Friday, November 13, 2009

Bryn Mawr Historic District


It was to see this mural "Growing 2008", that I took a trip to Bryn Mawr. I had no idea of it's "Historic District" status. However, the moment I got down from the CTA Red Line, I liked the place, especially it's small town feel. I took a lot of pictures of the mural, for which I was there and then a few pictures of some of the buildings that I liked. Coming back home I made a Google search of the place and found some interesting information..



Bryn Mawr Historic District
Wikipedia explains that Bryn Mawr is the Welsh for Big Hill.
Location: It extends along Bryn Mawr Avenue between Broadway Avenue and Sheridan Road ..
In 1995, it was declared a "Historic District" by the Chicago City Council due to the presence of several Chicago Landmark sites. [I dont know how far the use of the word "several" is justified, since I know of only two buildings designated as Chicago Landmarks] ..

View from the Bryn Mawr Avenue, from CTA Station [Red Line - Bryn Mawr]..

View from the Bryn Mawr Avenue from the CTA Station [Red Line - Bryn Mawr].. looking west ..

Belle Shore Apartment Hotel

Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel

Both the Belle Shore Apartment Building and the Bryn Mawr Apartment Building have been
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, and
- Designated as Chicago Landmarks on January 20, 1999.
For more .. click here ..

Edgewater Presbyterian Church ..

Manor House..
Location: 1021-29 W Bryn Mawr
Completed: 1908
Designed by John Edmund Oldaker Pridmore
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
It was also included as a part of the Bryn Mawr Historic District, which was added to the NRHP in 1995.

Redtwist Theater..

Illinois Akido Club Building..
Address: 1101-1105 W Bryn Mawr Avenue
Architect: Raymond Gregori
Completed: 1927
This three-story Byzantine Gothic building is constructed of red brick with white terra-cotta details.It has mansard red tile roof. The Akido Club replaced the earlier Guild Hall building, Edgewater's First Community Center, designed by architect Joseph L. Sillsbee in 1886. The Hall housed Cochran's real estate office, the first business to locate on Bryn Mawr.

Bryn Mawr Cafe..
Location: 5547 N Kenmore Avenue ..


Buildings I missed taking images of ..
# The Bryn Mawr Theater
# The Stoyas Building
# Edgewater Beach Apartments ..


RELATED LINKS..
# Bryn Mawr Historic District..
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Apartment Buildings..
# Edgewater Presbyterian Church..

Bryn Mawr Historic District [Belle Shore and Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotels]


Both the Belle Shore Apartment Building, and the Bryn Mawr Apartment Building have been..
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 .. and ..
- Designated as Chicago Landmarks on January 20, 1999.





Belle Shore Apartment Hotels ..
Belle Shore Apartment Hotel
Architect: Nathaniel Koenigsberg & Leon Weisfeld ..
Year Built: 1928-1929
Address: 1062 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
In the Bryn Mawr Historic District..

The architects of the eight-story Belle Shore Apartment building were influenced by the Egyptian Art-Deco movement. King Tut’s tomb had been discovered only a few years before in 1922. It was built by Austrian-born businessman Max Malter, who named the building after his wife, Belle. It is constructed of reinfored concrete with tan brick and decorated in green-and-cream terra cotta and has many relief figures. The lobby has a mural with scenes from the Old Testament. It originally housed 138 one-room apartments and eight stores.


Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel..
Address: 5550 N. Kenmore Ave.
Year Built: 1927-1928
Architect: Alexander L. Levy & William J. Klein..

The 12-story Bryn Mawr Apartments is designed in the Gothic Revival style. An early advertisement read, “Modern in the finest sense of the word. All units have fully equipped kitchens. Low transient rates begin at $4.00 daily. One block to lake and bathing beach. Thirty minutes from Loop via subway or limited bus.”

The Official Chicago Landmark website describes ..
Situated across the street from each another, this pair of finely detailed buildings epitomize the rapid growth and expansion of Chicago in the 1920s and the commercial development of Bryn Mawr Avenue and the surrounding Edgewater community. The buildings' extensive use of terra cotta exemplifies Chicago's love affair with this versatile building material after the Great Fire of 1871, especially its decorative applications. The 12-story Bryn Mawr is dressed in white terra cotta designed in a late Gothic Revival style, while the 8-story Belle Shore is clad in rich green and cream terra cotta and features Egyptian-like Art Deco designs..

RELATED LINKS..
# Bryn Mawr Historic District
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Apartment Buildings..
# Edgewater Presbyterian Church ..

REFERENCES:
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Hotels..
# Chicago Landmarks - Bryn Mawr-Belle Shore Apartment Hotels..

Bryn Mawr Historic District [Edgewater Presbyterian Church]



Edgewater Presbyterian Church..
Location: 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue..
At theintersection of Bryn Mawr Ave. and Kenmore Ave..
In the Bryn Mawr Historic District..
Completed: 1927
Designed by Perkins, Fellow and Hamilton.
Built in the Italian Romanesque style it has fire-proof reinforced concrete and Bedford stone. The facade of The New Community House features carvings by American sculptor Emil Zettler..



RELATED LINKS..
# Bryn Mawr Historic District
# Belle Shore & Bryn Mawr Apartment Buildings..
# Edgewater Presbyterian Church...