By ERIN CALANDRIELLO ecalandriello@scn1.com

BY CELESTE BUSK -Sun-Times Staff Writer

An architectural and historical cache of vintage housing in far northwest suburban Elgin has earned a spot in This Old House magazine’s 2009 Best Old-House Neighborhoods list.

The magazine’s July/August issue features 51 great places (one in every state and Canada) to purchase an old house. Included are “areas that might not be on your radar, but deserve to be,” the magazine says. The issue showcases six of the chosen cities, with the additional winners featured on the magazine’s Web site: www.thisoldhouse.com.

Elgin took a top laurel for “Best Place for Fixer Uppers” for its diverse architecture, which ranges from Queen Anne and Tudor to Gothic Revival. The magazine pointed out that “dazzling TLC-needing Queen Annes start at $100,000.” The city’s location, 40 miles from the Loop, was also an award-winning criteria as well as the grant program for old houses offered by the City of Elgin.

“Elgin has the attributes we were looking for,” said Deborah Snoonian, senior editor of This Old House. “It has a significant number of houses that have many of their original period details. Another factor is that the area has many homes that are preserved and there is a strong community there working for preservation.

“One thing that played into our choice is that many of these old houses are not out of reach in terms of affordability. Plus, Elgin is only an hour ride to a major metropolitan area, has good job opportunities, it’s walkable and residents have a strong sense of wanting to preserve the neighborhood and not tear down buildings to make way for strip malls,” Snoonian said.

Bill Briska and his wife, Fran Cella, have owned a home built in 1886 for the past 29 years in Elgin. Briska knows the city’s architecture well and is actively involved in its preservation. He’s treasurer of the Elgin Area Historical Society and chairman of the City of Elgin Heritage Commission, which oversees architectural design in the historic districts. Briska also is the author of two books on local history.

Briska says Elgin has four historic districts: The Elgin Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Spring Douglas Historic District (the National Register of Historic Places); the Elgin National Watch Company Historic District, and the D.C. Cook/ Lovell Historic District (2007).

“These districts have about 2,000 structures within them in total,” Briska said. “I think we won the magazine’s award because there are so many good houses available here and they’re a good deal.”

Another Elgin plus is the city’s grant programs that help make home ownership a good deal, Briska said. “The City of Elgin is active in promoting preservation with several grant programs to restore older homes. These include de-conversion grants to remove apartments from homes in an effort to return them to single-family dwellings.

“There are also exterior facade restoration grants to assist in the cost of removing substitute siding and other non-original features and restoring the original appearance,” Briska said. “Smaller grants are available that cover chain-link fence removal and paint purchase programs.” To date, nearly 400 projects have been funded by city grants.

“Elgin also has an impressive array of volunteer efforts aimed at neighborhood preservation and restoration,” Briska said. “We have very strong neighborhood organizations and I think all these factors helped convince This Old House to choose Elgin.”

Briska, who has completely restored his home in the Elgin Historic District, says he’s been tracking old house prices in the city for nearly 10 years.

“There is an abundant number of homes in Elgin that are restored, but there is also an abundant stock of properties waiting for a new life and a sympathetic owner. Prices are very reasonable, especially compared with closer-in suburbs. Fixer-uppers can be readily found, several of which are currently under $100,000,” Briska said. “Larger homes, depending on the condition, can range from more than $100,000 to about $250,000 for a restored home.

“There are a lot of smaller houses here — bungalows, worker cottages and two-story homes — priced for less than $100,000. And right now there are a lot of homes on the market because the air has gone out of the housing markets. So, a lot of prices are cut.”

Elgin homeowner Brenda Hennessey, whose home was featured in This Old House, agrees. Hennessey’s late-19th century historic brownstone was purchased several years ago for $198,000. Brenda and her husband Evan are currently looking for a larger house.

“That’s the great thing about Elgin,” Hennessey said in the magazine. “You can buy a starter home, upgrade to a virtual mansion to raise your kids, then empty-nest it down to a bungalow when you retire.”

“I just can’t say enough great things about Elgin,” Hennessey told the Sun-Times. “It’s just a perfect place to live.”

© Copyright 2009 Digital Chicago, Inc.

 Those interested in Elgin’s history and architectural cache of vintage homes can head to the Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum in the far northwestern suburb.

Elgin’s “secret” status as a haven for historic homes got national recognition this week when This Old House magazine named the city one of its “Best Old-House Neighborhoods for Fixer-Uppers.”

The July/August issue hit newsstands Monday.

“This is such great PR for the city,” said Jennifer Fritz-Williams, Elgin’s historic preservation specialist. “We are a kind of hidden jewel in the Chicagoland area.”

The magazine selected 51 cities, one in each state and one in Canada, to complete this year’s list. Editors made their choices based on criteria such as architectural diversity, craftsmanship of the homes, and the preservation momentum in the area as well as neighborhood amenities, including walkability, safety and community, according to magazine representatives.

Elgin shone for its support of historic preservation, employing a full-time preservationist, and offering grants to property owners to help subsidize renovations to homes within the city’s four historic districts, officials said.

Since the grant program began about 10 years ago, the city has invested more than $2.8 million to help restore 314 houses, city officials said. Private investment in such homes is just over $3 million, Fritz-Williams said.

Elgin is 40 miles from Chicago, has easy access to public transportation, bike paths, and is a place where one can buy a 100-year-old home in a historic district for around $100,000 and get help from the city to restore it, the magazine says.

Barb Broeske, who lives in the Spring/Douglas Historic District, is one of the residents who helped Elgin make the list.

Broeske is a graphic designer and artist who has lived in her 1912 two-story stucco foursquare home for 14 years. She said it is not only the beautiful 1800s Queen Anne Victorians and Tudor revivals lining the streets, but also the people who drew the magazine’s favor.

“It is a fabric; it is a secret,” she said of Elgin’s charm. “We are not keeping it a secret. It is not our fault, but those who know the happy ending are the people who move here.”

It is the kind of city where children buy the homes they grew up in and where neighbors swap houses as living arrangements and needs evolve, she said.

In the nomination application, Broeske, who also supplied the magazine editors with 25 photos, boasted about her neighbors and unique neighborhood activities. She told the editors about the annual House Walks where visitors come from all over to tour the historic homes.

She wrote about the annual Great Unveilings, when neighbors gather, some bringing large machinery, and help take aluminum siding off a 100-year-old home to jump-start a restoration project.

Fran Cella, who lives in a restored Victorian home built in 1886 in Elgin’s Historic District, also helped nominate the city and credits Elgin’s nearness to Chicago and its affordable “fabulous old homes” for this recent recognition.

“Elgin is a city who has embraced its past,” Cella said. “It’s done a lot to preserve its historic treasures.”

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

By Kristin Nehls

NBCChicago.com

Sun-Times News Group

By MIKE DANAHEY mdanahey@scn1.com

John and Holly Wiedmeyer own and operate Quality Repair and Carpentry in Elgin and they specialize in repairing historic homes. Here, the couple is pictured sitting on the porch of their home on Liberty Street in Elgin.
(Marina Makropoulos/Staff Photographer)

John and Holly Wiedmeyer are one of those couples that fell in love at first sight, and Holly has gone to great heights — literally — to show how much she cares for her husband.

With the pair’s Quality Painting and Carpentry business, the duo puts its passion into bringing luster back to the faded glory of Elgin’s historic homes.

As for how the two met, “I owned a restaurant at the time, and John came in and was playing darts. Since then, we’ve spent maybe 15 days apart,” Holly said.

That was 13 years ago. Shortly after meeting, John laid off the crew that had been working for him, and Holly joined him. Her first job: “You see that picture at the start of our home page, the house at 214 South State Street? I was all the way on top, painting,” Holly recalled.

These days, the two are so busy that they have projects booked for the next three years. And their efforts have been recognized by the city of Elgin with the Mayor’s Award for Historical Restoration Carpentry, an Image Award and an Artisan’s Award. On top of those accolades, the Wiedmeyers are three-time grand champions in Chicago’s Painted Ladies Contest and have four first-place honors in that competition to their credit.

Humble foundation

John started painting houses in high school. While attending college, he was painting and learning carpentry with a management company. In the late 1980s, he bought a house in Elgin and started his business.

At first he was just painting, but discovered there were always repairs to be done with older homes. He noticed how things were put together on these houses, why some parts fell apart more quickly, why this rotted and that didn’t.

“To learn more, I spent a lot of time reading and researching and talking to old carpenters,” John said.

He also consistently inspects his work to assess what he did wrong, and tries to not repeat the same mistakes. Showing such attention to detail, word of mouth grew about his business, as did a base of loyal customers.

“They are absolutely the best,” said Patty Harkin, who lives at 1005 N. Spring St. “There’s the amazing care with which they do their research. And Holly’s choice of colors is wonderful.”

Harkin said Holly convinced her to add mauve, burgundy, iridescent white and three shades of green along with Harkin’s choice of three gray tones to paint the outside of the grand house. And in the process of repainting, Holly discovered that the home originally was painted gray.

“So in a way we’re returning it to how it was, with embellishments,” Harkin said.

The Wiedmeyers started on the Harkin residence last summer and should finish this season. “When working on these projects, our time frames are usually two to 20 years for completion of the entire home, depending on the homeowner’s dreams,” Holly said.

A lasting contribution

Being in demand, the two choose to work with homeowners “who believe in the concept of stewardship of a historical home, and therefore are interested in making a lasting contribution of preservation, authentic restoration or a original design by John for their home,” Holly noted.

The couple knows from experience that each house has its own tale of preservation, reconstruction, rehabilitation, remodeling, renovation or restoration. The 653 Douglas Ave. residence of Steve and Laura Stroud stands out as a particular favorite for the Wiedmeyers.

“I used a 2-inch-square picture to recreate the front porch,” John said.

From that little bit of information, he figured out the details and designed a wraparound porch that not only fit the existing house, but also supported a parade porch above it.

“It was a challenge, and John fussed with the plans, drawing them out for a week. Actually building it from scratch took an entire summer. His design is a perfect complement to the house,” Holly said.

The Wiedmeyers are particularly proud of their work in progress inside and outside the Klink home at 55 S. Liberty St.

“Holly gets a little possessive about it, but I like that. They’re wonderful to work with, and the outside of my house is in their hands,” said Kathy Klink, who used grant money from the city to help fund the project.

At Klink’s home, the original interior woodwork and windows had layers of paint over non-matching woods. Several curved pieces were missing.

“John needed to strip, stain to match the customer’s desired color, and mill the replacement pieces. It took several dye types, taking almost two weeks before a perfect match was made between all the pieces. He also had to rebuild the window sashes and reinstall them, adding new ropes and modern weather-stripping, all while working around the delicate stained-glass windows, even removing one when the sash needed fixing,” Holly said.

“Then there is 809 North Spring Street, an ongoing five-year project,” she added. “While the house was a bear to strip and the porch was tough to design and build, the homeowner made it all worth it.”

“From the bold paint scheme with the liberal use of exterior stained wood, to the carved front porch rails, this homeowner has been delighted and loves his home, every day. How satisfying that is to know,” Holly said.

From the outside in

Doing this work reinforces the Wiedmeyers’ belief that in the past, more thought went into home design “from the outside in, rather than from the inside out, as it is today,” Holly said.

“Back in the day, when a window was needed in a room, thought was taken as to where that window looked best on the exterior, how the siding or shingles and trim looked. It was picture-perfect. Now it’s often just slammed up any old way. Nowadays, importance is only given to the front of the house. The builders of old homes really cared about the details, and the homeowners knew the difference,” she added.

The couple also holds to the old-fashioned value of quality workmanship.

“Whatever it is, it has to be built right the first time. Doing things on the cheap makes everyone pay too much, because it has to be replaced and redone way before its time,” Holly said. “If you fix it just so it looks good for a little while, that’s all you’re going to get. Once it starts falling apart in a few years, it’s going to look cheap and shoddy until you get the money and time to fix it again, and chances are in the meantime, that area or that block or that neighborhood is going to become the depressed side of town. It’s very difficult and expensive to pull out of this pit.”

The couple also feels that with the city’s historic preservationist, Jennifer Fritz-Williams, at the helm and new city council members living on the east side, good things are in store for Elgin’s four historic districts.

“We believe within the next decade, Elgin’s historic homes could become the prettiest ladies at the party,” Holly said. “If this comes to pass, then there is no reason tourism cannot come to the forefront. We have a wonderful riverboat, a well-put-together downtown that is just waiting for business to seed it and grow, a talented ball team, a desirable symphony building proposed, and who knows what else on the docket. People like the graciousness of older neighborhoods. It reminds them of the American Dream, of old-fashioned values, of what we all desire: stability.”

As for the Wiedmeyers’ own home along Liberty Street, its lush flower beds, particularly the 100 or so variety of irises, were to be photographed in early June for an upcoming edition of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Still, with the couple enjoying their work and being so busy that they sometimes toil on holidays, their home remains another work in progress.

“Someday, John will get to finish it exactly as he wants,” Holly said. “Plus, this way, we understand our customers’ pain.”

“Nothing is plumb, level or square:

the studs are bowed, the joists

are shaky by nature, no piece fits

any other piece without a gap

or pinch, and bent nails”

If any couple knows how true that is, it’s John and Holly Wiedmeyer. The duo pretty much live Dugan’s words every day with their business, Quality Painting and Carpentry.

And by every day, it is every single day. The two say they enjoy their work so much they barely take time off from projects or away from each other. And since meeting more than 13 years ago, the two have been apart only 15 days.

Because the Wiedmeyers specialize in projects involving Elgin’s fabled older homes, they know firsthand that indeed, nothing is plumb, level or square.

The beauty of older houses comes not from perfection but from how each differs, the quirks providing character.

That’s the same for human relationships. While the suburbs all too often fall into cookie-cutter patterns, and self-help books try to convince us that we can all follow a similar formula to find happiness, it’s the differences that make life interesting.

As for the Wiedmeyers, “They go beyond being craftsmen and are true artisans,” neighbor and client Kathy Klink said.

And these days, when too many things seem to be falling apart, it’s nice to see people enjoying themselves with careers putting things back together.

© Copyright 2009 Digital Chicago, Inc.