Talman West Ridge Bungalow Historic District

Talman West Ridge is a residential neighborhood on Chicago's north side, about nine miles from the city center, just north of West Devon Avenue. It contains brick Chicago bungalows, earlier frame and stucco bungalows, two- and three-flats, Dutch Colonial and Tudor Revival houses, and 124 original garages, all built between 1919 and 1930. Dozens of architects and builders worked here, with Benedict J. Bruns the most prolific, designing more than fifty buildings. Construction peaked in 1925, when sixty-four buildings went up. Early bungalows were simple and flat-fronted, while later ones gained polygonal bays, art glass, tile roofs and elaborate limestone and brick detailing. Consistent setbacks, brick construction and shared decorative features give the blocks a cohesive look despite the variety of designs. The district is recognized as an example of the Chicago bungalow's maturing design and of middle-class housing in the 1920s. Most buildings keep their early twentieth-century appearance.