2434-36 N. SEMINARY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 1990
A pair of new houses were designed in tandem for a local developer on south-facing double corner lot in the City. The two story southern house was considered an"extrovert" and was outfitted with numerous corner bay windows that faced the southern sun. The three-story northern house was considered an "introvert" and focused around an internal courtyard. The southern wall of the courtyard was the windowless neighboring wall of the southern house. Zoning exceptions were granted to allow the houses' internal side yards to be halved because of the integrated design.
The exterior walls were common split faced concrete block accented by intermittent bands of two-inch high "soap" courses.
Photos by George Lambros unless otherwise noted.
Southern Facade
The large corner bay window to the left is flanked by the slender entry door and transom, which is crowned by a simple steel plate canopy.
Southern House
An oblique view of the southern house's facade.
Southern Exposure
A view along the south-facing facade of the corner house illustrating the series of corner bay windows employed to allow abundant daylight in the interior.
Bay Window
A detail of the front corner bay of the southern house.
Pair of Facades
A view of the taller "introverted" northern house and the shorter "extroverted" southern house.
Courtyard
A view looking down into the courtyard of the northern house, just prior to completion.
Photo by William Kildow.
Overall
A view during the late stages of construction, illustrating the pair of houses from the street intersection.
Photo by William Kildow.
