Lakeview Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Also known as: See Also:Lakeview Historic District
Why it's listed
This boundary extension adds a short stretch of Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood to an existing historic district. The block, on the south side between Orchard and Halsted Streets, holds nine contributing buildings. They include an 18-unit corner apartment building from 1915, three apartment hotels from the 1920s, two half-courtyard apartment buildings designed by Otto Zippwald in 1916, and a corner commercial building from 1912. Two survivors of the 1890s stand among them: a Richardsonian Romanesque house at 705 Belmont with a red granite exterior, and a townhouse at 737 Belmont. Most buildings are brick, human in scale and three to four stories tall. Together they illustrate how larger multi-unit buildings replaced smaller homes as Lakeview's population grew from about 60,000 to nearly 115,000 between 1910 and 1930. The extension was approved because the block resembles the neighboring district blocks in character and fixes an earlier boundary error.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the block matches the scale, brick materials, residential character and range of building types of the existing district. Its apartment buildings, hotels and two surviving 1890s structures show how Lakeview changed between 1910 and 1930 as its population nearly doubled. The extension also corrects a professional error in the original boundary line. The reviewer accepted it under Criteria A and C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86001042, listed May 16, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 701, 705, 711, 715--717, 721, 733--735, 737, and 739 Belmont Ave., 3162 and 3164 N. Orchard, and 3171 Halsted Sts., Chicago |
|---|---|
| County | Cook County |
| Listed | May 16, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001042 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | W. G. Whitney; Paul F. Olsen; Otto Zippwald; A. L. Himmelblau; Doerr, Lindquist and Doerr |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque, Romanesque Revival, simplified Queen Anne, Historical Revival and Prairie influences, Baroque and Tudor-inspired detailing |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most buildings are described as largely unaltered and in excellent integrity; two vernacular cottages are altered and non-contributing. Several buildings are now divided into apartments. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Within district | Lakeview Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.93973, -87.64808 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86001042.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6479254
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.