Two houses that sit diagonally across from each other at Euclid Avenue and Main Street in Chicago Heights look more like large-scale dollhouses than places where people actually live.
One of the Victorian-style homes has been carefully hand-painted bright shades of pink and red, and the other is a mix of tan, cream and chocolate brown. The lawns are manicured, the original glass windows meticulously restored, and on a sunny fall day, the candy-colored houses pop out from the rest on the block.
For Barbara Paul, the homes symbolize one of the best things about the Euclid community in Chicago Heights: the rich history and early reputation as a mixed-income neighborhood. The newly rich and sophisticated used to live side-by-side with the working class.
“It’s our way of educating people, and that’s our primary purpose,” said Paul, who is chair of the Chicago Heights Historic Preservation Advisory Committee. “We want to show the beauty of old structures and show their integrity. They reflect a time past in the community that should be remembered and celebrated.”
Recently, Paul and a handful of other homeowners have been pushing restoration — rather than renovation — in these gritty yet historic Chicago Heights neighborhoods.
Their efforts can’t really be called a movement — there aren’t enough residents doing it, and the progress is too slow for that kind of label. But they are on a mission, and it’s starting to get some attention — albeit in a modest way.
This past summer, tour groups started to pass through their community to see examples of 100-year-old homes. In July, author and community preservationist Bob Yapp visited and gave residents tips on how to affordably save their windows. He also commended their efforts.
The Chicago Heights preservation committee is planning a series of workshops on finding information and materials for restorations.
And on any given day, cars come to a halt in front of the homes.
“I think many people stop and stare,” said Carlos Ayala, who is restoring a Victorian on Main Street. “Some people don’t even notice it; they pass right by. You’ve got to have the spirit to admire an old house.”
There are about a half-dozen residents restoring homes that are more than a century old in the Euclid community, Paul said. Their work is unusual because, rather than restoring homes in more upscale communities, they are laboring in a city with a reputation for high crime and gang infestation. And they are doing it at a time when many of the south suburbs are touting their newly built, modern homes in planned communities.
When first established in the late 1800s, the Euclid community became home to farmers who had gotten rich from selling their land. They settled into fancy, multicolored houses, but lived beside craftsmen, bakers and working-class residents. When industries began to leave Chicago Heights, residents did too, and the suburb started to struggle.
Many of the older houses were divided into multifamily apartments. They were updated with siding and other building materials, hiding the colors and woodwork.
But about five years ago, a new breed of homeowners arrived. Instead of renting the houses, they moved in and started to restore them. It’s only now that their efforts are visible.
It may seem crazy to invest years in restoring a house in a community that’s struggling, Ayala said, but they are projects of the heart, not the mind.
“I always wanted a house like this,” he said, standing outside his three-story Victorian, which has eight bedrooms and five bathrooms. Ayala said he has worked on the house for three years, yet it’s still far from being finished.
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“It’s old, it’s big, so why not like it?” he said. “It’s not an easy job, there are so many details,” but he plans to keep working. When Earline Lovelace first walked into her house, she hated it, she said. It was colder inside than outside and it seemed like everything in the house needed updating. But then she started working.
“Now I love the house,” she said. “It’s got character. It’s not like a new building, where you walk in and there are 50 more exactly like it in the same neighborhood. Just walking through the rooms, you feel the history. The size of the rooms, the molding, tell a story.”
Barbara Paul said she and her husband, Weiler, fell in love with their house the moment they laid eyes on it. Afraid that a house across the street would be razed after a fire, they bought it and began restoring it too.
It’s her hope that the bright colors and textures will light a fire in others to do the same.
“We’ve been working on a comeback by example,” she said. “Restoring doesn’t raise the value very much, but it gives you something to be proud of. If we could get people to come in and put forth some effort, we could look as we once did.”
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