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player ready...Tackling teardowns: The Hinsdale Heritage & Architecture Society (HHAS) gave a party in mid-September and put down a good foundation. The organization’s introductory meeting and cocktail buffet was a movable feast. After sipping beverages on the broad front lawn of John and Penny Bohnen’s southeast Hinsdale home, guests trekked to the next-door neighbors’ home for a slide presentation by architectural historian Susan Benjamin, then back to the Bohnens’ for a buffet supper.
Alarmed by the demolition of houses in the village known nationwide as “the tear-down town,” several Hinsdale residents formed HHAS to encourage awareness and appreciation of existing residential architecture. The recent gathering called attention to buildings designed by the late R. Harold Zook, an architect who in 1932 implemented master plans for the village. Six of his 34 designs built locally have been torn down during the town’s decade-long demolition derby to make way for new, larger houses.