By Donovan Westover
Our home tour timeline takes us next to the year 1950 on Duval Drive in the Ravinia Heights neighborhood. There is a row of Dilbeck-esque houses sited on rather large lots and they are as magical as you would expect from Dilbeckian designs.
Dilbeck Details on Duval Drive
Charles Dilbeck was a prolific architect of regional ranch houses and designed hundreds of them during his career. In addition to his homes, he built a number of apartment buildings, hotels, shopping centers and country clubs. His background as a lumberyard draftsman added to his heavy use of irregular wood and found objects, as well as unparalleled craftsmanship. His ranch style established him as an architect of great skill, originality and imagination.
The ranch-style tour house on Duval Drive was “Pyka Built” and exhibits classic Dilbeck characteristics that include the rambling floor plan with an angled wing, exposed rounded roof rafters, wide overhanging eaves, a low slung roof, and drunken brick. While it is not known if Dilbeck designed this particular home, his influence is obvious and found in other homes built by builder Ben Pyka, a developer of the time.
The sprawling house also exhibits interior idiosyncrasies typical to Dilbeck from the beadboard plank ceilings, to the oversized fireplaces, to the floorplan and siting, which was intended to catch summertime breezes. The library of window types and sizes yield flawless natural light in addition to perfectly capturing cross breezes for a fresh environment. The original intent of the house has been retained while modern updates accommodate utilitarian spaces such as the kitchen and bathrooms. The spacious primary bathroom is a sight to see and includes a private courtyard with an outdoor shower. It incites jealousy.
This is a modest house that unfolds as you meander through its beautifully appointed common and uncommon areas. Every space is a pleasant surprise and most likely, leads to yet another pleasant surprise. The journey is never ending in the best way possible and we want you to take the journey with us. You will fall in love.
Calming Creek Views
Abutted against a seven-acre historic estate, this oversized lot on Duval Drive is afforded privacy and seclusion, as if built in a forest. A Coombs Creek tributary runs through the property, contributing to the ambiance and providing moisture to the grounds.
Masterfully placed windows of various shapes and sizes provide each room with an abundance of views, and with the property stretching out in every direction, those views are all seemingly endless. It is like living in an exotic terrarium.
A Dilbeckian delight that thrills from the peculiar front entrance all the way to the rear of the property, where the owners have constructed a “birdhouse” guest cottage that is seemingly nestled up in the trees.
This house checks all the boxes including a sprawling floorplan with an offset wing, hand-cut rafters visible around the house supporting wide eaves, a shallow roof, and brickwork that appears thrown together. It is an intriguing start to your relationship with this tour home. No disappointment here.
Our home tour program text writer for Duval Drive, architect Nancy McCoy, says:
One of the three children that grew up here recalls a childhood catching crawdads and playing in the Coombs Creek tributary that runs through the property until the street lights came on and it was time to go inside.
Although it was 73 years ago, Duval Drive was built as a house of love and remains so today.
We hope you had the opportunity to read about our other tour houses leading up to now, a 1916 four square in Winnetka Heights and a 1928 stone cottage in Beckley Club Estates. Come explore with us on October 28 and 29. Information and tickets are available here.
Our Duval Drive tour home is sponsored by:
Michael Mahon of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
