Chicago Real Estate History....does it get any more fun?

If you are someone who considers Phil Dunphy a professional role model, this post is very exciting.  Everyone else - well, you're here anyway so might as well keep reading.

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So, who knows what building was Chicago's first co-op?   Built in 1920 as part of a planned English garden community in Chicago, this building has been admired by countless people and even a black bear.  Really. 

Situated on the northeast corner of Indian Boundary Park, the stately Park Gables was Chicago's first co-op.   Architect James E. Denson designed a whimsical, warm building with plentiful access to light and fresh air for its residents.   Tudor Revival at the time was a popular building motif which worked perfectly with the building's park setting.   It is always quite unusual because the front of the building opens up to the park itself without a city street cutting between the building and park.  The residents gained an entire park as their front lawn.  Indian Boundary Park was by no means typical either.   Generations of Chicago children loved visiting its small zoo, home of that black bear, as well as the lagoon, playground and playing fields.  Today the zoo is no longer but the park is still a hidden gem that needs to be seen.

Residences in Park Gables are unlike any other.   Top floor residences under those gables actually have huge peaked living rooms.  Many other units have arched doorways, beamed ceilings, solid construction and charming antique tiles and fixtures.  But...here is something you can't even imagine a building would have back then...or today even:  a Moroccan-themed indoor pool, an indoor handball court, an indoor gym and a building community garden with each resident having their own assigned plot to grow on.   Amazing place!