Architect Hermann Gaul cast his lot with the Catholic Church, designing a slew of religious buildings across the Chicago area, from St. Benedict Church in North Center to the Mallinckrodt convent and school in Wilmette, now condos. From time to time, his work took a nonecclesiastical turn, as in the substantial home at 2959 West Logan Boulevard in Logan Square, recently listed for $1.65 million.

Born in Germany in 1869, Gaul immigrated to the U.S. and went to work in the early 1890s in the architecture studio of Louis Sullivan, where he oversaw construction of a plant for Home Brewing Company in Indianapolis. While there, he fell for the daughter of a local saloon owner. Several years later, the two wed, setting up house in Chicago. Twenty years after that, Gaul returned to Indianapolis for the opening of St. Mary Catholic Church, which he had designed with the great Cologne Cathedral as inspiration.

Belgian-born Charles Nestor Godfriaux was a stone contractor who had made good in Chicago by the time Gaul whipped him up the sober limestone Logan Square residence on a wide corner lot, with columns sporting art nouveau motifs. At 4,253 square feet, the house features five bedrooms. The primary suite includes a renovated full bathroom and a large walk-in closet. Down the hall is an office, with a separate sitting room. The first floor is fashioned modernly, with an open-plan living and dining room and a snug family room off the well-equipped kitchen.

For a city home, the house is rich with outdoor spaces. In addition to the front porch and a 15-by-10-foot-balcony off the primary bedroom, there’s a patio out back and a deck off the kitchen that leads to an expansive roof space atop the detached garage. Who wouldn’t say amen to that?