{"nrhp_refnum":"72000448","name":"Alta Vista Terrace Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Block bounded by W. Byron, W. Grace, N. Kenmore, and N. Seminary Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.95003071050007,"lon":-87.65741263468523,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A block-long residential street in Chicago, Illinois, between West Byron and West Grace Streets near 3800 N., lined with forty single-family rowhouses, twenty on each side. Samuel Eberly Gross began the development in 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the street is a unique, cohesive ensemble of turn-of-the-century rowhouses with twenty varied facade designs reflecting eclectic and Classical Renaissance motifs. It is also tied to Samuel Eberly Gross, a prominent Chicago real estate developer. Individual houses may not be outstanding, but the street taken as a whole is unique in Chicago.","narrative":"Alta Vista Terrace is a short, tree-shaded street in Chicago lined with forty narrow rowhouses, twenty on each side, each on a lot about 24 feet wide and 40 feet deep. Real estate developer Samuel Eberly Gross bought the block in 1900 after seeing London rowhouses, and he ran a street down the middle so no house would face the railroad or the alley. Eighteen two-story houses fill each row, with two three-story houses at the center. The brick facades come in twenty designs, repeated in reverse order on the opposite side, and draw on Classical Renaissance, late Gothic and Adam motifs such as pilasters, pediments, Palladian windows and leaded-glass fanlights. Some windows, awnings and gables have been altered, and one facade carries false half-timbering, yet the exteriors are little changed. The street was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey as the Street of 40 Houses and is valued as a unified whole unlike any other in Chicago.","period_of_significance":"20th Century (begun 1900)","architect_builder":"Samuel Eberly Gross (developer)","architectural_style":"Eclectic, with Classical Renaissance, late Gothic and Adam-style details","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent but altered; houses generally well cared for, with some modernization and extensively altered interiors. Occupied private residences.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.954378-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/8924/28892442/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/72000448.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000448/dc93d0cae0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000448/dc93d0cae0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alta_Vista_3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alta_Vista_3.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892442","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_Vista_Terrace_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4736014"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/alta-vista-terrace-historic-district-72000448/"}