valdemar mortonsen two-story brick cottage threatened with demolition

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This entry was posted on November 24 2017 by Eric

a unique and largely unaltered 1870's brick cottage on ohio street (west town neighborhood) i've been watching for years is now for sale. it's a rather unusual workers cottage, with overpowering faceted panel keystones accentuated with anthemions. i'm convinced the window hoods are comprised of artificial stone despite being painted. the white pine wood bracketed cornice with dentil molding is completely intact.

according to the 1876 chicago lakside annual directory, valdemar mortonsen lived in this brick cottage. his occupation is listed as "printer." the cottage shows up on an 1886 sanborn insurance map, surrounded by single and two-story wood-framed cottages.

the seller puts the build date at 1891 (obviously wrong) and offers the following description: "Super hot area!!! New construction all over! Very close to 90/94 highway entrance, public transportation, shopping, nightlife and more!! Complete gut rehab or tear down and rebuild. Please drive by first."

from the very first time i encountered this house, i already knew it was on the brink of death. with the "for sale" sign slapped against the fence, there is a 99.9% chance the cottage will be destroyed by 2018. i've documented and/or salvaged 4 houses in the past two years on that block alone. as the seller puts it - "new construction all over." unfortunately, i couldn't agree more.