Teardown of century-old Arlington Heights home approved; preservation of another is now in limbo

An old home — what Arlington Heights village officials and neighbors call historic — is set to face the wrecking ball, while efforts to save another house nearby are in jeopardy.

For the second time in four months, the village’s design commission this week was faced with determining whether houses just blocks from downtown Arlington Heights had “significant architectural, historical, aesthetic, or cultural value” under village code, and therefore whether to approve developers’ teardown requests.

Despite village staff’s suggestion that the century-old house at 208 N. Haddow Ave. — what some neighbors believe could be a Sears home — be saved, the five-member panel voted 3-1 Tuesday night to approve the demo request, making way for a new residence.

They voted the other way in October when a different developer petitioned to demolish an Italianate red brick and frame house built in 1878 at 716 N. Dunton Ave.

But Barrington-based Mastercraft Builders & Carpentry has appealed the decision of the design commission — whose members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by trustees — to the village board itself. A hearing is set for Feb. 5.

It’s rare for the lower-level village panel to reject teardown requests in a town where hundreds of single-family homes have been demolished and replaced with larger structures in recent decades. It’s even more uncommon for the issue to come before the elected nine-member board of trustees.

In both of the recent cases, the houses on Dunton and Haddow were noted in a 2004 Community Preservation Report prepared by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Dunton house was rated “exceptional,” which was the highest of the report’s three-level rating system, while the Haddow house was rated “contributing,” which was lowest on the scale.

Scott Seyer, one of the design commissioners, said many of the houses the panel has reviewed over the years haven’t been worth saving due to their deteriorated conditions.

“I think the home is very nice that’s there, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t be demolished for a newer home,” Seyer said of the Haddow house. “I’m sorry. I think it's a real slippery slope when we start saying that because a home is older, you can’t tear it down. And I’m not going to backtrack on that. If it's historically relevant, we'll talk about that, but I just don't see it in this particular home.”

But neighbors argued the two-story home — which is on two properties to the north of Recreation Park and its 1937 Works Progress Administration-built fieldhouse — fits within the historic nature of their neighborhood, where residents have renovated and expanded their older homes. The replacement, a two-story structure with attached garage, would stand out, they said.

“The proposed construction to me is visually overwhelming and detracts from the visual appeal of the surrounding historic homes,” said Gregg Hansen, who lives down the block. “To me, it’s large in size. It’s very expansive.”

But Brad Kahler, who purchased the property last year, said he and his architect Gary Lira made significant changes to the design, after the commission in December questioned whether the new home’s bold appearance may look out of place in the neighborhood.

That included switching the color of the panel siding, trim and fascia from charcoal gray to white, and recessing the attached garage back 4½ feet to diminish its appearance from the front.

“I thought hard about what can I give up and what do I really want to keep,” Kahler said. “This is what we landed on. I hope this is a good step forward.”

Meanwhile, Lira said the old house is not “addition-worthy,” since it doesn’t have drain tile, first floor joists go in a different direction than the second floor ones, it doesn’t meet current insulation code, and there’s asbestos concerns.

“There’s too much on this house that is not worth saving,“ Lira said. ”I know the village likes to call this house a historic house, but just because it’s old doesn’t make it historic. It doesn’t make it worth saving.”

The commission’s chair, Jonathan Kubow — a swing vote — said at the start of deliberations Tuesday night that he wasn’t sure if the new house would be a good fit on the Haddow block.

“I’m struggling, frankly, with this one right now,” Kubow said. “I’m typically lenient with teardowns in Arlington Heights, but not necessarily in neighborhoods like this.”

During the meeting he further examined photos of the current block and proposed elevations, alternating between the two.

“It’s a very nicely-designed home, and a couple more tweaks I think it potentially could fit,” Kubow said. “I know that’s kind of going against what I said about 15 minutes ago, but the more time I spend studying this, the more comfortable I get with it.”