Hi Craig,
I thought you and your readers might like to know about the amazing spring flower display at the Emil Bach house at 7415 N. Sheridan. For those who don't know, this is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed landmark home and it's located right here in Rogers Park. Even Evanston, with all of it's large vintage homes, cannot claim to have a one designed by Wright.
As a Rogers Park single family homeowner, it bothers me to see so many houses torn down in the last few years for large condo developments.
But here is a preservation success story: Last year, the then owner, Reza Taloubi, unbelievably put this landmark home up for auction, with a large sign in the front yard announcing that the site was "zoned R4 for development" (the house is landmarked, but the large side yard, which provides the natural light which all those windows were designed to capture, is not). However, he was beaten to the punch when the house and the side lot were proposed for downzoning to R1, which prohibits condo development.
In any case, the house was sold to an individual who has already begun restoration and landscaping improvements to that side yard, which could have easily been a ugly construction site by now, were it not for the downzoning.
So check it out (and feel free to post my pictures and story to your blog),
Jim McKee
Blognotes The above photographs are from Jim McKee, the bottom two were taken by myself. This display deserves multiple angles. Thanks for the story Jim.
11 comments:
jim and craig-
bravo and thanx for taking the time to highlight this incredible display by our neighbors. the majority of the tulips havn't even opened yet but you can smell the hyacinths from about 20 feet away.
truth is, i took about 8 pics very early this morning and none of them came out well. jim, are you using a 35mm?
This represents what IS possible around here!
Thanks- I will take a walk over there this week before the show (for Spring) is over.
Nice flowers.
> ... he was beaten to the punch when the house and the side lot were proposed for downzoning to R1, which prohibits condo development.
The downzoning of the Bach House never happened.
> ... here is a preservation success story
In terms of legal protections the Bach House is no safer then when Reza owned it.
The Bach House is a sitting duck. It is a single-family home in a RT4 district. RT4 is the fav zoning of developers because of the large number of units it permits them to cram unto a small lot. A single family home in an RT4 district is exactly like painting a big red X on the door for the tractors. The Bach House is perhaps Rogers Park's most beloved home, and it is emblematic of the problem of run-away development and the tear-dwon mania in our neighborhood. Most of the tear-downs in our neighborhood are in RT4 districts. Most of Rogers Park is RT4, despite Moore's Fall 2005 Rezoning Tour.
Preservation is what Moore did for RT4 in Rogers Park. On behalf of the real estate developers who sponsor him, Moore is maintaining Rogers Park for clear-cutting of our single family homes.
For more on the problem of RT4 zoning in Rogers Park, please see
Rogers Park Tear-Down Gallery
RT4 in Rogers Park: Slated for In-fill Development
Moore Supports Tear-Downs
For more background on the recent sale of this property, see
Frank Lloyd Wright's Bach House Auctioned
> Joe ... assured me that ... he has the right under the Lakefront Protection Ordinance to block any development here.
This week our rubber-stamp representative to our rubber-stamp City Council demonstrated to us all that the so-called "Lakefront Protection Ordinance" ain't nothing more than another rubber-stamp hearing before a rubber-stamp board, just a little bump in the road, with no real legal bearing.
> I think your comments about developers calling the shots are way off base.
Your comments about an Alderman being in control may mislead some of our readers. Chicagoans live in Chicago at the graces of a deeply corrupt system. You do our readers a disservice to claim, "don't worry, the LPO will protect us." The real estate development insdustry has bought and paid for our elected officials.
The facts:
The Bach House and the VACANT FLOWER-FILLED LOT next door featured in the above photo essay are OVERZONED. The current zoning RT4 is grossly inappropriate.
Although Moore is completing a "rezoning" of his ward which he claims is comprehensive and community-driven, he somehow missed Rogers Park's most beloved and most architecturally significant single family home.
The plaque photographed above does not apply to the open space. The open space featured above has NO protection from development, in fact it is zoned to encourgage development.
> That "side lot" is actually the house's front lawn. The house was designed by FLW to side sideways to Sheridan Road - not facing it. The "empty" lot is essential to the FLW design of the property.
Wright's intent is not reflected in the property lines. The Bach house and its front lawn are SEPARATE PROPERTIES with separate PIN numbers and can be bought and sold and developed separately.
7415 N Sheridan, PIN 11-29-312-003-0000, Emil Bach House, on 8,832 square feet of land
7409 N Sheridan, PIN 11-29-312-004-0000, lot with trees and grass next door to the south, 6,624 sq. ft. of land
The front lawn of the Bach House has NO HISTORICAL DESIGNATION protections whatsoever.
Wright's intent is not reflected in the zoning. The Bach House and its front lawn are grossly overzoned.
6624 sq. ft. + 662 square feet "10% administrative adjustment/developer bonus" = 7286 sq. ft.
7286 sq. ft / 1000 sq. ft. "minimum lot area" in RT4 = 7 units
7 luxury concrete block condos could be built BY RIGHTS on the front lawn alone. Currently there is NOTHING we could do to stop it.
> Moore ... assured me ... that he has the right under the Lakefront Protection Ordinance to block any development here.
Moore misled you about the Lakefront Protection Ordinance. The LPO does not grant our Aldermen ANY rights or powers. It does not empower him to block development.
LAKE MICHIGAN AND CHICAGO LAKEFRONT PROTECTION
jim mckee-
nikon coolpix mini, is that a newer model? i use the coolpix 995 , the older model with the swivel head. well, a lot of good it did me that morning cause' i realized my flash is out. anyway, thanx again for the great shots. the coloring on the house looks especially good.
Look at the pretty flowers!
Don't look at the zoning!
CHICAGO'S MOST DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD BY THE LAKE
For some it's the abundance of beaches, for some it's the great values in vintage apartments, for some it's the diversity and culture that comes from its location between two universities. No one can say quite for sure what it is that makes Rogers Park uniquely Rogers Park.
Rogers Park is one of the most culturally and economically diverse neighborhoods in Chicago and the nation. Located in the far northeast corner of the city, more than 80 languages are spoken among the community's 63,000 residents. sportsbook In Rogers Park, people celebrate diversity and value harmonious living. Residents of differing incomes and ages live side-by-side and work together to build a community where everyone, can live, work and succeed. "In a city made famous for an accepted and often enforced cultural and socio-economic homogeneity within neighborhoods," says the Chicago Tribune, "Rogers Park stands almost alone as an exception."
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