Preserving a Part of Hinsdale

Alexis Braden and Corlyn Simmons

Hinsdaleans for Historic Preservation group strives to save historic Hinsdale homes from demolition

BY MIKE ELLIS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARCELLO RODARTE

The tear-down phenomenon has been a prevalent aspect of the culture in Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and surrounding suburbs for the past three decades.

The desirability of the schools, safety and convenience of these suburbs have long attracted affluent, successful families, who generally prefer the modern amenities and more spacious interiors of new construction to the older homes that previously stood upon the same lots.

In Hinsdale, a community remarkable for its quantity of historic custom homes, a number of residents are trying to encourage the preservation and restoration of these homes, and would like the village to provide homeowners with incentives to do so.

Back in late March, while the country was immersed in the heart of the Coronavirus pandemic, a group of concerned residents created Hinsdaleans for Historic Preservation, a private Facebook group dedicated to the preservation of historic homes in Hinsdale, particularly within the Robbins Park Historic District in southeast Hinsdale.

Established on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, this district contains more than 350 properties, and is bounded by Garfield Street and County Line Road to the west and east, and by Chicago Ave. and Eighth Street to the north and south.

While most activity stagnated during the pandemic, Hinsdaleans for Historic Preservation flourished, amassing nearly 500 members on Facebook to date, while distributing yard-signs that are visible throughout the village.

"The group was started to see if people cared," co-founder Alexis Braden of Hinsdale said. ... "People are sharing their stories of what Hinsdale looked like 50 years ago, 100 years ago."

Prior to the group's launch, preservation in Hinsdale was spearheaded by the historic preservation commission, under the leadership of residents such as John and Penny Bohnen, Shannon Weinberger and Sandy Williams.

Braden, a current commissioner herself, said Weinberger and other volunteers at the Hinsdale Historical Society "have devoted countless hours to the preservation of certain buildings in town, and have done an exemplary job bringing [R. Harold] Zook homes and buildings to the forefront."

"Just because it doesn't have an open floor-plan doesn't mean it's a tear-down," she said.

The prospect of the tearing down of two signature homes—the Dean home, previously owned by the late Howard M. Dean, former chairman and CEO of Dean Foods Co., and the Clarke home, which was owned by an early patriarch of the village—ignited the development of the Hinsdaleans for Historic Preservation group.

"These are two of the most iconic homes in Hinsdale," Braden said. "We may lose

"I am 100-percent in favor of restoring historic homes in Hinsdale that are structurally sound. ... There really is beauty to living in an old home—there's nothing quite like it. "

- CORLYN SIMMONS

these homes, but hopefully they will serve as a wake-up call to residents."

Braden said the group's primary objective is to protect homes that are "structurally sound and architecturally significant."

The 2008 National Register of Historic Places application lists 11 architects of consequence within the Robbins Park Historic District, two of which are Zook and Philip Duke West.

Corlyn Simmons of Hinsdale owns an English Coxwold Tudor that West designed in 1932. Simmons and her husband moved into their current home 22 years ago, and instead of building new, made an effort to restore the home, while balancing the restoration with modern amenities. As part of their project, the Simmons family conducted historical research, uncovering the original blueprint and a West sketch of their home.

Simmons said they found restoration to be a feasible undertaking, and a "very rewarding experience."

"We personally had a wonderful experience doing three separate renovations on our home," she said.

Upon completing their restoration, Simmons said she was surprised at the number of comments her family received from people expressing pleasure at their undertaking, many of whom they did not know.

On the other hand, she said it is disappointing that over the same period, a number of West homes in the village have been torn down.

West, the architect of the current Hinsdale police and fire stations, designed upwards of 40 homes in the village about the same period that his more famous counterpart Zook flourished; but more than a dozen of these houses have been demolished since 1998.

Simmons said she "sees both sides" to the tear-down quandary, but encourages homeowners to investigate the possibility of preserving their homes, while exhorting the village to provide incentives for restoration.

"I am 100-percent in favor of restoring historic homes in Hinsdale that are structurally sound," she said. ... "There really is beauty to living in an old home— there's nothing quite like it."

Hinsdaleans for Historic Preservation proposed a 180-day moratorium on tear-downs, which the Hinsdale plan commission opposed by a 4-to-2 vote at its June meeting.

Plan commission chairman Steve Cashman said he would prefer leaving more personal discretion with homeowners.

"If it's an ugly house, it will go away; but I don't think we should tell our neighbors what their house should look like," Cashman said at the meeting.

Commissioners Julie Crnovich and Michelle Fisher supported the moratorium, arguing that more than 2,000 homes in Hinsdale—which translates to

"People are sharing their stories of what Hinsdale looked like 50 years ago, 100 years ago."

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upwards of a third of the village's housing stock—have been torn down.

Braden said while the group endorses a moratorium, it is now more focused on providing preservation incentives for homeowners, and showing that "a home worth saving can be saved."

"We know not every home can or should be saved," she said.

At the June 16 Hinsdale village board meeting, village president Tom Cauley proposed an historic preservation plan to encourage the preservation of homes in Hinsdale. Among the prospective incentives being discussed is a tax rebate for owners of historic homes in the village.

- ALEXIS BRADEN

be presented to residents as an advisory referendum before it would be voted upon by the village board.

For new construction that is undertaken, Braden said the preservation commission would like to work with architects and builders on "preserving consistency on a given block or within the neighborhood."

"Preserving those streetscapes is really important," she said, "because that's what you see when you come to town."