It bills itself as “Chicago’s smallest subdivision,” so our rules on examining subdivisions are different when it comes to the Chicago Homes on Melrose.
Usually, the space that carries the boldface “Subdivisions” logo is intended to be a look at a given home-building undertaking when it’s midway though its development.
At that point, said subdivision would be far enough along for the casual visitor to get a feel for what the place is like, while still presenting ample opportuities for the favorably impressed (presuming there are some) to say, “This is for me. Where do I sign?”
The Chicago Homes on Melrose is, indeed, a little more than midway through its development; a grand total of six homes are planned for this North Side site, in the 1200 block of West Melrose Street, and four of them have been sold. If having but two remaining dwellings suggests that, should you sneeze you’d might miss the whole endeavor, bear in mind that the developers, a partnership of MCL Companies and BHC Companies, hope to build similar homes nearby.
The six homes (one of them ready for occupancy, the others ready in October and November) have some things in common with suburban subdivisions: They offer volume ceilings; spacious, carpeted family rooms; walk-in closets; master bedroom suites. But any physical resemblance to a Colonial in, say, Gurnee, would be phenomenally coincidental, as these are city houses designed to blend into the city street they sit on.
They are meant to look, well, old-or at least graciously “vintage,” in the best real-estate parlance.
Designed by the noted Pappageorge/Haymes Architectural Design Firm of Chicago, the homes are reminiscent of rowhouses, being about 18 feet wide, but standing six feet apart, in accordance with Chicago building code standards. The lots measure 24 by 125 feet, with 32 feet of that being back yard.
The architects have devised 16 possible facades in combinations of siding, limestone and brick that are right at home alongisde the neighboring, genuinely Victorian residences.
The numerous facades (“elevations” in builder terms) also will keep the six new houses from looking like each other, according to Sandi Smith, vice president of sales for the Chicago Homes on Melrose.
“Our buyers are very particular about their houses not looking alike,” Smith said. “Everybody wants their own personality reflected in their home.”
Among the materials and features that make such variation possible are wooden shutters, fishscale shingles, gingerbread trim, bay windows and multipane windows that harken to another era. Each of the elevations, priced as options, carry pricetags that add $1,500 to $24,370 to the homes’ $379,900 base price.
One of the selling points for buyers here is storage, a lot of it made possible by the 1,000-square-foot basements. Typically, in comparably sized new townhouses in the city, most of that space ends up being ceded to a streetside garage door and the family auto. But in this development, each house will have a detached, two-car, frame garage along a back alley-another feature that’s almost standard in the original homes in this Lakeview neighborhood.
The homes each have about 2,000 square feet (excluding basements, which can, as an option, include a full bath; 2 1/2 baths are standard). The first-floor plan doesn’t offer much variety in the way of room configuration, but the second story has three versions, with two or three bedrooms.
Smith says that buyers so far generally have been childless young professionals, some of whom have said their agendas include having children in the near future. Their homes will have cedar fences in back and wrought-iron fences in front, which also are in keeping with the rehabs that are popping up all around. The local public schools are Burley Elementary, 1630 W. Barry Ave.; and Lake View High School, 4015 N. Ashland Ave. (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text)
The area is generally residential, with single-family homes and two-flats predominating. There is some light industry nearby; Smith says that MCL/BHC built the homes on the site of a vacant structure that had housed a building-supply firm.
Smith says that the developers are considering other sites very close by, where they hope to erect the same type of housing.
At which point “Chicago’s smallest subdivision” might have to pass on its title.
Sales hours for the Chicago Homes on Melrose are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; the sales office is directly behind the development, at 1240 W. Belmont Ave.; for information, call 312-296-1566.
