The developer’s challenge was to make single-family homes available in Dearborn Park, located south of Chicago’s downtown on a former rail yard. Facing this challenge, it was believed that these homes would attract buyers only if they were perceived as a unique opportunity and offered features that were otherwise unavailable in the marketplace.

FitzGerald’s response was to create a plan that would subdivide the block into smaller, more intimate streets flanked by 3-story homes on lots that were wider but less deep than typical city lots. This enabled the creation of homes that differed markedly from competing projects but incorporated all of the critical features that city buyers were seeking.

The homes have rusticated limestone bases tying the buildings into the site with a combination of stepped walls and entry stairs that recall Chicago’s early ‘Prairie’ aesthetic. Further ‘Prairie’ gestures subtly create individuality through the use of horizontally “layered” elevations, hip roofs, urns, front entry porches with arches or columns, divided light windows, and large street-front bays.