Regardless of aesthetic details, craftsmanship and high-quality construction were universal.

Variations on the Chicago Bungalow might include a standard floor plan, while exterior ornamentation might reference Tudor or Gothic styles.

Porch might be replaced by an enclosed front room, shifting the entrance and steps to the side of the house.

Front roof might contain a central dormer window, providing light to an attic room.

Bricks may be red, brown, orange, yellow or a patterned mix.

The Chicago Bungalow allows for adaptability while maintaining stylistic unity:

Simple style influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.

Generous windows, sometimes with leaded art glass.

Porch with steps ascending from street level.

Low-pitched hipped roof with wide overhangs.

One and one-half stories above a basement.

The Chicago Bungalow is instantly recognizable once you know what to look for: Tom Drebenstedt, CAF Docent Class of 1986 Located in a neighborhood zoned for parks, schools, workplaces and shops, there is pride in every architectural detail. The faux fireplace, built-in bookcase and front room flowing into dining room are ingredients of family life. They're sited on a planned street with lawns, trees, and a stoop to sit upon and chat with their neighbors after a hard day's work. It's their own home, built of strong brick, mostly common, some a little fancier-sort of like themselves. Uniformity and Variety A Docent PerspectiveĬhicago Bungalows signify the American Dream realized for our city's immigrants. By the time the Great Depression hit, some 80,000 Chicago Bungalows stood in a great arc surrounding the city, linking such diverse and distant communities as Lincoln Square, Belmont Cragin, Berwyn, Marquette Park, Chatham and South Chicago. That started a trend that would dominate the next three decades of home building in the city. The American Dream of a house with a yard was as strong a lure then as it is now, and the lots sold quickly to families and developers.Īround 1910, an enterprising architect adapted the traditional square wooden bungalow to accommodate Chicago’s standard 125-by-25 lot and its challenging weather.

Investors bought up and subdivided the open prairie on the city’s edges to maximize profits. As second generation immigrants moved up the economic ladder, they typically sought to move outside the denser, older neighborhoods where they had grown up. In those 20 years, it added more than a million residents. Load Another Factīetween 19, Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in America.

On a map, these homes appear in an arc 4- to 7-miles from downtown, creating the 'Bungalow Belt.' Did You KnowĬhicago has more than 80,000 bungalows, which make up 1/3 of our city’s single-family housing stock. The Bungalow’s open plan, division of space and careful craftsmanship grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement, which advocated honesty, integrity and simplicity in design.

Bungalow housing archeage map