Craftsman Bungalows Of Ravenswood Manor Tour (RONNIE)

Meet Your Guide: Ronnie Frey of @doorwaysofchicago

Welcome to the Arts & Crafts Bungalows of Ravenswood Manor tour! On this tour, we’ll explore how Ravenswood Manor came to be and the people who shaped it. You’ll see plenty of Arts & Crafts bungalows with their classic Craftsman details, and I’ll point out the little design features that make them special. Along the way, you’ll also hear stories about the homes of Chicago sports legends, colorful neighborhood characters, and the history tucked into these tree-lined streets.

Ravenswood Manor, along the North Branch of the Chicago River, was developed in the early 1900s by real estate pioneer William E. Harmon. He promoted it as a “suburb beautiful,” with tree-lined streets, Arts & Crafts bungalows, and green space. In 2008, Ravenswood Manor was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

One of the neighborhood’s early highlights was the Sunken Gardens, designed with pergolas, urns, and floral plantings along the river. You’ll also notice the sturdy brick and limestone columns throughout the Manor…signature details that help define its character.

1 William Harmon – Harmon & Co.

Ravenswood Manor really starts with William Harmon, a real estate pioneer. Back in 1887 he came up with the “Easy Pay Plan,” letting families buy homes with small down payments and monthly installments. His company grew into one of the largest in the world, and Ravenswood Manor was his first big Chicago project. He sold it as “The First Suburb Beautiful,” with tree-lined streets, green spaces, and even $2 annual fees for upkeep. And here’s a fun one—Harmon even pictured the river as a gateway to Lake Michigan, complete with neighborhood docks.

2 Ravenswood Manor Park – 4640 N. Manor

This little park is the neighborhood’s crown jewel. It opened in 1915 with trees, benches, and even a meeting hall where clubs gathered—one group even gave away cigars to get people to show up. Today it’s still where neighbors come together.

3 Francisco Station CTA Brown Line – 4648 N. Francisco

This station’s been here since 1907. In 2005 it was nearly torn down, but the neighbors saved it. Now it’s restored, complete with a mosaic ramp that looks like a Persian rug.  Time Out Chicago once ranked it among the best CTA stops for its street-level charm. And fun fact—you’ve actually seen it in Richie Rich.

4 The Buckinghams’ House – 4727 N. Sacramento

This house belonged to Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams. They practiced right here in the garage before hitting #1 with Kind of a Drag, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and went touring with The Beach Boys. Not bad for a Ravenswood Manor garage band.

5 Abe Saperstein’s Home – 2948 W. Eastwood

This was the home of Abe Saperstein, who founded the Harlem Globetrotters. At just 5’5” he became the shortest Hall of Famer but one of basketball’s biggest innovators—he even introduced the three-point shot. And he sewed the team’s first uniforms himself.

6 Fred Pfeffer’s Home – 2928 West Wilson

This house belonged to Fred Pfeffer, one of Chicago’s earliest baseball stars – often described as acrobatic! He played back in the 1800s—long before gloves were standard. Imagine fielding line drives barehanded! After baseball he ran a popular tavern downtown called Pfeffer’s Bar, closed only by Prohibition.

7 Randy “Handsome Ransom” Jackson’s Home – 2858 W. Wilson

This was home to Cubs All-Star Randy “Handsome Ransom” Jackson. Neighbors would see him ride the Brown Line to Wrigley. He later replaced Jackie Robinson on the Dodgers and hit the last home run in Brooklyn Dodgers history. Before Ernie Banks or Ron Santo, there was Handsome Ransom.

8 Craftsman Bungalow – 2857 W. Wilson

9 The Bower House – 2839 W. Wilson

This is the Bower House, built in 1919. Architect Benedict Burns showed it to a client during construction, and the client loved it so much he ordered an identical version—you can still see it in Independence Park. Notice the wide eaves and deep rafters—classic Craftsman with a Prairie School twist with the horizontal lines.

The design here recalls the work of Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin, one of the first licensed female architects and one of the founders of the Prairie School. Marion produced many of the drawings often linked to Frank Lloyd Wright. For comparison, visit the Walter Burley Griffin Place Landmark District in Beverly/Morgan Park—the city’s largest cluster of small Prairie-style homes. Ravenswood Manor comes in a close second.

IDENTIFYING FEATURES:
-Low-pitched, gabled roof;
-Wide overhanging eaves
-Exposed rafters and rafter tails under eaves
-Decorative brackets and corbels
-Front or corner porch under the roofline
-Tapered or square columns supporting the roof or porch
-4-over-1, or 6-over-1 sash windows, often with Frank Lloyd Wright design motifs
-Hand-crafted stone or woodwork
-Often mixed materials throughout the structure

10 Michael Ahern’s Home – 4536 N. Mozart

This was the home of Michael Ahern, the attorney who defended the White Sox in the Black Sox scandal for the alleged fixing of the 1919 World Series. The players were found not guilty, but the baseball commissioner still banned them from ever playing professional baseball again. Michael later represented Al Capone. He won one case, lost the other—sending Capone to Alcatraz. Ever seen the 1988 movie Eight Men Out? That’s the trial he was part of.

11 High Fidelity House – 4532 N. Mozart

This house had its Hollywood moment in the 1999 flick High Fidelity. The basement was used for a make-out party scene with John Cusack. It took three days to film—even though the scene is less than a minute. The scene was with Cusack and his high school girlfriend, actress Joelle Carter (who appeared on the 2010 TV show “Justified”).

12 Schmidt-Newell Tudor Revival – 4500 N. Mozart

13 Sid Luckman’s Apartment – 2749 W. Sunnyside

This 1928 apartment once housed Bears quarterback Sid Luckman. He led the team to four championships and made the Hall of Fame in 1965. Before Walter Payton or Ditka, there was Sid Luckman—imagine bumping into him in your lobby. Luckman and his family moved to Skokie in 1957, shortly after his son, who was a student at Roosevelt High School, was attacked in Horner Park by a group of teenagers.

14 Buffalo Park – 4501 N. California

This is Buffalo Park, named for a fountain built here in 1917 with carved buffalo heads. Long before that there were Potawatomi camps. Later the land west of the Chicago River was used as horse pastures and vegetable farms. In the late 1800s a man named Edwin Dymond leased some of the property and built a half-mile oval track west of current-day Buffalo Park.

Newspaper ads (1893-1902) suggest the track was used for many types of events, including cycling races, horse races and pigeon shooting contests.

15 Judge Morgan’s Bomb Shelter Home – 4505 N. Manor

16 Justus Roe Garage Mural – 2724 W. Sunnyside (In the alley behind this address)

17 The Carlson House – 2760 W. Windsor

This bungalow was designed by Horatio Wilson, Fellow AIA member (American Institute Of Arcthitects). Fellowship is granted by the institute to AIA members who have made outstanding contributions to the profession through design excellence, contributions to education, and advancement of the profession.

Wilson also worked with Benjamin Marshall—the same firm behind the Edgewater Beach Apartments (pink palace) and the Murphy Auditorium downtown (now the main entrance of the Driehaus Museum. Big downtown names, right here in Ravenswood Manor. Look at the porch columns (Japanese-style capitals) and banister—fine details on a small-scale home.

Save the date: Driehaus Museum Fall Market – Saturday, September 27 – 18 vendors – jewelry, art, photography, items from the Museum shop. Also, the Driehaus will be hosting a book release/signing event sometime next summer! Stay tuned!

18 The Sherman House – 2730 W. Windsor

19 Little Al’s House – 2806 W. Eastwood

This was home to Albert “Little Al” Temaner, who ran a chain of six record stores in the late-1950s through the early-‘70s. He was famous for his pets—a dozen parrots and a 175-pound Saint Bernard named Bernardo. Al had adopted Bernardo in 1965 after reading a Chicago Tribune article about him. Bernardo had gained fame when he was “sentenced” to a life term at the Cook County Jail as a publicity stunt. At 175 pounds, he was very popular with his fellow inmates and served as the jail mascot until being “paroled” into the care of Little Al.

20 Neuenfeldt House – 2835 W. Eastwood

This Craftsman bungalow designed by George Klewer is hard to miss with its oversized concrete piers and deep rafter tails. The porch has a Roman crisscross railing, while the roofline timbers hint at Asian influences. Here you can definitely see the similarities between this bungalow and those designed by Walter Burley Griffin in Beverly (pictured here).

21 Anders G. Lund Bungalow – 2844 W. Eastwood

This last stop is the Anders G. Lund bungalow. Look at the rubble stone piers holding up the interlocked posts—the little square “pegs” are a classic Craftsman detail. The pegging continues down the length of the home in various places.

CLOSING:

Thanks so much for joining me on this walk through Ravenswood Manor. You’ve learned how the neighborhood was planned, spotted the Craftsman bungalow details, and heard stories of sports legends and colorful neighbors who lived here.

Please scan the other code on your handout and leave a quick review—it really helps. Tips are always welcome too, since they keep me creating more tours. I hope you enjoyed the tour—remember, not every neighborhood can say it had garage bands, Globetrotters, and gangsters all in one place.