315 – 317 DuPage in Elgin

315 -317 DuPage had been a problem property for decades. Here it is in 1981.

Here it is in 2008

Kurt Kresmery, a local investor bought it and rehabbed the interior nicely so it attracts great tenants.

Here it is after rehabbing the interior and painting the exterior. Kurt is a friend of mine so I asked him if I could suggest a way to add details to the porch to make it look like it used to. He agreed.

I made a mockup and put it on the porch for the owner and the Design Review Committee to see. They needed to approve the design to give me a Certificate of Appropriateness. The owner needed to see my proposal to see if he wanted to proceed. I got the go-ahead from both. I made the spindles but they duplicate an actual old house spindle. The bracket is an old one from an old house. The corbels are a duplicate of an actual old house corbel. I do not like to make anything up.

Here are the parts I made. I have a low tolerance for tedium so I did not want to make so many spindles. The were purchased from Mr. Spindle who duplicated my authentic design exactly.

Here is the porch today.