic Preservation & Central Area Planning
Project Contributors
Dan Lempa, research and co-author; and Lisa DiChiera, Landmarks Illinois, (volunteers), research, writing and editing Matt Crawford (staff), co-author, editing
Special thanks to Dr. David Scheiner, M.D., owner of the house, for his support of designating The Miracle House; to Patrick Pyszka, Principal Photographer, City of Chicago Department of Assets, Information and Services for the professional photography featured in this report; and to Jim Belli for information about Belli & Belli Architects.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose eight 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; Bureau of Citywide Systems, Historic Preservation & Central Area Planning, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, Room 905, Chicago, IL 60602; (312-744-3200) phone; web site: en/depts/dcd/provdrs/hist. html
This Landmark Designation Report is subject to possible revision and amendment during the designation process. Only language contained within a designation ordinance adopted by the City Council should be regarded as final.
COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
Ernest C. Wong, Chair
Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz, Vice-Chair
Maurice D. Cox, Secretary
Suellen Burns
Tiara Hughes
Lynn Osmond
Paola Aguirre Serrano
Richard Tolliver
*DPD
Department of Planning and Development
Department of Planning and Development
Bureau of Citywide Systems, Historic Preservation & Central Area Planning City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Room 905 Chicago, Illinois 60602 312.744.3200 (TEL)
December 2020, revised and reprinted February 2021.
Exhibit B
Department of Planning and Development
CITY OF CHICAGO
January 7, 2021
Report to the Commission on Chicago Landmarks On the Miracle House
2001 N. Nordica Avenue
The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) finds that the proposed landmark designation of the Miracle House supports the City's overall planning goals for the surrounding Austin Community Area and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
The Miracle House is located within the Austin community, Chicago's second largest in both population and land area. Past planning efforts for Austin include LISC's Austin Forward Together, a 2018 Quality-of-Life Plan, and the Soul City Corridor Commercial Development Study, completed in 2015 by the Austin African American Business Networking Association.
Building off these plans, in 2019 DPD identified Austin as one often neighborhoods that are part of the INVEST South/West community improvement initiative. Last January, we convened a kick-off celebration in Austin attended by 600 where stakeholders who identified priorities, goals, and key community assets. Based on this input, this past August, DPD issued the Soul City Corridor Plan, which is a development framework for Chicago Avenue, the primary commercial corridor in Austin, located 2 miles south of the Miracle House.
While the Soul City Corridor Plan focuses on Chicago Avenue, it also identifies broad community assets in Austin, including its designated Chicago Landmarks. Designation of the Miracle House will add another cultural asset to Austin. The plan also acknowledges Design Excellence Principles that guide our planning work. One aspect of these principles is to honor Chicago's legacy of architectural innovation, a legacy clearly manifested in the cutting-edge design of the Miracle House.
In September, DPD issued an RFP for a site at the northwest corner of Chicago and Laramie avenues which includes five vacant lots and the vacant Laramie State Bank building, a designated Chicago Landmark that is two miles south of The Miracle House. The RFP seeks the mixed-use rehabilitation of the former bank and new construction on the adjacent land. The Department is confident that the long-vacant landmarked bank building will be restored and become a catalyst for new development.
In conclusion, landmark designation of the Miracle House supports the City's overall planning and economic development goals for Chicago's Austin Community Area and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
Maurice D. Cox, Commissioner Department of Planning and Development
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, ROOM 1000. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602