{"nrhp_refnum":"84001018","name":"Michigan-Lee Apartments","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"940-950 Michigan Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Evanston","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.035316169000055,"lon":-87.67393836599996,"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 brick apartment building with an English basement at 940-50 Michigan Avenue, on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Lee Street in Evanston, Illinois, built in 1928 to designs by Frank W. Cauley.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a noteworthy example of an elegant Georgian apartment building, unusually sited to create a formal, intimate courtyard with handsome detailing. It offers amenities and a homelike atmosphere comparable to a single-family dwelling. Its quality, human scale and gardens relate it to the single-family section of the nearby Lakeshore Historic District.","narrative":"Michigan-Lee Apartments is a three-story brick apartment building with an English basement at 940-50 Michigan Avenue in Evanston, built in 1928. Architect Frank W. Cauley designed it, and N.J. Lareau was the builder. The Georgian-style building wraps around a private sunken courtyard, entered by a narrow stair from the corner circular drive. Paths radiate from a central planting to three tiers of apartments, each with a double-door entry framed by four round columns and flanked by iron lamps. Red brick is trimmed with limestone at the water table, sills, quoins, and parapet urns, coping and blind balustrades. Apartments range from four to seven rooms, with triple floor-to-ceiling french windows under segmental arches, arched doorways, coved ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces, and nine inside garage spaces. The building was listed for its elegant Georgian design, its unusual courtyard siting, and its homelike scale, which relates it to the single-family homes of the nearby Lakeshore Historic District. Two basement apartments were added in 1949.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Frank W. Cauley, Architect; N.J. Lareau, Builder","architectural_style":"Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Two basement apartments were added in 1949; the building otherwise retains its original form, with no additional structures on the property.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.657493-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/8908/28890859/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/84001018.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001018/f44ca296e9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001018/f44ca296e9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan-Lee_Apartments_4.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:Michigan-Lee_Apartments_4.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28890859","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan-Lee_Apartments","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96393052"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/michigan-lee-apartments-84001018/"}