Chicago's Midcentury Moderne

Chicago builders, as I've harped on before, would glom on to just about anything in designing their mass produced buildings. The International Style and Art Moderne were no different; they served as inspiration for a series of buildings across Chicagoland in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combined and agglomerated into the already-developing local builder style, these buildings form a mini-style of their own. Call it Chicago Midcentury Moderne.

This set of photos is all single family houses and small multi-family apartments, but there are also larger apartment buildings in a similar style, which I'll cover in another post. The construction dates are all from the Chicago CityNews site, whose accuracy can be on the variable side - but I'm betting they're all in the right ballpark, at least.


6549 W 28th Street, Berwyn - 1952


2820 W. Glenlake, 1950


2854 W. Berwyn, 1956


2926 W. Fitch, West Ridge - 1944?? I'm not sure I buy that.


5776 W Ainslie at N. Menard Avenue - 1956


9301 S. Winchester, Beverly - 1952

It doesn't seem to be a hugely appreciated genre; there's not a word about any of these buildings online. I've previously photographed a small group of similarly-styled houses in the Fairview neighborhood of Skokie.

2 Moderne houses in Wilmette

Below are a couple of Art Moderne houses in Wilmette that I stumbled upon in recent months. They're only a mile or so apart in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by more traditional houses.

Art Moderne is exactly what the name suggests - part Art Deco, part International Style, with some Streamline thrown in, yet not quite any of them. There's ornament, but it's more about abstract patterns and geometry than anything applied or figurative. Curved walls contrast with blocky massing, and focal points are provided by round windows, art glass, or glass block. The style tended to produce rare but lovely houses like these.

1910 Greenwood Avenue, Wilmette - Andrew Rebori, 1936







1708 Lake Avenue, Wilmette - John Burns House, 1937, Roy Walter Stott





See also - a student report from School of the Art Institute of Chicago, featuring a few additional houses of similar vintage and style in the area.