{"nrhp_refnum":"84001016","name":"Melwood Apartments","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1201-1213 Michigan Ave. and 205-207 Hamilton","address_restricted":false,"city":"Evanston","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.03946310600003,"lon":-87.67325733999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story pink brick apartment building with a raised basement at 1201-13 Michigan Avenue and 205-07 Hamilton Street in Evanston, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1901 and credited to Wilmore Alloway.","why_significant":"The building is cited as one of Evanston's earliest apartment buildings and for its cohesive Classical design, with an entry that links it to Colonial Revival mansions. It is also seen as a transitional building, a block-like unit with features of later courtyard apartments. Its construction in a single-family neighborhood set off an early conflict between homeowners and builders, before the 1921 zoning ordinance.","narrative":"Built in 1901 at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Hamilton Street in Evanston, this three-story apartment building rises above a raised basement and sits back from the street much like its neighboring houses. Pink brick walls rest on a limestone base, and each limestone doorway has a fanlight and sidelights. Two-story pilasters with voluted capitals support a dentiled limestone cornice. Inside, a tiled hall with marble stairs leads to 27 apartments, whose bowed windows give the principal rooms light and multiple views. Details include arched alcoves, coved ceilings and a Beaux Arts balustrade of cast and wrought iron. Wilmore Alloway is named as architect or builder. The building was listed as an early Evanston apartment house with a cohesive Classical design. It also shows a transition toward courtyard buildings, with a large rear court and polygonal bays for light and ventilation. Its construction in a single-family neighborhood provoked early disputes between homeowners and builders before the 1921 zoning ordinance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Wilmore Alloway","architectural_style":"Classically inspired design, somewhat Federal in massing, with Colonial Revival links","criteria":[],"status_note":"Contains 27 apartments; alterations from 1950 to 1981 included underpinning of the north wall, rear stair repairs, a rear porch enlargement and a kitchen renovation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.297894-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/8908/28890847/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/84001016.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001016/4e3d95775f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001016/4e3d95775f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melwood_Apartments_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:Melwood_Apartments_3.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28890847","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melwood_Apartments","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96392573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/melwood-apartments-84001016/"}