April 2010

Over the past several years, some very pretty new houses have been tucked in among the already picturesque homes of Western Springs. Old and new, all the residences tend to meet the high aesthetic standard established decades ago by the brick and limestone water tower at the figurative, if not actual, center of town. Read more

Darci Bertrand spent most of her childhood in Glen Ellyn and has moved back three times in her adult life. So she is something of an expert on what draws people to this village in the western suburbs. “It’s a small town with a metropolitan area all around it,” says Bertrand, a mother of four. Read more

It would be possible (though sinful) to remove all the houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright from Oak Park and still leave behind enough architectural eye candy to populate two or three suburbs. With a century-long attention to good design, the town is layered with landmarks old and new. Read more

Tinley Park is a big town, its boundaries encompassing about 15 square miles of land. Yet on a recent morning, as she ate breakfast at the café in the town’s Oak Park Avenue Metra station, Laurie Marchigiani proclaimed, “You’re in the Mayberry of the Chicago suburbs.” Read more

Sheridan Road threads together a series of pretty North Shore communities, each with its own complement of mansions, beaches, and superb schools. Yet, even among this glittering array of towns, Wilmette stands out with its blend of modern amenities and century-old homes lining quaint brick streets. Read more

The closest Chicago-area approximation of a quaint New England village, Lake Bluff features a public green, an old-time corner store that serves as the center of social life, and an assortment of shingled and stuccoed older homes in the heart of town. When its sylvan ravines burst into color in the fall, Lake Bluff is not quite Vermont, but it offers as pretty an autumn as you can find around here. Read more

When Chicago’s rigid street grid gives way to curves, it’s usually a sign that something interesting is around the bend. Marynook—part of the larger Avalon Park neighborhood, extending southwest from 83rd Street and Stony Island Avenue—is a prime example of that. Its 432 single-family homes, many with jauntily angled roofs, big front picture windows, driveways, and wrought-iron railings, have all the hallmarks of postwar suburban tract residences. Read more

Handsome two-story homes built in the 1940s and 1950s line several of the blocks in Calumet Heights, a pleasant working-class neighborhood tucked into the Southeast Side. Manicured shrubs and some tall trees add to the impression of suburban stillness. Read more

Over the past decade, an influx of artists and bargain-hunting homeowners has been adding a new layer to Bridgeport’s old-line ethnic working class. The newcomers are drawn by the neighborhood’s proximity to the Loop and public transportation, as well as by the mix of old ethnic restaurants and younger, artier places, such as the Zhou B. Art Center (and café) on 35th Street. Read more

Bucktown has been popular for so long that it’s hard to remember when there were no new, look-at-me contemporary homes, none of the hipsters and their restaurants—just a working-class district of dusty antique brick or frame homes. Read more