Last weekend while I was running in the West End neighborhood I was stopped cold by the sight above... the remains of a historic house at 6013 Cates that had literally burned to the ground. I recalled that this was the location of a Queen Anne Victorian painted bright orange with an incredibly intricate wrap-around porch. One of several frame houses on this block in the Hamilton Place Historic District, this home had been built by G. T. Parker in 1893.
A view of the house, which was occupied and seemed to be well cared for.
A close-up of the remains. The HUD section 235 house adjacent to west obviously suffered damage covered by the blue tarp. On the other side, a renovated 1909 home by A.A. Fischer also sustained damage to the cornice, the projecting portion of which wraps all the way around the house. From the front it is apparent that the house suffered smoke damage at the second floor. Fortunately, the house has no windows facing west except two small openings infilled with intact glass block, or the damage could have been far worse.
This location is just a few houses down the block from 6044 Cates, an LRA owned house that I posted about in 2008. The Preservation Board denied demolition of 6044 once, but a year and a half later granted approval after LRA had made no real attempt to sell the property and neighbors were tired of living next to a vacant deteriorating house.
Just east of 6044, the another home at 6036 Cates was demolished in 2005 after being vacant since at least 1993 according to City records. Despite these loses, this block of Cates as well as the other two streets in the district, Clemens and Enright are all very stable blocks and with the exception of a few isolated vacancies, are lined with beautiful homes in good condition.
2 comments:
We live nearby and i was sad to see it gone the next day, since it is one of my favorites.
It looks very different than the others in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, arson has been the demise of many houses around here.
Cates Avenue was the location of Hadley Hemmingway's sister Fonnie. Hedley lived here after her mother died and continued to do so until meeting Hemmingway on a trip to Chicago. It is mentioned in the book by Paula McLain, The Paris Wife.
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