{"nrhp_refnum":"82002555","name":"Braeside School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"124 Pierce Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Highland Park","county":"Lake County","state":"IL","lat":42.15538153600005,"lon":-87.77204711999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-09-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Braeside School is a school building at 142 Pierce Road (also 150 Pierce) in the Braeside section of Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois, built 1928-1929 to a design by John S. Van Bergen.","why_significant":"The inventory sheet describes it as the only Prairie School style building in Highland Park. It incorporates child-oriented ideas that predate the 1941 Crow Island School in Winnetka, with self-contained classrooms and a home-like setting. Its massing and plan draw on Frank Lloyd Wright's compact cubic houses.","narrative":"Braeside School, at 142 Pierce Road in Highland Park, Illinois, is a school designed by architect John S. Van Bergen, with construction dated 1928 and the first phase completed in 1929. It is built into a ravine on the west side, with simpler horizontal massing on the east. Materials include limestone and buff-colored stucco under low, broad, overhanging hipped roofs. The first phase held administration, library, speech and art rooms. A later phase added a two-story auditorium and shop rooms, and five classrooms were added in 1937 by W.H. Sobel and A.C. Bence of Van Bergen's office. A kitchen followed in 1949. The plan and massing draw on Frank Lloyd Wright's compact cubic houses. The school was listed because it is the only Prairie School building in Highland Park and because its child-centered ideas, including self-contained classrooms, stone fireplaces and large windows, predate the 1941 Crow Island School in Winnetka. Van Bergen conceived it as an extension of the home environment. It remains a school.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John S. Van Bergen; 1937 additions by W.H. Sobel and A.C. Bence from Van Bergen's office; 1949 kitchen by Bertram Weber","architectural_style":"Prairie School Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated in excellent condition; present use is the same as the original use, a school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.017278-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/8912/28891272/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82002555.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002555/a97f950c4a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002555/a97f950c4a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Braeside_School_3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Thshriver</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Braeside_School_3.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891272","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braeside_School_(Highland_Park,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q78481556"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lake-county/braeside-school-82002555/"}