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A Preservation Newsletter

Volume 21 - September, 2004

Published by Martin Hackl, Oak Park, Illinois

An Old Building is Saved by Moving It:

Yes, Ernest Hemingway Slept Here...well, not actually "here".

The "Hemingway Interim House" in 2004

Even though it is not the ideal way to save a structure, many small historic and architecturally significant buildings can be saved by moving those structures to other locations.  In 1999, that is just what happened in Oak Park, Illinois.  This house has the curious distinction that the famous author Ernest Hemingway and his family lived in it for six months, while looking for another home in the area (similar to "George Washington slept here").  It was given historic recognition on that basis.

It is now called the "Hemingway Interim House" - a little goofy, I know, but that's Oak Park!  The Oak Park Public Library, which owned the building and the land it sat on, was looking for some positive PR during its drive to demolish the perfectly sound main branch for a newer structure.

The irony is that they saved the house so that the Village could raze the main library building, which was an architecturally significant building, designed by the famous architectural firm of Holabird and Root.  It was built in the 1960s and replaced a previous historic building on the site called the Scoville Institute.  The 1960s building was not yet old enough to be considered for landmark designation.  That may have been one of the reasons for the rush to tear it down - before it acquired that designation.

The new building that has taken its place is one of Oak Park's more recent great boondoggles, adding yet another large tax burden on Oak Park's already overtaxed citizens.  The new library is touted as an innovative new building in many ways, including its dirt roof.  Only time will tell.  However, only Oak Park would use taxpayer money to hire a landscape designer to plant a dirt roof that no one can see!

Though the "Hemingway" house was moved, it was never actually restored, but renovated for the new site.  In fact, no real effort was made to research the building architecturally, and restore it on that basis.  The missing wrap-around porch was not reproduced - based on evidence from blue-prints (or the house set back so it could be reproduced in the future), and some later small additions were not removed. 

There is another house in the neighborhood that is the twin sister of this one and still retains all its original elements, and its wrap around porch has just been restored.  Here is a photo of that house a few blocks away on north Cuyler street in Oak Park:

Hemingway Interim House	Cuyler House	Hemingway Interim House	Cuyler House

Oak Park has also set a dangerous precedent in the case of the "Hemingway Interim House" by allowing a variance, and down-zoning the allowable lot size so that this building could be placed on a side lot within the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District.  This precedent might now open the doors for owners of large properties with side lots, inside the historic districts, to sell off those lots for in-fill development.

While other demolition and re-development was going on all around the area in Oak Park, Oak Parker's were being treated to this public display of "Pseudo-Preservation" during this house move.  The move was really just a publicity stunt.  But it was effective.  What this does show is that, if there is enough motivation, historic buildings can indeed be saved, and if need be, moved to other locations -- and at a relatively small cost.  There are all kinds of ironies here, but there is also a lesson for preservationists.

Here are some video excerpts of the move:

Video part (15:17)

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