Blue Island House Walk moves online
Started in 1979, annual event shifts to video tours of historic homes
The 400-member Blue Island Historical Society promotes local history through archive maintenance, public displays and presentations, but it’s had to put its events such as tea parties and vintage base ballgames on hiatus of late.
Its annual House Walk, however, is happening.
“The House Walk is by far our biggest event,” said Kevin Brown, executive director of the Blue Island Historical Society. “Hundreds of people come out for it, andit’s been going on since 1979. We inherited a great event and wanted to keep it going.”
Brown is managing to do just that with his wife, Sara Brown, and the company they started in 2014, Browntown Communications. Together, the Browns are transitioning the House Walk to a virtual format by creating videos that explore the history and architecture of homes and other structures in Blue Island.
“I do the visual side and web design, the photography and videography,” Kevin said. “Sara does the marketing, writing, design implementation.”
She also provides voice-over for the Virtual House Walk and serves on the Historical Society’s board.
Both Browns have volunteered countless hours in creating Virtual House Walk videos, which so far feature the Charles Young House at 12905 Greenwood Ave.
The Italianate stucco mansion called out to its new owner, Joe Leamanczyk, an interior design business owner. Hewould pass the house on his way to work in Orland Park.
“It was a day in late July. I stopped at the stop sign and noticed it peeking out from behind 5,000 trees that were smothering it. I just felt like that house needs some love,” he tells Sara Brown in the video.
Leamanczyk and his partner, Ben Walker, spent the last year restoring the five-bedroom, four-bathroom structure built in 1886. Their plans are to respect the architectural detail and employ a fresh approach to decorating that includes original artwork.
Amid hardwood floors and 12-foot ceilings, the home’s most impressive feature is a winding wooden staircase.
Its history is relevant to Blue Island’s formation.
The original owner, Charles Young, took on his father’s real estate business and served on the first board of the Blue Island Library Association, founded in 1891. The home’s third floor housed boarders. Some were teachers. Others were railroad workers employed nearby.
Theresa Klein, from a local family that owned the Klein Grain Elevator, purchased the home in 1915. Around that time, the brick exterior was updated with stucco cladding.
“The variety of architecture here is what has made the House Walk so popular,” Kevin Brown said. “It’s a little bit of everything because thecity hasbeen here so long. Some of it is rudimentary, built in the 1830s, and then there are homes from the Victorian era, Queen Anne style, later Prairie style. … We have Sears kit homes and post-World War II homes, even some homes and apartment buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s.”
“We see history as a tangible asset to the community, both for drawing business prospects and new residents,” said Sara Brown, who along with Kevin started volunteering for the Historical Society shortly after they moved into a Blue Island rental home in April 2016. “Right away, we went out of our way to meet people and get involved.”
Kevin Brown, who was hired as executive director of the society in 2018, lived in Blue Island in the 1980s through 1996. Sara grew up in northeast Indiana and gradually moved closer to Chicago. The couple met while working for a consumer buying service in Merrillville, Indiana.
They were drawn to Blue Island’s quaint restaurants and rustic bars, but they also saw the community as a great place to raise their three girls— Carleigh, Lily and Ailene.
“We liked that it’s a close knit community, that people watch out for each
other,” Kevin Brown said. The couple also appreciated Blue Island’s walkability, its school system, library, Park District and downtown area, which includes bakeries, restaurants and a grocery.
About a year ago, the Browns purchased a yellow brick mansion at 12950 Greenwood Ave. The home will be the second in the Virtual House Walk series.
It was originally owned by Henry Klein, a son of Theresa Klein, the second owner of the Charles Young house. Henry Klein took over his father’s butcher business, which he and a partner later built into Schroth Meat Company, Kevin said.
The history of the home and the virtual segment are still coming together, but the Browns’ restoration efforts and a video tour of their carriage house can already be viewed on the Blue Island Historical Society’s Facebook page.
“The house was an eyesore for a while,” said Sara Brown. Most obvious from the outside, the gutters were in disrepair and a wheelchair ramp used by the previous owner covered the porch’s massive limestone steps.
Another previous owner used the enclosed porch as a waiting area for his medical practice. Dr. Ralph Diffenderfer, a surgeon and general practitioner, lived in the house with his family, according to the Browns. He was affiliated with St. Francis Hospital, which later was renamed Metro-South and now is closed.
The Browns saw great potential in what they believe to be an early effort of Prairie School architect George W. Maher. He worked with Frank Lloyd Wright and Grant Elmslie.
“He really emphasized the concept that home was a place to be enjoyed with plenty of open spaces inside,” said Sara.
“Unlike the other Prairie School architects, Maher incorporated Classical elements into modern designs,” said Kevin.
Kevin removed the windows from the expansive porch, making it a place to relax and entertain in warmer weather. Interior portions of the home were stripped down to the wood lathing and bare studs. Fresh paint now covers new living room walls and much of the vintage woodwork remains intact.
For the Virtual House Walk, the Browns plan to profile yet another Blue Island home by spring. “Beyond that, we’re hopeful the Annual House Walk will resume in 2021,” Kevin said.
Either way, the Historical Society enjoys solid support from the community. Sponsors for the Virtual House Walk include Beggars Pizza, The Chicago Bungalow Association, 2nd Ward Aldermen Fred Bilotto & William Cazares, 4th Ward Ald. Tom Hawley, James Street Associates, Blue Island Public Library, and Francis Podbielski and Anna Montes.
The Virtual House Walk video can also be accessed at blueislandhistoricalsociety.com.