The Ridge Historical Society
Saving the Eugene S. Pike House – Post 1
By Carol Flynn
UPDATE: Landmarks Illinois is reviewing the application.
As the Ridge Historical Society announced on this Facebook page a few weeks ago, RHS, in partnership with the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA), applied to Landmarks Illinois on January 10th to have the Eugene S. Pike House added to the List of Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois 2022.
The Pike House is located at 1826 West 91st Street in North Beverly (Chicago, 60643). The house, designed by architect Harry Hale Waterman, was built in 1894 for Pike, a real estate developer and financier.
Since 1921, the house has been the property of the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC). It was used as a superintendent’s office and later as a watchman’s residence.
The house has fallen into severe disrepair and has been vacant for years. In 2018, the FPCC issued a Request for Information (RFI) from organizations potentially interested in adapting the Pike House for reuse. No further information on the Pike House has been announced by the FPCC since that time and the house’s future is uncertain.
The position of RHS is that the Eugene S. Pike House is of historical and architectural importance to the Beverly/Morgan Park community and the City of Chicago and should be preserved and adapted for reuse. The awarding of the designation “Most Endangered Historic Property” by Landmarks Illinois will bring attention to the building’s situation and lead to discussions on its preservation.
Landmarks Illinois is a nonprofit organization founded in 1971 to preserve, protect and promote architectural and historic resources in Illinois through advocacy and education. Since 1995, the Most Endangered List has focused attention on sites threatened by deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds or inappropriate development and built support for each property’s eventual preservation. The 2022 Endangered List will be announced in April.
Image: The Eugene S. Pike House, Jan. 2022, photo by C. Flynn.