141 Kenilworth Ave
Kenilworth, IL 60043, USA

Charles N. Ramsey and Herry E. Weese House (Noel, Daniel and Rachel, House) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance: The Charles N. Ramsey/Harry E. Weese Residence, constructed in 1908, is significant as an excellent example of a Foursquare, with ornamental features inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. Foursquares first appeared in the early 1890s and quickly gained national popularity through the publication of plans in architectural and house journals, as well as through mail order plans and catalogs. The simple square or rectangular-shaped form was particularly well received because of its economy of space and its perceived response to the formality and fussiness of Victorian life and architecture resulting in it becoming a ubiquitous housing type found in both urban and rural settings built through the 1920s. Although the Village of Kenilworth boasts a number of the smaller Foursquares, the residence is at 141 Kenilworth is one of handful of more substantial residences exhibiting all of the visual identifiers of the style. Additionally, it is the only property ornamented with Arts & Crafts elements that also exhibits remarkable historic integrity. It is noteworthy that the Harry E. Weese family owned the residence from 1919 until 1942, making the Weese family the longest owner of the property. It was at this address that architects Harry M. Weese and Benjamin Weese, Have during their formative years. The house is locally significant and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C. History Kenilworth Development The development of Kenilworth is inextricably linked with its founder, Joseph Sears. Sears made his fortune by working his way from plant superintendent, a position he attained in 1868 at the age of twenty-five, with Smedley, Peck & Company, manufacturers of lard and oil, to Vice President in 1880 of what was then known as N.K. Fairbank & Company.' Sears remained with the company until his retirement at the dirge of forty-six, coinciding with the purchase of the company by Philip D. Amour in 1887. It was shortly after Joseph Sears's retirement that he began purchasing land on Chicago's North Shore on which to build a country residence for his family - a dream that had taken root while occupying a city residence at 1815 Prairie Avenue and summering with family friends who resided in Glencoe, located nineteen miles north of Chicago.^ Shortly before Sears began purchasing land, the family had enjoyed a trip to the English countryside of Warwickshire during the summer of 1883.'^ While touring. Sears reflected on the book Kenilworth. which he read as young man, a book that was written by Sir Walter Scott as a romantic historical fiction that references Kenilworth Castle and its environs. Although Sears' primary motive for purchasing farmland on the North Shore was to provide his family with a country home, it is clear from his papers, kept at the Kenilworth Historical Society, that he also saw an opportunity for a business venture. Amongst Sears' clippings was an article published in 1888 predicting the continued health of the real estate market. On November 1, 1889, Joseph Sears purchased a parcel of land that had been assembled by Charles E. Simmons, land commissioner of the Chicago and North Western Railway. ^ The initial purchase was for 208.6 acres at the price of $135,000; an additional fifteen-acre purchase occurred several days later - when combined the two purchases amounted to approximately 225 acres, for an investment of $150,300. ^ On December 18, 1889, Joseph Sears organized the Kenilworth Company. On September 10, 1890, Kenilworth's streets, lots and blocks were laid out by a Cook County surveyor and the plat was officially recorded on September 27,1890. The platted suburb shows the Skokie Ditch, which was introduced by early farmers to drain the marshy ground for planting, running parallel to Kenilworth Avenue, on the street's north side, through Block 10, where the Charles N. Ramsey/Harry E. Weese House is located. The ditch makes an abrupt turn, heading north, at the Block's west end.' Once the suburb was platted, the Kenilworth Company began selling lots for commercial and residential purposes. These initial lots, like the lot where the Ramseys built their house, were very large, the majority of which were one-hundred by one-hundred-and-seventy-five feet, and did not feature alleys When the streets in Kenilworth were originally named, they possessed the names of American authors; however, in 1899, Mr. Sears and the Village Trustees requested that the neighbors organization rename the streets using English and Scotch names taken from the novel Kenilworth.^ The Kenilworth Historical Society maintains the Kenilworth Company's archives, which include miscellaneous undated maps and pamphlets that mark which lots have been sold, providing a clear picture of the community’s development. The earliest undated pamphlets show that those lots with proximity to the train station, near the lakefront and along Kenilworth Avenue were the most desirable - with Blocks 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 sold immediately, as well as the two lots closest to the lake on Block 14 and 15, and south of Kenilworth Avenue along Sheridan Road. Additionally, Block 10 showed some early sales, including Lots 10 and 14 (which was 149 Kenilworth, the west neighbor to 141 Kenilworth), as well as on the north side of Block 10 along Melrose. This block was popular because of the central location between the train station and lakefront on Kenilworth's main thoroughfare. An undated pamphlet, written sometime after the 1901 brochure, "Kenilworth, the Model Suburban Home", shows that the lot on the north side of Kenilworth Avenue and east of the railroad station had been designated as parkland. Blocks 2, 3, and 9 along Kenilworth Avenue and Blocks 19, 20 and 21, on the north side of Melrose, the pamphlet noted "are experiencing density." The pamphlet also noted steady sales and development in all outlying lots of Kenilworth.' One of many reasons for the swiftness in lost sales was the promise of quality living through Company-provided amenities. Another was in the quality of the neighboring houses as well as the desire to attract like-minded people. This was guaranteed through a number of restrictive covenants connected to the land deed that outlined the community's high construction standards. The initial deed transfer for the land occupying Lot 16 in Block 10, later known as 141 Kenilworth Avenue, was reviewed; it states, "....this conveyance is made upon the condition that no intoxicating liquor of any kind or character shall ever be sold upon said premises...neither his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns shall at any time build, erect or maintain any wall of any building of any kind or character or any obstruction to view over or upon said lot, within forty-feet of the front or side street lines.. .no building shall be built upon said lot that fair actual cost of which shall be less than $6,000 excepting a private stable which if built shall be erected in the rear of said lot" In addition, the Village of Kenilworth is located just under three-and-a-half miles northwest of Northwester University. This location imposed the "four-mile limit", an alcohol-free zone, which was established by an 1855 amendment to the University's charter. The amendment stated, "No spirituous, vinous, or fermented liquors shall be sold under license, or otherwise, without four miles of the location said University, except for medicinal, mechanical, or sacramental purposes."'' Although the alcohol restriction was considered a selling point to early Kenilworth settlers, this was not always the case with later Village residents as disclosed by Benjamin Weese, in an interview on December 7,2007. Mr. Weese stated that a speakeasy was in in the basement of the Nimmo’s and Fellows-designed Tudor residence at 547 Roslyn Road and was only accessible by descending a ladder hidden in the kitchen cabinetry. Progress and improvements within Kenilworth began shortly after organization of the Kenilworth Company. The year 1890 brought the construction of a twelve-by-eighteen-foot temporary shelter near the present-day railway station that would allow passing trains to be flagged, the building of a gas plant, construction of a company bam and a workman's house,'^ the drawing of Kenilworth Avenue - the only street that runs on an east-west diagonal between the downtown area of Kenilworth and Lake Michigan, and the initial paving of the streets with macadam.'^ The two-and-a-half miles of macadam streets was a substantial amenity as these were the first macadam streets laid on the North Shore.''' By the end of 1891, Kenilworth contained almost three-miles of main and lateral sewers that serviced two-hundred lots and water works that could provide for a population of 2,000 residents.'^ A permanent water tower was built at the northwest comer of Lot 22 in Block 10, just west of Sheridan Road and north of Kenilworth Avenue near the Skokie Ditch, to service the planned population.'^ Additionally gas boulevard lamps lighted the sidewalks; elms were planted on the parkway; and the community acquired a post office, telegraph office, and public and private telephones." As Kenilworth offered no industrial, and few commercial, enterprises - the men in the community traveled to downtown Chicago for work. To raise the status of the developing community and to give it a sense of permanence, the exquisite yellow sandstone railway station, designed by Kenilworth Company architect. Franklin Bonham, had its foundation laid in December 1890 with its gas line connected in 1892." Sears made his first formal advertising attempt in 1891 when he invited twenty personal friends to Kenilworth's lakeshore to view the area and enjoy a luncheon - he offered the land to these potential purchasers at $60 per foot which was approximately four times the average cost of land in neighboring communities. Potential purchasers were also solicited through brochures, maps, and newspaper advertisements that highlighted the charms of country living, transportation to the city, the restrictive building covenants, and prestigious neighbors. One such publication was the "Kenilworth Homes" brochure created in the early 1890s that featured a map of the community, complete with pictures of some of the more distinguished residents' homes, including those belonging to: William H.H. Sears, Charles S. Smith, Franklin P. Bumham, and Benjamin P. Hinman - all tastes of the Kenilworth Company an 1891 Chicago Tribune article guarantee the "Most desirable class of purchasers, establishes the character of Kenilworth and assures its future." By June of 1891, the Tribune advertisement's list of distinguished purchasers had expanded to include George Ellsworth, Charles Ware, and George W. Maher. ^' The list price for land at this point was still $25 per front foot and included amenities such as water, sewer connections, gas, macadam streets, concrete sidewalks, and superior schools.^'^ A briefer April 1893 Chicago Tribune advertisement generalizes Kenilworth as "the home of many of Chicago's representative businessmen."^^ By the end of 1891, completed structures included twelve private residences (many of which were designed by Franklin Bumham for Kenilworth Company Trustees), the company bam, three workmen houses, a private girl's school, and the stone railroad station.^^ On March 25, 1892, a store was constructed to supply Kenilworth's early residences with the Kenilworth News, limited groceries, garden and fishing supplies, and a soda fountain - for more extensive shopping, residents would be required to visit neighboring suburbs, such as Evanston.^^ As Kenilworth's basic amenities were completed, the Kenilworth Company could focus on providing social amenities, such as Kenilworth Union Chapel. The yellow sandstone Kenilworth Union Chapel, designed by Franklin Bumham on Kenilworth Avenue, was dedicated on November 6, 1892, as a non-deformational chapel, which had been organized during the preceding spring. In 1897, residents laid out a nine-hole golf course, which was located between Kenilworth Avenue and Oxford Road and Leicester and Sheridan Road. ^^ The golf course was built by the Kenilworth Club, to which membership was offered to all residents, for the exclusive use of its members and guests. The railway station and its neighboring fountain, originally designed by George W. Maher in 1901, but not planned for until 1905 nor constructed until 1906, ^* became a visual identifier along Kenilworth Avenue, as well as a gathering place due to the high amount of traffic it received. Another key structure designed by George W. Maher was the prairie-style Kenilworth Assembly Hall, dedicated in 1907 at 410 Kenilworth Avenue, whose horizontal lines were described as blending beautifully into its park setting southeast of the Kenilworth train station.^' In January 1896, Kenilworth's population had swelled to more than three-hundred inhabitants spread over approximately two-hundred acres, which permitted a vote to become a Village that was established on February 4, 1896. Joseph Sears always remained tightly invested m the well-being of the Village and, as such, in 1904 he donated property on Abbotsford Road upon which was erected a three-room, frame school house that continually was expanded. The Kenilworth Company still existed after the Village's incorporation as a construction and development group that built housing within the Village. The Company's advertising remained time to the Village's original conception as seen in this 1905 Chicago Tribune advertisement: (It) "Offers you protection against saloons, flat buildings, unsightly structures, near depot, crowding together of houses, indiscriminate building, with reference to building line: uniform, high class street improvements, all city conveniences. As a result of the consistent advertising of the Kenilworth Company, its early push for development and construction, and restrictive construction covenants that guaranteed quality homes - in 1983 only 10% of the eight hundred-and-twenty-five residences in Kenilworth had been built within the first twenty years. In order to continue to command the high market price for land and residences, the Village made improvements well into the twentieth century. On February 6, 1906, the Kenilworth Park District was formed to become responsible for continuing to plant parkway frees and maintain parks and Village landscaping. ^^ The Park District acquired and maintained the park area located on the east and west sides of the Kenilworth Station, Park Drive, Mahoney Park, and Charles Ware Memorial Garden. ^'* A franchise owned by Joseph Sears installed underground cables to provide electricity within the Village in 1907. Sears later sold his interests to the Public Service Company. ^^ Kenilworth residences were imtially identified by locations that were described by the number of houses directionally distant from prominent intersections; house numbers were finally employed in 1918. ^^ Kenilworth expanded in 1920 through the purchase of an additional twenty-acres of what was formally the Old North Shore Country Club for a cost of $202,000. In 1923, the gas boulevard lamps were replaced by electric street lighting. As the Village grew, the outmoded and overtaxed water works required replacement as the original system would occasionally run dry. The Village purchased a water supply system in 1926 that included electrically driven pumps and a two-hundred-thousand-gallon elevated storage tank. ^* The new waterworks were laid out in the northwest part of the Village, which was a less intrusive location then the prior tower found on the north side of Kenilworth's Avenue in Block 10. In 1938, the Village was able to boast its first nonstop Frain direct to downtown Chicago.