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Sarah and Jack London weren't planning to move to Hinsdale, even though Sarah (then Swanson) grew up here. "We were going to move somewhere trendy and cool, like California or Georgia," Jack said. They left New York in November 2019 and were living temporarily at Sarah's parents' house at First Street and Orchard Avenue. While taking walks in the neighborhood, they noticed the home at 518 S. Garfield Ave. "This is the only house that would get me to stay here," Jack said....
Hinsdale legacies - This photo from the archives at the Hinsdale Historical Society is of the home built in 1925 at 518 S. Garfield Ave. The French eclectic home was described as "petite maison" in a 2004 real estate ad. The arbor vitae in the photo, which are about the same height as the wrought iron fence that surrounds the courtyard, now reach the roofline. Very little information is available about the home, including its original owner. To learn more about the home and...
In Hinsdale's early days, residents regularly bought their groceries during trips to Chicago because of limited options in the fledgling village. "But that was just before the Fox & Davis store opened its doors (in 1892) and began selling flour at $3.40 a barrel, butter for 24 cents a pound, and three boxes of Frazer's axle grease for 21 cents," chronicles Hugh Dugan in his book "Village on the County Line." The store was located on the southwest corner of Washington and...
John Charles Fremont Merrill probably wouldn't recognize today the house Adolph Froscher built for him in 1892 at 222 E. Sixth St. Merrill, secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade, was a native New Yorker who moved to Illinois in 1873 as a grain buyer. After moving to Hinsdale with his family, he went on to serve as a village trustee from 1894-98 and village president from 1902-04. He was prominent in the grain market and a confidential advisor to Herbert Hoover. Years later,...
What lay beneath the stairs at 510 N. Lincoln St.? No beasts, thankfully. But when workers replaced the front and side outdoor steps of the 1911 Craftsman home last December, the excavation yielded beer bottles and a shriveled piece of leather that turned out to be a shoe. Such clues to a bygone era only serve to augment features like the cross-gabled roof, radiator-adorned rooms and rich, well-preserved millwork that stoke owner Katie Gjeldum's passion for vintage properties....
Ever notice the stars in relief on the top corners of the front door of 25 E. First St.? Or the red bell mounted on the brick wall? Both are clues as to the original use of the building, which now is home to Hinsdale Bank and Trust. The Colonial Revival building there and the adjoining one were built in 1935 as Works Progress Administration projects to house the village's police and fire stations. They were designed by Hinsdale architect Harford Field. The fire station had...
Hinsdale may straddle the county line, but it was the train line that truly put the village on the map. The mid-19th-century decision by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad officials to run its railroad through the fledgling town instead of the more established Fullersburg one mile to the north was the beginning of the suburb residents know today. The downtown business district flourished near the main station. But well-heeled residents on the outskirts wanted closer access...
Almost 100 years ago, the first students walked to their first day of classes at Monroe School. "It was a great and important day in 1928 when the pupils in Maple School packed their books and made the pilgrimage over to their beautiful new building, the Monroe School," Marie Loomis, former principal, reminisced in a document from the Hinsdale Historical Society files dated March 26, 1973. Enrollment in Hinsdale was growing rapidly at the time. In the fall of 1925, the year Ma...
In the late 19th-century, the west side of Hinsdale was home to an enclave of German immigrants. These faithful churchgoers would tread the village's wooden sidewalks to the north of Plank Road (today's Ogden Avenue) every Sunday to attend St. John Evangelical Church of Fullersburg. In 1898, weary of the distance and at odds with the church's new pastor, several decided to establish their own congregation. They called upon Brookfield pastor Rev. Carl Luedeke to lead the new...
Not many people would buy a house without setting foot inside. But for Andrea and Mike Persico, the decision to purchase the historic Richardson Romanesque home at 306 E. First St. was an easy one. "We were actually in Florida at the time and made an offer site unseen," Mike said, noting the home went on the market at the height of the first COVID-19 lockdown. "We just knew we wanted the home so much." The Persicos were quite familiar with the home's exterior living next door...
Sarah Barclay and her family moved into the circa turn-of-the-century home at 433 E. Third St. in September of 2019. By this September, they hope their extensive renovation work will have become a memory and to be writing a new chapter in a house that has stood the test of time. "This was a long process," Barclay said while standing on the handsome wraparound front porch that provides an elevated street view. "When you're upstairs, you feel like you're in a tree house," she...
Darlene Bingham is not a student of architecture. That doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the beauty and charm of a 1920s house. "We we came in to see this house, I was just totally taken away," said Bingham, who moved to the home at 735 S. Garfield Ave. last summer. "I just couldn't believe the beauty inside. All these timeless pieces," she said, gesturing to the leaded glass window in the front door, the stained glass cover of an overhead light and carved wooden figures tha...
A painted lady can sure turn heads. The Queen Anne-style residence at 318 S. Garfield St. has been getting second looks since 1888, when it was built for early Hinsdaleans Robert and Mary Childs, their five sons, Mary's mother and brother, and Robert's sister. Presumably its six bedrooms were sufficient to accommodate the entire brood. More than 130 years later, it is home to the six-member Prame family. "It's a big house," remarked Amy Prame of the three-story,...
