Chicago, Neighborhood by Neighborhood: Old Irving

Continuing on our journey south through Chicago’s neighborhoods, the next community area we arrive in is the Irving Park community area, and I’ve decided to show you the Old Irving neighborhood. The Old Irving neighborhood is one of Victorians, Italianates, and bungalows. Like the previous areas I’ve shown you on our tour of Chicago’s neighborhoods, it was developed by land developers. Prior to 1870 this area was devoted to farms but beginning in 1869 developers like Charles Race, envisioning the area as one of gracious homes on the outskirts of the city of Chicago, began buying up tracts of land and building. The house above was built in 1872. A glance down the street should give you some idea of what the surrounding area is like:

Boulevards with parkways running down their centers are common in Old Irving. It must have been breath-taking before the Elm Blight. Here are some more homes in styles typical of the area:

I thought this one was particularly charming:

A little landscaping can do a lot.

In showing you the Irving Park community area I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Villa district. Once upon a time a “bookend” of Chicago’s Polish community, it’s now a National Historic District because of the architecture of the homes here. In addition to the vernacular housing typical of the Old Irving neighborhood, there are a number of houses built up around 1902 that were clearly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie Style” of design. For example:

A glance down the street for some perspective:

Another example of a house with Prairie Style influences:

My next stop will probably be in the Belmont Cragin community area.