Self-guided Bicycle Tour
of Lake Forest
Sponsored by
Lake Forest Preservation Foundation
Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce
Kiddles
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Historic Family Fair in Market Square
Self-guided Bike Tour
Saturday, June 19
11 am to 2 pm
START OF TOUR
(in front of Kiddles)
Welcome to the Self-guided Bike Tour of Lake Forest’s historic
district. The Lake Forest Preservation Foundation is working
with the Chamber of Commerce and Kiddles in introducing you
to Lake Forest. You will see a glimpse of our community in
historic homes, winding streets, and other sites.
The tour will take between 1 hour and 2 hours and you can make
one quick stop at the Lake Forest Lake Bluff Historical Society
before ending the tour at Market Square. You can hop off your
bike at that time, have lemonade and cookies, and see their latest
exhibit.
Market Square
You’re here in front of Market Square, recognized by the
National Register of Historic Places as the first planned shopping
center in the United States. It was designed by Howard Van
Doren Shaw and built in 1916. The fountain sculpture you see
was designed by Shaw’s daughter, Silvia Shaw Judson, who also
designed “The Bird Girl” sculpture.
Across the street is our train station – designed by Charles
Sumner Frost and Alfred Hoyt Granger in 1899. Funds
contributed by Lake Forest citizens paid for the new station,
which remains true to its original architecture. In the early 1980s,
the station was renovated again through the generosity of Lake
Forest residents. And today, the Lake Forest Preservation
Foundation is leading the charge to renovate the building again.
SOUTH (straight on Western to
Deerpath)
Left (east) on Deerpath
Shaw church
You’re going to be heading east – toward Lake Michigan down
Deerpath. Just as you cross the tracks, look at the church on your
left. It’s the only church designed by architect Howard Van
Doren Shaw. Over the years, several different congregations
have been housed here, beginning as a Methodist church.
According to Susan Dart McCutcheon, Shaw’s granddaughter-inlaw, the architect was never paid for the design by the original
congregation. The family, she said, always felt that was the
reason some of the church families didn’t stay long in this
location
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CONTINUE ON DEERPATH PAST
TRIANGLE PARK AND 550 EAST
DEERPATH
(Go slowly past Library. Stop or slow
down at 550 Deerpath – on west side of
street next to the Presbyterian Church–
has a white gate and fence)
Next on your left is the Lake Forest Library, a building which
draws its design inspiration from the Pantheon in Rome and
Jefferson’s Monticello home. It has had two additions as the city
has grown – one in the mid-70s and one in the 90s. Built in 1931
and designed by architect Edwin Hill Clark, it is clearly civic in
purpose but also appropriate in a residential area. The Library
was the gift of Mrs. Charles H. Schweppe and Mrs. Stanley
Keith, daughters of John G Shedd, president of Marshall Field
and Company, in memory of Mrs. Keith’s first husband, Kersey
Coates Reed. Today it houses 128,000 items.
The Library was chartered in 1899 and was first located on the
second floor of City Hall. It’s one of the oldest public libraries in
the state, with only 14 chartered earlier.
Triangle Park – This is the site of the first public building in
Lake Forest. It opened in the summer of 1858, a year after Lake
Forest was platted. People intending to buy lots from the Lake
Forest Association stayed in “The Old Hotel” in Triangle Park
while they looked over their homesites.
The deer sculpture was commissioned by Thomas Byrne
between 1901 and 1903, for a home at 644 West Deerpath. When
the owners sold their house, the new owners donated the
Austrian designed deer to the city and it was moved here.
CONTINUE TO SHERIDAN ROAD
550 E. Deerpath (north side of street). Built in 1859, this home
was known as Roadside. Part of the building was originally the
home of Sylvester Lind, a carpenter form Scotland who became a
lumberman, a realtor, and then an insurance executive. He was
the first trustee of the Lake Forest Association, organizer of Lind
University in 1857 (today it’s Lake Forest College). He also
served four terms as Mayor. The story is that the name of Lind
University was changed because financial reserves in 1858
forced Lind to withdraw promised funds to the university – and
his name disappeared.
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TURN RIGHT ON SHERIDAN
Presbyterian Church
700 N. Sheridan Rd. – This is the Presbyterian Church, built
in 1887, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and is
designed by Charles Sumner Frost. This church is constructed of
natural spotted limestone salvaged from the Second Presbyterian
Church in Chicago which was destroyed in the Chicago fire of
1871. The church has been renovated many times. The Tiffanydesigned stained –glass windows, which date to 1902, are one of
its most significant features. It has been given the Lake Forest
Preservation Foundation Heritage Award.
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College was founded in 1857 as Lind University.
The Methodists had founded Northwestern University, and the
Baptists founded the University of Chicago. Lake Forest College
is the fulfillment of the dream of the Presbyterians who had
journeyed to this area for the express purpose of building a
school.
Durand Hall – on
the left (gothic red stone building)
Henry Ives Cobb designed Durand Hall in 1891. It’s a good
example of Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style in red
sandstone. Can you see the owls (the symbol of wisdom) over
the main entrance?
To 660 Sheridan – west side of street - it’s
the first house after the bridge, white
gates and fence
660 N. Sheridan – This house, built in 1860, was the home of
Harvey Thompson, the first mayor of Lake Forest. He was also
an original trustee of the Lake Forest Association and a member
of the first board of trustees of Lake Forest University.
To 570 N Sheridan
(house is on the west side of the street on
the corner)
570 N. Sheridan – The Homestead, also built in 1860, was the
home of Devillo R. Holt, also a trustee of the Lake Forest
Association and founder of the Presbyterian Church. Holt was an
original landowner after the chartering of the city. He, too, sat on
the board of Lake Forest University. The house is built of brick
with a wood exterior. The reason for the cover up? Holt was a
lumber baron. A wood house was politically correct.
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CONTINUE ON SHERIDAN
500 Sheridan Road - Glen Rowan House
is on west side of street – has a sign
500 N Sheridan Road – Glen Rowan House was designed in
1908 by Howard Van Doren Shaw for Clifford H. Barnes, an
early social worker at Hull House. The house has hosted such
luminaries as Teddy Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lake Forest College has been coed since its early days (it finally
opened its doors in 1876), thanks to Mrs. Charles B. Farwell,
wife of the Senator Farwell. Her daughter, Anna, was finishing
high school in Chicago, and she wanted her at home to attend
college. Her persuasiveness must have been powerful. Her
daughter was in the first graduating class – and Mrs. Farwell was
a benefactor of the college for the rest of her life.
Our curvilinear streets were originally design in 1857 when Lake
Forest was platted – the design takes advantage of natural beauty,
of ravines and trees and the lake.
The first plat, was signed only “Hotchkiss” without a first name
and it now appears that credit should be given to Almerin
Hotchkiss.
TURN LEFT ONTO MAPLEWOOD
AND CONTINUE TO MAYFLOWER
885 Maplewood – James R. Leavell
House (on the south side of Maplewood
at the Maplewood Court and Maplewood
intersection)
The James R. Leavell tudor French Normandy-style house (with
a tower on the east side) was built in 1928 by Stanley D
Anderson, the architect who also designed the Lake Forest High
School, and Lake Forest Hospital. Mr. Leavell was the president
of the Continental Illinois Bank at that time. The house won the
historic preservation award in 2005 for rehabilitation.
995 Maplewood - “CODFISH ALLEY”
Maplewood Road had lots of small cottages lined along the road.
All remaining cottages have been enlarged and renovated. This
used to be the area where some of the tradesmen lived in the
community.
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CONTINUE TO 405 MAYFLOWER
SCHWEPPE (east side of street)
(Wrought iron gates and limestone entry.
Sign with other numbers – 401, 403, etc.)
The Charles Schweppe Estate, known as the Mayflower Place,
is the 1915 design of architect Frederick Wainwright Perkins.
Constructed of concrete and steel, this brick Tudor-style English
country house was commissioned by John G. Shedd, chairman of
Marshall Field and Company for his daughter Laura, and her
husband Charles Schweppe, an investment banker. Mrs.
Schweppe and her sister, Mrs. Stanley Keith, later built the
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in memory of their father, and, as
you heard, were also the donors of the Lake Forest Library.
The main entrance and fence were designed by architect James
Roy Allen in 1927. The wrought iron gates were fashioned by
Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia, the best and best known master
metal worker of the time.
The Schweppes had two children, Jean and John, and the family
entertained royally at the estate in the early part of the century.
The glory days came to an end in 1937 when Laura Schweppe
died at the age of 58. She had inherited half of her father’s $19
million fortune but left an estate of only $6 million. Four years
and 25 days after his wife died, Charles Schweppe was found in
his bed, dead from a pistol wound. His heirs continued to heat
the home and keep up the grounds, but the furnishings were sold
and the mansion sat vacant and it stayed that way for 45 years.
It’s said that the house is haunted.
The mansion has 22,000 square feet of living space, 20
bedrooms, and 18 bathrooms. The original estate, which totaled
28 acres, has been subdivided.
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500 Mayflower – condos
formerly Ferry Hall
Mayflower Road Condominiums – This was the site of Ferry
Hall, which opened its doors in September 1869 as a school
intended to “complete the education of the young lady students.”
It was founded with a $35,000 bequest Montague Ferry, a
Presbyterian Minister.
In late 1970s, Ferry Hall merged with Lake Forest Academy and
the land was subdivided. The building, described in the first
catalog as “the spacious and elegant edifice,” was converted to
condominiums. The Ferry Hall chapel also became a private
residence that the Preservation Foundation visited on its coach
houses tour a few years ago.
CONTINUE TO DEERPATH AND
TURN RIGHT
965 E Deerpath - Fairlawn
965 E. Deerpath – Fairlawn (south side of street) was built in
1920 for Robert G McGann on the site of the US Senator Charles
B Farwell home, Fairlawn, which was built in 1869 and burned
down in 1920.
CONTINUE ON DEERPATH TO LAKE
ROAD – TURN LEFT ON TO LAKE
The Lake Forest Beach was seriously eroded by the mid-1980s.
There was not much beach left. Even the road leading down from
the bluff was eroding at shoreline and water was lapping at the
steps leading to the bluff beach house. Residents passed an $8.5
million referendum, by an overwhelming 76% majority in March
of 1986 to restore and enhance the beach. No federal funds were
sought or used. The beach is now considered a crown jewel in
Lake Forest’s collection of natural assets.
The land which encompasses Forest Park and its 3,200 feet of
lake frontage was a gift to the people of the City from the Lake
Forest Association in 1861.
By the way, it was not until after the 1880s that lakefront lots
were considered prime real estate. Before that the dampness was
considered unhealthy and lakefront lots held little charm.
955 N Lake Pike Estate – David Adler
David Adler designed this Italian Villa for Charles Pike in 1916.
Pike’s father had discovered Pike’s Peak. The Italian sculptures
in the yard represent 10 muses and the four seasons. It took 100
men 3 months to dig the foundation for a sunken courtyard
opening onto Lake Michigan.
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999 NORTH LAKE –
Clayton Mark House
999 N. Lake Road (east side of street) This is the Clayton Mark
House, built in 1914 and designed by architect Howard Van
Doren Shaw. There are typical Shaw touches including baskets
of fruit and flowers in concrete. Decorative first-story grills
incorporate the letter M, and the façade features a recessed
central porch supported by two Tuscan columns. Mark was a
prominent Chicago industrialist – founder and president of the
Mark Manufacturing Co. He also served three terms as president
of the Chicago Board of Education.
CONTINUE ON LAKE TO 1315
(east side of street)
1315 N. Lake Road (east side of street) The Kersey Coates Reed
House. This is one of David Adler’s finest works finished in
1931. Built of Pennsylvania mica stone, which has a shiny slate
look rarely seen in Chicago, the estate is known as the Mrs.
Kersey Coates Reed House, after its first owner, Helen Shedd
Reed. She was the daughter of John G. Shedd, the second
president of Marshall Field & Company.
1390 N LAKE ROAD – McBride House
(on west side of street)
1390 N. Lake Road (west side of the street) This 1936 Georgian
home is the McBride House designed by Stanley D. Anderson.
It’s one of the grandest of the Anderson’s designs. The McBride
family donated the chapel to Lake Forest Hospital.
1421 N LAKE ROAD - Richard Bentley
Coach House
David Adler’s Bentley House faces the lake and is directly east
of its coach house. This is just one of the many coach houses in
Lake Forest. Richard Bentley was a member of the Caxton Club,
which published the Caxtonian, a journal of humanities,
literatures, and books.
LOOK AT CEMETERY GATES AT
NORTH END OF LAKE ROAD
Cemetery Gates These imposing gates were built by the
master metalworker Samuel Yellin as a memorial to John
W. Barrell, the only son of Grace and Finley Barrell, who
was drowned in an accident on the Illinois River in July,
1916, at the age of 24. The Gothic arched gates were
dedicated in 1919.
TURN LEFT ONTO SPRUCE
520 Spruce – Cemetery Gatehouse
520 Spruce - Cemetery Gatehouse The gatehouse built in 2000
won a Preservation Foundation award. St. Mary Cemetery, the
Catholic cemetery, is adjacent to the Lake Forest Cemetery.
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TURN LEFT ONTO SHERIDAN ROAD
CONTINUE ON SHERIDAN ROAD TO
999 N SHERIDAN (left side of road)
The Clarence Mitchell house was built in 1928 by Philip Maher,
son of George Maher, who built many Kenilworth and north
shore homes. The house was given a restoration award in 1994.
The current owners contacted Wrigley Field to see how they took
their own ivy off the walls, restored the stadium, and put the ivy
back on the walls again. The house won a Preservation
Foundation restoration award in 1994.
956 N SHERIDAN – The Winter Club
The Winter Club is a private club founded more than 100
years ago for family activities such as tennis, swimming,
ice skating, children’s parties.
TURN RIGHT ON WESTMINSTER
ROAD
This is one of the oldest sections of Lake Forest. The land
on the left side encompassing the entire block was
originally part of the Sprague estate, now subdivided. More
modern homes were built on the estate in the 30s and 40s,
including a 1936 Boyd Hill house.
485 Westminster Architect Boyd Hill
(left side of street)
461 Westminster Richardson House
(left side of street)
Stanley Anderson designed this house in 1936 for the
Richardson family. The closet on the first floor was custom
designed to store 10 bridge tables for the owners who were
avid bridge players.
400 E. Westminster – Church of the Holy
Spirit
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit celebrated its
100th anniversary in 2002.
TURN LEFT INTO HISTORICAL
SOCIETY DRIVEWAY
(361 E. Westminster)
The Historical Society occupies the carriage house built in
the 1870s for The Evergreens, an estate hidden from view
on Deerpath just east of the Lake Forest Library
The Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society invites
you to visit their exhibit Nature by Design: Drawings of the
Foundation for Architecture and Landscape Architecture,
1926-1935 and to come in for some lemonade and cookies.
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TURN LEFT AND RETURN TO
WESTMINSTER ROAD
334 Westminster
The Quinlan house was built in 1862 and was Lake Forest’s
first schoolhouse. It was converted to a residence in 1867.
Dr Quinlan, founder of the City and a trustee of Lake
Forest University, was the only doctor in Lake Forest from
1859 to after the Civil War.
TURN LEFT ON WESTERN AVE
TO RETURN TO MARKET
SQUARE
We hope that you have enjoyed your quick tour of a small
portion of the historic district. Please join us again for
programs and events in our lovely community. Stop by the
tent for Preservation Foundation membership, shopping
coupons, tunnel tours, and maps of today’s activities.
Thank you for taking the self-guided bike tour of Lake
Forest.
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