Established in 2003, West Ridge Bungalow Neighbors is a voluntary group of neighbors in Chicago who desire to assist each other in preserving and appreciating the homes in our neighborhood; educating each other and the broader public in the value and the story of our neighborhood; and providing resources to each other to improve the quality of our homes, enrich our lives and assure our neighborhood's future.

Friday, March 26, 2010

RPWRHS Tour on May 2


The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society will host its Annual House Walk on Sunday, May 2, 2010 from 12 Noon to 5:00 p.m. This year’s tour will highlight homes surrounding Indian Boundary Park, including the notable Park Castles and Park Gables apartment buildings.

Registration for the house walk is available at www.rpwrhs.org or by calling (773) 764-4078. Admission is $25 for society members and $30 for non-members. A discounted rate of $20 for members and $25 for non-members will be offered through April 25. Day-of registration will be available at the Indian Boundary Park Cultural Center, 2500 West Lunt Ave. beginning at 12 Noon. The last tour will start at 3:30 p.m.

Several units of the Park Castles and Park Gables will be open for the tour as well as the buildings’ spectacular Art Deco swimming pools. The apartments grace the eastern and northern boundary of the park – a magnificent group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style structures built in the late 1920s by developers Gubbins, McDonnell & Blietz.

Indian Boundary Park was opened in 1922 as the centerpiece of the Ridge Avenue Park District. The 13-acre park was designed as a pastoral landscape with picturesque gardens, a lagoon with a small island, rolling lawns, and meandering paths. Its field house, now the Indian Boundary Park Cultural Center, was designed by prominent architect Clarence Hatzfeld, and is noted for its unusual combination of Tudor Revival design and Native American images and sculptures.

Several other homes near the park owned by notable 1920s personalities will be included in the tour. The Indian Boundary area is a hidden gem on the north side, with an abundance of historically and architecturally significant buildings and landscapes.

A new exhibit in the park’s cultural center, A Park is Your Front Yard: Indian Boundary Park and the Gubbins, McDonnell & Blietz Co-ops, 1915-1929 will be open to tour participants on May 2.

The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society was formed in 1975 to preserve the history of Rogers Park and West Ridge as a vital part of the City of Chicago, and to provide interactive education about these communities to the public.