“Where are you taking me?” Helen Maheras asked her husband, Ted, when they drove out from Chicago to acres of empty farmland 20 miles northwest of the city.
That was in 1957. In February 1958, they moved into a new three-bedroom, two-bath ranch that cost $19,750. At that time, Elk Grove Village was being touted as “Chicagoland’s smartest new suburb.”
Ted Maheras explained: “A friend who worked for the FHA suggested we go out there and look at the new suburbs being built.”
They liked the suburb and house so much that they are still there 48 years later.
Now Elk Grove Village is poised to celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 17.
This “instant town” with a current population of 34,000 was one of the new suburbs that blossomed after World War II to provide housing for veterans and their growing families. The master plan for Elk Grove, developed by the village and Centex Homes, called for its 11 square miles to be equally divided between residential and industrial. Today, 100,000 employees work at 400 companies in the village.
Ted Maheras credits the industrial park with keeping taxes reasonable. “One of the features that sold us was that there were no telephone or electric poles,” he added.
Elk Grove prides itself on being the first master-planned community with underground utilities, and one of the first with curving streets, rather than spreading out on a grid pattern.
Its location also turned out to be convenient. It’s only a short drive to O’Hare International Airport and Woodfield Mall, and the village borders the Ned Brown Forest Preserve and Busse Woods.
“When Elk Grove Village was founded, it was out in the middle of nowhere. It was in the country,” said Dan Star, president of the Illinois division of Centex Homes, the builder of more than 90 percent of the residences in the village.
Now, as the 50th anniversary approaches, Mayor Craig Johnson takes stock of the village: “Residents love it here. Many original residents still live in the village.”
A full slate of special events will mark the anniversary, including the raffling off of a new house.
Called the Hometown Home Giveaway, the furnished house is valued at more than $500,000. Chances are $50. Located at 1099 Cheltenham Rd. and donated by Centex Homes, it is vastly different from the ranches that were popular in the late 1950s and 1960s.
The first ranches built in Elk Grove Village were modest in size and amenities by today’s standards. Most had only three bedrooms, one bath and a one-car garage.
A typical offering was the Beverly model. It had only 1,036 square feet, less than half the size of the average new home today, which has 2,400 square feet. But the price was right. The Beverly cost $17,000. After a $1,100 down payment and $350 in closing costs, the monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, insurance and taxes) was $121.26.
Johnson said one-car garages used to be the norm because most people had only one car.
“Centex built bigger eaves. That helped keep houses cool, since there was no air conditioning then,” he added.
In contrast to the basic ranches of yesteryear, the new giveaway house reflects all the advances and lifestyle changes that have occurred in the last 50 years. It’s big–two stories with 3,253 square feet and four bedrooms. And it’s loaded with all of today’s hot buttons–a media room in the basement, granite countertops in the kitchen and his-and-her walk-in closets in the master bedroom.
Despite its differences from most of the other houses in Elk Grove Village, it was designed to fit into the neighborhood.
“We didn’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb or look like a teardown,” said Johnson. “Centex offered a three-car garage, but we specified a two-car garage like others in the neighborhood. We asked that the roofline be lowered to conform with the neighborhood, and we asked for a porch since a house across the street has one.”
The winner of the raffle, conducted by Alexian Brothers Medical Center, will be announced July 16. Half the proceeds from the raffle will be donated to local charities and community groups. The rest will be used for community activities, including the 50th celebration.
Meanwhile, residents of the village continue to improve their ranch houses from the past.
“Many residents have added on and remodeled,” Johnson said.
As their family grew to three children, Ted and Helen Maheras remodeled their original one-car garage into a family room and added a 2 1/2-car garage and a screened-in porch. Helen Maheras has been busy beautifying the landscaping of their corner lot.
Ted Maheras, 80, now retired from the shoe-repair business, is a greeter at Wal-Mart. He and Helen, 79, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary Nov. 14.
Another couple in the neighborhood, Harold and Darlene Greaves, expanded their ranch with a family room and a fourth bedroom, as their three children grew up. The house cost $19,950, and they estimate it might be worth $270,000 today.
“We were among the pioneers. We moved into the house in December 1957 and were the 10th family in the village. Nothing was here then. It was a cornfield. There were no amenities, no schools, no stores. We had to go to Des Plaines and Arlington Heights to shop,” said Darlene Greaves, 77.
“We were attracted to this design because of its large living room. But when we bought, the models weren’t open yet, so we had to look in the windows,” she added.
Harold Greaves, who is from England, was a B-17 pilot in World War II and had a career in graphic arts. His wife worked for the park district and taught art classes. She is a member of the 50th anniversary committee.
How has Elk Grove changed over the years?
“Arlington Heights Road used to be two lanes. Now it’s nine,” Harold Greaves said.
Growth was spurred in 1958 by the construction of the Northwest Tollway, which cuts across the eastern part of the village.
Long before the automobile, the surrounding area was settled in the 19th Century by German farmers. That time is remembered at the Farmhouse Museum in Elk Grove Village.
“The museum is a bridge between the rural past and today’s urban character,” said Sandy Denninger, the museum’s coordinator and curator. She said an exhibit showcasing the village’s 50 years will be displayed in the historic schoolhouse located next to the museum.
“It will feature some of the original floor plans and artifacts from Centex Homes. The first library in the village was in a model home, and books were stored in a bathtub. The exhibit will open Sept. 10 for Pioneer Days,” she said.
The museum is on Biesterfield Road, which has evolved into the village’s downtown.
The statue of a white elk stands guard in front of the village hall, suggesting the question: How did Elk Grove get its name?
That’s easy. Elk once roamed in the huge grove that today is Ned Brown Forest Preserve and Busse Woods.
