The Historic Chicago Greystone: A User’s Guide for Renovating and Maintaining Your Home

Abstract

The Historic Chicago Greystone: A User's Guide for Renovating and Maintaining your Home. Eds. Dan Wheeler, James Wheaton, Tasneem A. Chowdhury. (Chicago: UIC City Design Center, 2008. Pp. 108. Illus. glossary. Paper $21.95.) The Historic Chicago Greystone is a coffee table book for aspiring and actual Greystone homeowners. Apart from aspirants and owners, one can hardly see a wider authence for this book, which is unfortunate as it is beautifully presented and organized. In fact, book is a celebration of some of 100+ year-old architecture of Chicago and a refreshing celebration of potential for urban renewal in a throw-away society. That it also creates potential for other municipalities to see opportunity for re-making their communities is just one of lessons of this book. The Greystone was, and is, the simple brick box, with a limestone facade, to give it more dignity and presence along street, nothing more than a set of worker's cottages, somewhat expanded in size, piled one on top of other to form a multi-storey building. These buildings were erected between Chicago World Fair of 1893 and World War I and were rented to Chicago's working class and their families. One would question as to why building owners would build these extremely solid structures for Chicago's workers and, here, it is explained that financial security and upward economic mobility followed rental income and over time real estate appreciation. . . increased their (the owner's) net worth. (p.8) It gives an answer but not initial motivation for such granthose and luxurious, for time, construction. Split thematically, The Historic Chicago Greystone takes us from dilapidated image of building through investigation into various means of renovation to a photograph of completed building, but it does not end there. Assessments of potential building includes maintainer, fixer-upper, rehabber, and total gut. Once level of necessary work has been determined, editors take us through many of eventualities of remodeling illustrating their commentary with clear layout and isometric drawings and photographs. We are taken on a journey through physical rehab process: facade, opening up masonry walls, roofing, foundations, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Little, if any, of actual refurbishment is left out, including ideas for front and rear yards. …