151 Sheridan Rd
Winnetka, IL 60093, USA

William McJunkin House - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The William McJunkin House is locally significant under Criterion C for architecture. Architecturally, the residence, designed by architect Charles Whitney Stevens, represents a locally rare example of the Jacobethan Revival style. It not only exemplifies the Jacobethan Revival style in the constructed architecture of its exterior and fixed interior features, but it is also a preserved example of high-style interior decoration from that decade. The period of significance is 1928 to 1929, when the house was constructed.

The William McJunkin House is constructed on a lot that is indicative of early 201 h century community planning and development that sought to preserve Winnetka, as a community of single-family residences and parks, some of which are situated along the lakeshore. The lot stretches over 500' connecting the distance between Sheridan Road and the lakeshore. The size and shape of the lot have been maintained as recorded in 1920. Sheridan Road parallels most of the lakeshore north of Chicago; and the swath of land that is bordered by it and the lake has been developed in a variety of land uses that range from university campuses to commercial development to multiple family · dwellings to single family residences. The McJunkin site is one of the development types that exist along the lakefront; in its present size and configuration it is very similar to the original platting of the Village of Winnetka.

Early Winnetka
The map entitled "Early Winnetka" shows the property claims by the earliest settlers (Figure 20). Most were grouped along the lakeshore with a second concentration just east of the Skokie Marsh area. The two trails, later named Green Bay Road and Sheridan Road, converge just north of Kinny's store, one of the earliest settlements in Winnetka. Alexander McDaniel, a 21-year-old Scotsman and an early settler to the Chicago area, staked out land near what is now the McJunkin property. 1 In October, 1836, he purchased 160 acres of government land and the following year built a house calling it a "bachelor's hall."2 The sale of government land was possible after the 1829 treaty with the Indians ensuring their removal to lands west of the Mississippi River. The government survey of Cook County was completed in 1839, permitting a full title and description with each land transfer. New Trier Township was formed in 1850. In 1854, Charles E. Peck and Walters. Gurnee laid out the Winnetka town site. The "Original Layout of the Village for Mr. Peck" shows the first survey of Winnetka done in September, 1855, and recorded in 1858 (Figure 21). Two diagonal transportation arteries are shown, Sheridan Road paralleling the lakeshore and the Chicago and Milwaukee railroad.

West of Sheridan Road, the remainder of the land was divided into equal square blocks oriented towards the compass points. East of Sheridan Road, or the lakefront sites, the lots are larger rectangular sites that are oriented towards the shoreline or towards the northeast. In this first subdivision of the land, it is noted that the lakefront lots are extending the full distance from Sheridan Road to the lake. Four other roads are indicated, Pine, Maple and Elm Streets and Ridge Avenue, and these are routed through the grid configuration. Peck divided the land he owned into smaller lots and persuaded his Chicago friends to buy them. Meanwhile, it was during Gurnee's tenure as president of the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad that the Chicago to Waukegan route was completed in 1854. Winnetka's depot was built the same year. In 1855, there were two daily trains, and by 1900, thirty-five in each direction. At the turn of the century, Winnetka entered what Dickinson called the "suburban era," those decades between 1900 and 1950 when electricity, gas and telephone service was available for household use thereby encouraging residential development. By 1900, there were concrete sidewalks and a few roads paved with macadam. As with other suburban villages along the north shore, Winnetka was a retreat from urban congestion.

Development of the McJunkin Site
The stretch of lakeshore from the Kenilworth border on the south to Elder Lane Park on the north retains a lot configuration similar to the 1855 platting of the village. That is, the lots extend from Sheridan Road to the lakeshore. The McJunkin property is located within the R. Williamson's Sheridan Road subdivision, which extends across Sections 21 and 22 in New Trier Township. The subdivision was recorded in 1920 and was formed from land owned by Nicholas Simmons, Jacob Kline and Martines Hartman. Their tracts extended on both sides of Sheridan Road. The Williamson subdivision was completed by a portion of land in the southeast corner donated by the Village of Kenilworth in April, 1915. 3 It contains eleven lots that extend from the Kenilworth border to Elder Lane Park. Recorded with the subdivision plat is the covenant that construction must be setback 60' from the bluff.4 This stretch is residential, and although the McJunkin site retains the lot depth, other landowners are beginning to subdivide these deep lots. Interspersed are flag lots perpendicular to the driveways.

The year 1928, the date that the building permit was issued for the William McJunkin House, set building records for most north shore towns including Winnetka. The total construction activity for Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka and Glencoe was $8,725,367 or an increase of $1 .24 million over 1927. 5 Residential constructions accounted for more than half of the total.

Criterion C: Architecture

The Jacobethan style is a designation popularized in the 20th century, as a combination of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles. It is a subset of the Tudor style being less formal than its counterparts that were built between 1895 and 1915. The American Jacobethan examples were built after World War I and examples can be found through the 1930s. The informality approaches that of a country manor or the picturesque English estate. Characteristic features of the Jacobethan style are the flattened roof forms and the front gable that is parapeted often with a shaped Flemish outline which is the principal feature of the fa9ade of the William McJunkin House.

Jacobean Style in England in the 17th Century
The term Jacobethan is a combination of Elizabethan and Jacobean denoting architectural characteristics from both time periods. James I (1603-25) assumed the throne after Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The residences built during his reign were less romantic than under hers; Elizabethan manors were inspired by necessity, the necessity of her summer Progresses. Owners of these estates were required to entertain her should she stop while traveling through the English countryside. Although less involved in displays of wealth and comfort suitable for a queen, those built during James' reign were just as expensive. Jacobean houses were sited to display prominence. Gardens and pathways had a relationship to the house but stopped short of considering the whole terrain, a development of later English landscape architecture.

The Jacobean style in its purest expression has distinct features. There are few plan innovations, in fact, rooms are squeezed into traditional Elizabethan plan shapes. The entrance hall is no longer perpendicular to the entrance but is entered indirectly through a screened passage. The entrance hall is now on axis with the main entrance; this spatial organization is Palladianism translated and transmuted through English architecture. It functions as an extension of the entrance vestibule leading to other parts of the residence. During Jacobean times, the staircase was taken out of corner towers and became an important vehicle for design or another architectural spectacle. In some instances, it was situated in an open well with decorated newels and open balustrades. Elizabethan staircases were oftentimes paneled in appearing as separate rooms. The Jacobean types occupied a sizable amount of space. There were usually landings at every turn.

More significant than these minor changes to plan, the Jacobean style is important essentially as an ornamental style. It is based on Italian Mannerist characteristics in that it exaggerates the features of an established architectural element, such as a column. The Jacobean was encouraged by architectural publications, such as the books of J. Vredeman de Vries appearing in Antwerp, and more so his German follower, Wendel Dietterlin. De Vries's Architecture appeared in 1563 and Compertimenta in 1566. In it there were plates showing drawings of elaborate strap work. These details originally came from 15th century shields, scrolls and cartouches. When interpreted by the Flemish engravers, they appeared lightweight as if cut from parchment or leather, hence the term. Dieterlin's book of orders appeared in 1593 and his Architecture, published in Nuremberg, 1594-8, was a greater sensation. Dieterlin's influence created a type of Flemish ornamentals in plan and in silhouette. It contained extravagant ornamental confections. His sources were the late 16th century Italian mannerist architectural designs, which were exaggerated to the point of being grotesque. They appeared more appropriate to theater design than architecture. They were conceits. For instance, a column would be banded, surrounded by arabesques at its base and its capital composed of twisting, writhing leaves. English and Flemish craftsmen delighted in the intricacies perhaps misunderstanding their architectural roots. They could be effectively and readily applied to the surface of a building; but it demanded a certain restraint before it bordered on being vulgar. Flemish carvers and other foreign craftsman who worked alongside English craftsmen created its most distinctive characteristics. Initially, the immigrant's handiwork appeared on tombs, fireplaces, entrances and other distinct architectural features. Eventually the influence of de Vries was seen in the strap-work gables, cartouches, quasi-Gothic windows and whimsical additions to pilasters and entablatures. On the interior, wall paneling and ceiling plastering were important aspects of the Jacobean period. Ceiling patterns were often molded ribs in inventive floral patterns.

Jacobethan is a term popularized by Henry Russell Hitchcock to denote the revival, albeit not as prominent as others such as the Gothic Revival. The Jacobethan Revival was born in England in 1830 in connection with the competition for the new Houses of Parliament which were to be either Gothic or Elizabethan. At the time, Sir Charles Barry characterized the style as one that tolerated a measure of liveliness and many freedoms. Andrew Jackson Downing, the 19th century American architect, approved of the style stating it was most suited for country residences in picturesque situations. They were included in some of his books.

American Jacobethan architecture does not approach the complexity in site plan of its English counterparts. The English versions are arranged around a succession of courtyards with cornering towers and gatehouses. The American interpretations are concentrated around windows, gables and chimneys. Masonry veneering techniques in the 1920s and 30s allowed architects to mimic the stone construction of their English prototypes. Stone mullions divide rectangular windows. They are often large. The gables rise above the roofline and can be straight-sided or composed of complex curves. Roofs are flat and parapeted or hipped and ridged. Chimneys are tall with a separate shaft for each. flue. Openings or doorways are usually arched. The use of classical vocabulary is minimal. Brick is favored for wall planes with stone trim. Strap work is a distinguishing feature of the style.

At the William McJunkin House, the roof form is the lowered hipped form. The prominent shaped gable that advances from the wall plane towers above the eave line and frames the entrance. The vestige of a screened entrance is suggested in the receding arched entrance. Stevens has brought the second-floor window forward along with the distinguishing gable to form a unified advancing mass. The ornamental cast stone is precisely confined to arches over doors and windows. The decorative cast stone details over the front entrance and in the tympanums over the French doors are the American descendent of de Vries and Dietterlin.

The William McJunkin House is the purist example of the Jacobethan revivalist style in Winnetka. There are over one hundred residences in Winnetka with the Tudor Revival style. The vast majority of these have the half-timbered gables as their prominent identifying feature. Only one other residence has features that are Jacobethan. The Ronald R. Baade residence, 600 Berkeley Avenue, has some features that are Jacobethan, such as a pedimented gable with a parapeted edge that rises in front of the steeply pitched slate roof. The main entrance dominates the principal elevation with a second-story bay window with a balustraded roof edge and stone strap work at the base. Doric columns that frame the entrance support the projecting bay. A massive brick chimney rises from the rear elevation. There are paired Gothic windows on the second floor. Two gables with the half-timber detail flank the main elevation. The principal elevation appears to be the original design and materials; permit records include an accessory building added in 1961, and in 1983, a pool house was built. On the whole, the Baade residence, while rich is surface details, is an eclectic design. The William McJunkin House remains the purer example of the Jacobethan branch of the Tudor Revival.

Interior Design: Pargeting and Wallpapers
Plaster has been a building material both on the exterior and the interior, since the ancient world. On the interior, it was used initially to correct the crude workmanship of walls and to seal rooms making them more comfortable from the outside elements. In the early 1 in century during the Tudor period, the plasterer's craft was elevated to an art form. The boarded and ribbed wooden ceilings from the Gothic period led to the patterned plaster ceilings of the Tudors. At first the molded ribs outlined simple geometric patterns. These became more complex with a profusion of intersecting ribs appearing like lace in plaster. Ornamental rosettes or bosses were used to cover the intersection of many ribs. At first the moldings were made by hand in situ but later cast in a shop from reverse molds. Jacobean patterned ceilings were more intricate than their Tudor predecessors with ribs that were flatter and wider and bosses that drooped into pendants.

The first impulse towards decorative plaster ceilings in the United States came at the beginning of World War I appearing in bank lobbies, hotel dining rooms and lavish residences. 8 The ceilings at the William McJunkin House continue this tradition where they are found in the most public spaces, the entrance hall, living and dining rooms. The most lavish pattern is in the living room with the complex grid of geometric shapes and plant forms. This room is lit from both the east and west; Stevens took full advantage of natural light from both directions by specifying ribs with a deep profile that would be lit during most of the day. The richness of the ceiling decoration is continued in the low relief plaster forms and moldings that outline both the ceiling and wall plane. The square proportions of the dining room encourage a circle within squares. Here the flatter, wider decoration is a profusion of intertwining plant forms that is repeated at the ceiling-wall juncture. The ceiling plasterwork on the second level of the stairwell is a simplified version of the living room pattern with a grid-like pattern of small and larger squares with lobed sides. Although not an overall pattern, the plaster reliefs on the stairwell balcony contribute to design of ceiling and moldings that act to draw the viewer's eye into and around these public spaces.

Interior Design and the 1920s
The William McJunkin House is firmly grounded in archaeological architecture, which means that the architectural details are academically correct being close to their European prototypes. Earlier revivalist styles were based on second hand sources such as architectural pattern books. Stevens and his client selected a style appropriate to McJunkin's public position, affluence and prominent location on the lakeshore. The completion of a successful residential design also relies on interior finishes and furnishings, which include not only the movable furniture but also lighting fixtures, floor coverings and interior finishes. Most of the wall surfaces at this residence are papered and those in the public rooms are original to the 1920s. They represent the design trends in revivalist architecture from that decade.

The earliest reference to American wallpapers is in 1700, in Boston, where these hand-painted papers were purchased from stationers or booksellers, being the businesses that dealt in all types of paper, and were hung in the homes of the wealthy in urban areas. They were considered a finishing embellishment to the wall plane. By the end of the century, papers were commonly available through upholsterers, the equivalent of modern interior designers. During the 191-h century, wallpapers were printed from wood blocks with some hand painting as a final embellishment. Some were produced with stencils. Originally produced in single sheets, once paper could be manufactured in rolls, the 12- yard roll was created. Most papers were imported from England although papers have been documented as available in New England. Designs were often custom made for the particular interior whereas textiles or architectural details, such as the pillar and arch designs, inspired others.

After the American Revolution, expanded trade enabled American merchants to import French wallpapers. The French had perfected the block printing process and their products were popular with the American consumer. They excelled in capturing the shading of flora, fabric and architectural elements. The French were also known for the scenic or landscape papers. These papers were broad, panoramic scenes inspired by late 181 h century landscape painting. 10 The trend was a decorative impulse aimed at integrating the entire vertical surface of a room inviting the viewer to gaze into them and forget the physical barrier of the walls. Applied to the walls of a room or hallway, they surrounded the viewer.

When a scenic wallpaper was hung in a room, the horizon line was placed at eye level. In the case of a dining room, the papers hung above the chair rail which compressed the subject matter to the lower third of the total vertical composition. The sky became the predominant element. The landscape papers were continuous, non-repeating vistas that offered an often 360-degree view of a landscape. Zuber et Cie, a French company, produced the first in 1804 and the company remains active today producing papers from the original wood blocks. 11 Most were printed in sets of twenty to thirty lengths each contributing a scene. 12 Each length was about 20" wide and 8-10 feet long. The upper portion, or sky, was adjustable in height to accommodate the wall height and could be ordered with or without clouds. Zuber's papers were popular because of their finely drawn detail, such as the specifics of a costume or foliage, often hand-painted after the initial printing. They are known for not only the detailed rendering captured by the carved blocks but also for shaded or blended backgrounds, also developed by Zuber, called irisee. Even with the advent of mechanized printing in the 1830s, block printing remained the preferred method for high quality papers. French imports continued to set the style through the 1870s with their elaborate, highly ornamented designs. Their popularity was due to both their astonishing realism and their space expanding abilities. Some of the earliest examples illustrate people in idyllic surroundings enjoying the leisure of a pleasant and restful activity; this was similar to the experience of traveling abroad and immortalized by artists in prints. They captured the serenity of a countryside or seaside vista. Presumably by sitting is a room with a scenic paper, the armchair traveler is able to experience the sensations of these journeys.

To some owners, they were actually acquiring art because they believed that the scenic papers were based on replicating the paintings of fine artists. Zuber worked with the artist Antoine Pierre Mongin (1761-1827) in planning that firm's first major landscape paper, Les Vues de Suiss". Views of harbor sides and landscapes dotted with classical architectural elements relied on the works of fine artists.
Zuber went on to produce at least twenty-three of these panoramic sets, many derived from published engravings and etchings.

Following Zuber's initial triumph was Joseph Dufour (1753-1827), another producer of French scenic papers. Dufour entered the wallpaper business during the 1790s in Macon. His first scenic paper was "Les Voyages du Capitaine Cook" based on the artist, Jean Gabriel Charvet's designs. Dufour extolled their educational value because they acquainted the public with people from distant lands. Dufour's subject matter was more archaeologically correct particularly for classical scenes. The characters can be specifically identified and are a larger scale nearer the viewer, often set in interiors. Zuber's was a more relaxed and romanticized classicism. Masses of rising foliage frame the scenes which are grouped near the bottom edge near the chair rail.

In the 1890s, designers returned to textiles as sources for papers for affluent clients, such as the damask or moire patterns. In the early decades of the 20th century, block printed papers continued in production and most of these were imported from France and England. Scenic papers experienced a revival during this time and Zuber reissued many of their earlier patterns. When first imported in the early 19th century, they were considered suitable for the best parlors; now they were perceived as fashionable for dining rooms and entrance halls. A revived interest in scenic wallpapers was instigated by publications like Phyllis Ackerman's Wallpaper, its History, Design and Use, published in 1923, and Nancy McClelland, an interior decorator, who published Historic Wall-Papers in 1924. She provided information about historic papers available before that time; but more importantly, she dictated style and what was appropriate for historic and traditional interiors.

Although there are no records to document wallpaper sources in the William McJunkin House, they are original to the residence. There are three papers on the main level that document the trends described above. The scenic paper in the dining room is probably a Zuber paper because stylistically it is close to Les Vues de Suisse. Both show groups of people involved in activities associated with their profession, such as farming, or in leisure activities, such as strolling along the shoreline. Human activity is framed by the landscape but also dwarfed by it as over scaled landscape elements and picturesque vistas tower over their activities. Such is the case in the McJunkin dining room where peasants fish, prepare bales for shipping and fashionable women stroll among classical ruins. 15 Vast stretches of lakeshore or seacoast with a distant horizon line perfectly complement the view out the dining room's French doors. The wallpaper's horizon line matches that of Lake Michigan's.

The entrance hall paper is a monochromatic design of birds, flowers and foliage. Swallow-like birds swoop in or perch among lavish arrangements of chrysanthemums, cabbage roses and daisies all set among a hint of architectural trellis-like confections. It is a narrow repeating pattern and reflects the trend of wallpaper designs based on fabrics, here the toile du Juoy (Figure 12). There is a full-color paper in the entrance bathroom. This paper is printed in a red-green palette and shows paired birds perching on trellised fences set in gardens with stone balustrades and urns. Red and white roses alternate with the bird-architecture motif. This paper is also a repeating pattern (Figure 18).

William D. McJunkin (c. 1870- d. 6/15/41)
William McJunkin was an advertising executive and president of the McJunkin Advertising Company. He was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania, and married to Ellen Francis (c. 1865- d. 5/2/56). They had a daughter Helen. 16 He began his advertising career in Chicago prior to World War I. Before forming his own company, he was the advertising manager for several stores on State Street. He served as president of the company until June, 1935; he was named chairman of the board and treasurer of the firm with Eric Scudder succeeding him, as president.

He served on the Chicago's Board of Education, a post he retained for ten years being appointed in 1930, the year after the Winnetka residence was completed. He was a member of the Chicago Athletic Club where he maintained a voting address; nonetheless he was not reappointed when an advisory committee questioned his Chicago residence. Other memberships included the Elks Club, · the Edgewater Golf and Irish Fellowship clubs.

Upper class benevolence propelled the McJunkins into other charitable activities. The couple had an interest in the welfare of children and they were committed to those less fortunate. They typified a trend where by the end of the 191-h century, affluent Chicagoans had shifted their commitment from municipal organizations that performed these functions to private ones. The St. Vincent's Infant Asylum was one of these and Mrs. McJunkin was active in it, a familiar activity for a genteel female. They saw themselves as fortunate to possess the wealth that they did and also felt the social responsibility to manage and distribute it as a potent force to right the wrongs of those that preceded them. The McJunkin's association with the St. Vincent's Infant Asylum was publicly known. Because of their benevolence towards young children, a war widow in September, 1919, left her two-and-a-half-month-old son on the doorstep of the McJunkin's Chicago home at 1021 Granville Avenue. The mother relinquished all her claims to the child and the McJunkins willingly adopted him, gave him their name, William Jonathan McJunkin, and established his rights to their fortune.

In 1923, William McJunkin built two 3-story commercial structures on Broadway between Wilson and Montrose Avenues in the Uptown neighborhood. This stretch of Broadway was developing as a busy commercial corridor. He negotiated a 50-year lease with the Chicago Elevated railways for the site. The lease called for a percentage of the gross rental of the building as ground rental to the train company. The estimated annual rental was between $40,000 and $50,000 with McJunkin guaranteeing not less than $25,000. The structure cost $750,000 and was designed by Marshall & Fox with a completion date in fall, 1923. The Kocher & Larson Company built the adjoining building at an estimated cost of $250,000. The latter building was called the "Sunny Bill Bowling and Billiard building" after the now 3-1/2-year-old adopted son. The second floor had the largest billiard room in Chicago measuring 225' x 95' and the largest bowling alley which was on the third floor. The McJunkin Building, situated on the corner, had room for twenty-seven stores with a drug store on the corner. There was space for a large restaurant on the second-floor corner. The two upper floors had 12' ceiling heights, suitable for large-space tenants. It was suggested that the space might become 75 bachelor suites, each with a bathroom. McJunkin planned on requiring shop owners to light their shops past midnight, until the theater crowds had gone home.

William McJunkin acquired the lakefront property in Winnetka in September, 1928. He hired C. Whitne¥ Stevens to design his new suburban residence. The building permit dates to November 27, 1928. 1 It was to be a masonry residence with an attached garage at a cost of $65,000. There were to be ten rooms plus the garage. John Christiansen is listed as the mason and builder. 19 Measurements were 1 03'4" wide by 39'8" deep and 27' high. The total cost was estimated at $65,000. Mr. and Mrs. Leo J. Hulseman bought the residence in 1947. In 1948, Hulseman petitioned the Army Corps of Engineers and was granted permission to construct a retaining wall in Lake Michigan along the lakefront of his property. The plans show that it was to be constructed of reinforced concrete. It is approximately 125 feet long and with a top elevation of 7 feet above the Low Water Datum for Lake Michigan. Today this construction forms a concrete patio between the water level and the bluff. It is about 11-14' wide and the current owners use it as a patio (Figure 24). Glancing up and down the lakeshore it is noted that no other residences have a concrete retaining wall or lakeside patio deck.

Charles Whitney Stevens (c.1876-April 11, 1944)

Little is known of Charles Whitney Stevens' early life and his education.20 His focus appears to have been residential design. He designed a number of homes in Chicago and along the north shore. In 1905, Stevens designed the building at 2556-58 North Kimball/3401 West Wrightwood in the Logan Square area for S.S. Kimball. It is a single-family residence in the Classical Revival style. In 1909, Stevens designed two houses for the brothers John H. and William H. Powell at 747 and 757 West Hutchinson Street, this time in the Prairie School style. The two-block area in Uptown has a concentration of houses designed by George Maher. Stevens' designs are identical except for minor secondary elements such as the dormer roofs (Figures 25, 26). The residences are constructed with common brown brick with symmetrical facades dominated by a full-width porch. A centered dormer breaks the hipped roofs but the horizontality of the design is solidly within the Prairie School with its deep overhanging eaves at the roof and porch. There are limestone belt courses, sills and coping on the front porches. Decorative brickwork breaks up the massing of the porch columns and accents the second-floor facades. The Hutchinson Street District was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1977.

Stevens remodeled an existing 2-story building, the West Town State Bank, 2354 West Madison Avenue, originally constructed in 1913. He converted it into a storefront in 1930. It has been demolished. From 1923 to 1930, Stevens designed seven residences in Kenilworth all in the revivalist mode. Two on Oxford Road, at 157 and 197, were permitted in August, 1930. The latter is a 2-1/2 story stone structure in the Jacobethan Tudor style. There are three on Melrose Avenue at 123, 205 and 210. The first is a 2-1/2 story red brick Tudor revival building with stone trim designed in 1929 (Figure 27). It has twelve rooms and five baths on a lot measuring 150 x 175. 21 The house at 205 Melrose was built in 1925 and is similar in style, size and materials although simpler in plan (Figure 28). The 210 Melrose house is in the Italian Renaissance revival style with a contained rectangular plan under a tiled roof. It dates to 1923 (Figure 29). The 1929 plans for 224 Raleigh Road were adapted from those for 227 Raleigh designed in 1925. The two owners, Abe Peterson and H.A. Lundahl were attorneys and friends. Their residences are 2-1/2 story brick residences in the French Eclectic style.

Development of the Lake Shore and Sheridan Road
When the McJunkins made the decision to leave their Chicago residence, they selected a site that has long been attractive to those exiting the urban setting. Lake Michigan has always been a draw making lakefront property one of the most valuable; and along the lakeshore in Chicago and extending from the city north and south, there have been a variety of land uses. There is no consistency or conformity to lakefront lot configuration. Within Chicago's city limits and in the suburban municipalities it has proved challenging on how to best utilize its advantages. D. H. Burnham's 1909 Beaux Arts plan for lakefront enhancement is one historic solution to addressing the issues of how to best utilize this natural feature. Each municipality addresses the lakefront in its own way.

Sheridan Road figures prominently in any lakefront development. It is a former Indian trail that extends north from Chicago; it was the route traveled when the weather was favorable and when conditions were dry. It is generally close by the shoreline, as in Evanston, south of the Northwestern University campus, and at other times cuts more inland, as in Wilmette and Glencoe. In Winnetka, particularly in the southern half, it is close to the shoreline creating a narrow swath of buildable land between it and the lake. This has encouraged land use patterns that favor utilizing the full distance between the two, such as a park or house lots.

From its earliest history, Winnetkans gradually bought the desirable lakefront properties. 22 Their purchases included riparian ri~hts and private use of the adjoining beach. This resulted in limited public access to the beaches. 3 In the 1880s, the lakefront was mostly cow pasture, and in addition to the private ownership indicated in Figure 20, there was a lumberyard at the foot of Willow Road with a 200' pier that received deliveries of clear white pine. At that time, the only lakefront park in Winnetka was the one at Maple and Sheridan Road, sometimes referred to as "Little Park," a 2.75 acre piece of land. Before the 201 h century, the Tower Road beach, north of Little Park, was the only publicly accessible beach. Winnetka's Park Board was formed in 1904, and in 1905, they acquired the land that ran from Sheridan Road at the north end of Maple Street to the Maple Street beach and officially created Lake Front Park. Improvements began in 1910 and the beach was opened in 1913. The public also used the small beach at the end of Elder Lane, just north of the William McJunkin House. Eventually, a wooden pier was constructed and the beach officially opened in 1958. In the early 1960s, Lloyd Park with 720' of lakefront south of Tower Road beach became available. The Village acquired it and transferred boat launchings and retrieving from Elder Lane beach to Lloyd Park. It officially opened in July, 1963. Stone pillars flank the entrance on Sheridan and mark the location of the 1836 Patterson's Tavern. 24 In 1969, the Winnetka Park Board acquired the fifth lakefront property. Centennial Park has five acres and is located between Sheridan Road and the lake facing Fuller Lane, just north of the William McJunkin House. It is the former site of the Health Resort, 225 Sheridan Road, a posh hospital developed by I. H. Hirschfeldt and his associate, W.R. Whitaker. 25 It was one of the last non-residential lakefront properties. The building was demolished in 1969 and the land converted to a park. Lakefront swimming has declined with the construction of swimming pools; currently it is only allowed at Tower Road and Elder Lane beaches. Winnetka's lakefront then is devoted to parks, beaches and single-family residences.

Winnetka's Plan Commission was established in 1917. In 1922, the Village of Winnetka hired Edward H. Bennett to develop a general plan. Bennett wanted to preserve the country-like conditions and he advocated a village of single detached dwellings. At the time, the Village's density was only 1 0 persons per acre. He saw the north shore as part of a non-industrial strip that extended from Chicago to Waukegan. Sheridan Road was the only direct route through Winnetka; nonetheless Bennett wanted to restrict it to light traffic. In the plan he addressed all the land use issues currently concerning the Winnetka Plan Commission, such as the elimination of at-grade railroad crossings by depressing them. Bennett also made suggestions about lakeshore development.26 He saw it as Winnetka's most valuable asset and suggested development of a small harbor which would create summer resort facilities for all citizens. In Bennett's plan, the lakefront parks would be united. He hypothesized that the clay dug up from the railroad track relocation could be used to create a parkway along reclaimed lakeshore (Figure 22).

He envisioned a strip of land parallel to the shore that would extend out into the lake creating lagoons with quiet water for small craft, bathing and skating. The plan shows an almost symmetrical arrangement of delicate arms stretching out into the lake reminiscent of Burnham's 1909 plan for Chicago's lakefront harbors. The Winnetka plan created a harbor flanked by boating lagoons and beaches. Some streets then terminating near the shoreline would be extended and feed into the new lakefront parkway whereas others would be terminated at Sheridan Road. In 1920, Spruce, Elm, Oak, Cherry and Willow streets had lake access; under Bennett's plan, access would be limited to Willow, Oak and Elm streets. Bennett's plan for the lakefront was never implemented.

In 1900, Sheridan Road was a semi-macadam surface that still generated significant dust clouds forcing some residents to oil its surface (Figure 23). In 1929, a committee appointed by Illinois Governor Louis Emmerson proposed making Sheridan Road a state highway. The committee was appointed to address the problems existing between Calvary cemetery in Evanston, on the south, and the Lake County line, on the north. The proposal suggested that it be straightened, widened and improved from Evanston to the county line. At the time, Sheridan Road was transporting a large volume of through traffic and municipalities were concerned about this as well as the cost of road maintenance. 27 State engineers and town officials were to work out the details. In Winnetka, the specific problem with Sheridan Road was its narrow winding course through the deep ravines of the Hubbard hill section at the north end of the village. It markedly slowed traffic. Robert Kingery of Winnetka was among the forty-two-member committee and represented the village's concerns; however, none of these plans were instituted. Today, Sheridan Road remains a two-lane highway that twists and turns along the lakeshore circumventing development and navigating topography.