A Threatened Cronhardt Model from Home Builders Catalog

1230 N. Dunton, Arlington Heights.

The Cronhardt from the 1928 Home Builders Catalog.

Identifying this house took me a long time. Like two years. It's certainly an unusual house and stuck in my memory.

I can now declare it is the Cronhardt model from Home Builders Catalog. Home Builders Catalog was a plan book publisher that did not sell house kits. Home Builders Catalog and the other plan books showed exterior illustrations and rough floor plans of houses. The reader could send in $10-$50 for the complete blueprints of a particular design.

This Cronhardt is reversed from the illustration. There is no doubt what the model is... it even has the matching clover insignia shutters!

The house even has the original clover shutters!

This cottage might be in danger. Arlington Heights has padlocked it and said it is not approved for occupancy due to a recent fire. There is a McMansion being built next door--I hope this is not a preview of how this story will end.

The status as of October 2013.

This house was built between 1928 and 1930. (Cook County says 1928 for what it's worth.) The original owners were Charles Joseph Lewis and his wife Marion. Charles worked for Klehm's Nursery as a landscaper.

By 1938 the Lewises had moved to Chicago. Edward Beckman and his family had moved in by 1939. The Beckmans owned the house until October 1952 when they moved to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Update!

The homeowner contacted me and said they are repairing the fire damage and not demolishing the house.