Another Demolition Set For Historic Hinsdale Area

HINSDALE, IL – One by one, houses are being demolished in Hinsdale, particularly in the Robbins Park Historic District.

On Wednesday, the village’s Historic Preservation Commission approved another demolition on Third Street. And it gave preliminary approval for a new house a block away.

Still, the commission’s chairman, John Bohnen, was unusually positive about the developments.

"This is probably one of the best nights I've had at the HPC in probably 10 years, and I’m very serious about that,” he said.

In the first case, architect Mike Abraham represented Jessica and Mayur Shah in a proposal to demolish the house at 319 E. Third St. He said the family wanted to respect the history of the neighborhood with their replacement house.

“Jessica’s challenge to us was to put together something that was very much in keeping with the house that was there, at least from the street presence, the charm of it, the feel of the house, the wood siding,” Abraham said. “Those are the things that Jessica liked in a house.”

Abraham said he expected the commission to ask about saving the home, as it has done in other cases.

But Bohnen said the commission understood the situation.

“The home that is there is not preservable. We determined that prior to it going on the market,” he said. “The family asked me to give an assessment, so we all assessed that house, and we have no problems with it going down."

Jessica Shah told the commission that it was important the new home did not appear as if it were created for the current time – “something that would last the test of time.”

Bohnen said the Shahs showed a lot of sensitivity to the block.

“I think that this will look a lot nicer than the house that is there,” he said. “I, for one, think this is a very nice addition to the block.”

According to a village memo, the existing home was built in 1890 for Henry and Emma Holversheid and features colonial revival architecture. The new three-story, 6,400-square-foot house is set to be built of white cedar siding with a wood shingle roof.

The commission also heard a proposal for a new house at the lot at 444 E. Fourth St., the site of the demolished Zook home.

Nashville architect Allen Harris said the home was designed over the last several months with “great respect and admiration for your neighborhood.”

Bohnen said he liked what he saw, calling the proposed home a “showstopper."

“A great part of the village is still in mourning for the former Zook house, the arduous process that we all were put through,” Bohnen said. “The site needs an important house – for a lot of reasons, not the least of which to take away the sting from some of the feelings in the community. We applaud you for your design work."

The proposed 10,000-square-foot, two-story home would be constructed of a stone masonry veneer and incorporate elements of the Cotswold style of architecture, according to village documents.