Some History

With a distinct limestone facade harvested primarily from quarries around Bedford Indiana, the multi-flat greystone is Chicago’s version of the New York brownstone. Constructed from around 1890 through the 1930’s, they are found in a variety of ornamentation styles, with the most common treatment being a simplified Classical Revival. These houses were built as both single-family homes and multi-family buildings. Stacked apartments and a single street-facing entrance made multi-flat greystones hard to distinguish from their wealthier single-family counterparts. These features provided greystones with the appearance of grand and spacious living, while allowing a density not previously possible with smaller workers cottages.

Greystones generally had a first floor built 4 to 5 feet above ground level, creating a grand entrance that provided more privacy for the first floor tenants. These buildings took advantage of Chicago’s lot size (25’ X 125’) by using the narrow frontage to full effect with their ornamental limestone facades.