Who needs suburbia when you can live in Sauganash?
This upscale enclave on Chicago’s Northwest Side is as suburban as the city gets.
The quiet, leafy streets are lined with immaculately manicured lawns and gracious homes, many sporting a refined Old English look, with a heavy accent on turrets and Tudor, slate and cedar-shake roofs.
Sauganash suggests the elegant opulence of the North Shore rather than urban congestion.
Instead of the normal grid pattern of city streets, many thoroughfares angle through the neighborhood, adding to the suburban-like ambience.
Plus, Sauganash residents are quick to point out the convenience of their location. The Loop is 15 to 25 minutes away, O’Hare International Airport is 15 minutes distant and Old Orchard Shopping Center is just up the Edens Expressway.
The desirability of Sauganash was discovered long ago by the A List.
Known as the “community with clout,” it has been the choice of a number of prominent political figures and judges.
Jane Byrne lived there before she was elected mayor. Three of Mayor Richard J. Daley’s children live in Sauganash, including William, who recently answered Bill Clinton’s call to come to Washington as Secretary of Commerce.
Residents also feel secure knowing that a sizable number from the Chicago police and fire departments live there.
While Sauganash is popular with the cognoscenti, it also could be one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets.
“This is the nicest area in the city, but a lot of people don’t know where it is; they confuse it with Saugatuck, Mich.,” said Andrea Copetas, a lifelong resident.
Copetas describes Sauganash as a stable, close-knit community.
“A lot of my friends are coming back to the neighborhood so their kids can grow up here,” she said.
Where exactly is Sauganash? The traditional boundaries are Devon Avenue on the north (bordering suburban Lincolnwood), Bryn Mawr Avenue on the south, Cicero Avenue on the west and the old Chicago and North Western tracks on the east.
While Sauganash is one of the most sought-after locations in the city, opportunities to buy there are limited. The land has been built out, and the turnover in resale housing is lower than in many parts of the city because residents like their community so much.
The typical single-family home with updated amenities in Sauganash is selling in the $350,000 to $450,000 range, according to Sara Benson, a real estate agent and Sauganash resident.
When an area is hot, clever real estate developers have a way of “discovering” new land. This may involve changing the zoning to fit their plans, or perhaps “expanding” the boundaries of neighborhoods so that their projects have a more prestigious address.
This has occurred around Sauganash, as developers have created what amounts to “Greater Sauganash.”
Many old-time residents are not happy.
“A lot of people are really unglued about the use of the Sauganash name in new residential developments that aren’t within the boundaries of the neighborhood. The developers are cashing in on the name, and the name means dollars,” said Thomas Kloempken, immediate past president of the Sauganash Community Association.
The “expansion” began eight years ago, when a 13-acre former industrial site at 4200 W. Peterson Ave. was converted into Sauganash Village, a development of 144 townhouses in Tudor style. Originally base-priced from $240,000, some units are reselling for well over $300,000.
Now comes the newest development–the Residences of Sauganash–81 single-family homes with preconstruction prices ranging from $359,900 to $599,900.
A joint venture of Bejco Development Corp. of Chicago, and Terrestris Development Co. of Oak Brook, the project will be built on 17 acres shaded by mature trees, just east of the La Bagh Woods Forest Preserve. The site is almost close enough to claim an official Sauganash pedigree, but not quite.
Nevertheless, the developers plan to build in the historical architectural styles of Sauganash. Architect Patrick FitzGerald has incorporated a goodly number of gabled roofs, bay windows and turrets in his plans.
Seven designs are available, ranging in size from 3,013 to 4,774 square feet with three or four bedrooms.
The sylvan site was found by B.J. Spathies, a land-acquisition specialist and president of Bejco Development. She keeps an eye out for well-located infill sites that other developers might have overlooked.
The property that will become the Residences of Sauganash was owned by the Alter Group. Zoned for light industry, it was called Sauganash Business Park. Spathies negotiated for two years to acquire the land.
The daughter of veteran Chicago residential developer William Spathies, she has 21 years of experience in residential and commercial real estate. In negotiations, she prefers a low-key approach.
“That way you don’t burn your bridges,” she said, adding her belief that women listen better than men.
A sales center already has opened at the $43 million development, which is on the south side of Bryn Mawr Avenue, a half-mile west of Pulaski Road.
Roads and model construction should begin soon, said Spathies. Three models are scheduled to open in October, while delivery of the first homes should be late this year or early 1998.
“We’re going to try to save as many of the trees as possible,” she said. Deer and other wildlife occasionally can be seen, and just about the only noise is the chirping of birds.
“The buyers here will have quiet neighbors,” said Spathies, waving a hand toward nearby Montrose Cemetery.
While the use of the Sauganash name may be an issue, all seem to agree that a barricade on Bryn Mawr Avenue, where it crosses the tracks just northwest of the Residences of Sauganash, should remain in place.
In effect, the barricade creates a dead end, thereby adding to the peace and quiet on both sides of the tracks, because there can be no through traffic on Bryn Mawr.
Another new housing development in the area–but not in Sauganash–is River’s Edge at Sauganash, located south of the Residences of Sauganash on a 16-acre site that borders a fork of the Chicago River.
When complete, the Norwood Builders project will include 260 condominiums in five, five-story buildings.
Prices start at $130,900 for one bedroom, the $140,000s for two bedrooms and $214,900 for three bedrooms.
Construction recently began on the last two buildings, which should be ready for first occupancies in late winter or early spring of 1998.
Norwood’s president, Bruce Adreani, said the scenic environment was a main reason for acquiring the property.
He added that several condo buyers have been long-time Sauganash residents who sold their single-family homes but wanted to stay near their friends.
Meanwhile, the official Sauganash neighborhood will celebrate its 75th anniversary at its annual Fourth of July parade.
Actually, Sauganash traces its history back much further–to the time when the surrounding forests were the hunting grounds for Native Americans.
The community is named for Chief Sauganash, who was born as Billy Caldwell in Canada about 1789. His father was an Irish officer in the British army and his mother was a Pottawattomi. With Sauganash as his Indian name, he at first lived near Detroit. After becoming chief of the Pottawattomi tribe, he worked for peace between whites and Indians, and was commissioned a justice of the peace by the U.S. government.
Around 1829 he came to Chicago and received 1,600 acres for his good deeds. But in 1836, the tribe left for a new reservation in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Sauganash sold most of the land that now comprises Sauganash, Edgebrook and Forest Glen to local farmers.
Today, Chief Sauganash’s likeness, adorned with a headdress, can be seen on Sauganash welcoming signs posted in the median of Peterson Avenue, the main east-west route through the community.
Houses began to sprout up in the area by the late 19th Century, but Sauganash did not catch on residentially until it was subdivided in 1922.
The first frame houses sold for $3,000. By 1935, more substantial brick homes were going for $15,000.
The area retained a country ambience into the mid-1950s. At one point, 96 homeowners filed a petition to keep streets in a rustic state–with no curbs and crushed-stone paving.
A small-town friendliness and civic pride pervades the neighborhood, which encompasses some 4,500 residents in 1,450 homes. Many of them like to do a bit of showing off at Christmas with extravagant lighting displays.
Moira Pollard, president of the Sauganash Community Association, described some of the extra services that increase the livability of the neighborhood.
Funded by association dues ($30 a year), they include additional snowplowing, mosquito abatement, a beautification program and monitoring of police and fire protection. In addition, a zoning committee offers advice to Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th).
Another strong anchor in Sauganash is Queen of All Saints Church, which Kloempken described as a major asset both religiously and socially.
Even though Sauganash is committed to preserving its residential character, homeowners are not against a bit of diversity in their midst, such as the Buzz Cup, a new coffee house and eatery, surrounded by homes.
Pollard said the neighbors are happy about the new use, which fills an empty storefront.
Moreover, this is an historic spot. Across the street from the Buzz Cup is a marker on the ground commemorating the sale of tribal lands by Chief Sauganash–in effect, the birth of the community.
