Schlect House

Address: 5804 W. Race Ave. Year Built: 1887 Architect: Frederick Schock Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: January 20, 1999

This is an excellent and - for the Midwest - rare example of the Shingle Style of architecture. The style's popularity in such fashionable East Coast enclaves as Newport, R.I., Cape Cod, Mass., and coastal Maine made it a natural for residential suburbs that wanted to promote the sense of a luxurious pastoral retreat. Among this house's prominent Shingle Style features are: broad surfaces of wood shingles that wrap the building (thereby eliminating trim and cornerboards), recessed porches, projecting bays, and front porch piers that seem to float above the ground. The house was built for Catherine Schlect, the architect's aunt.