Hermosa Architecture + Housing

As a single family home, the workers cottages from the 1890s to about 1910s are 1 1/2 stories. Some are frame, and others are brick. There are also 2 story 2-3 flats with similar bay windows opposite a left or right-sided porch. Most of these workers cottages appear in the central and southern sections of Hermosa, south of Diversey.

Parts of Hermosa are included in the Chicago Bungalow belt and both the Kelvyn Park (central) and north Hermosa (Diversey to Belmont Avenue) areas have consistent rows of these 1910s-1920s style bungalows.

Though not a staple of the housing stock, the english style brick Tudor is a 1930s-1950s style home with many of the same interior elements of it's Chicago Bungalow predecessor. Most built after the crash and pre-war, they have simple, but charming interiors. Their uniqueness are in the pointed roofs, patched stonework, and decorative wood framing along the face-brick. Many tudors have an unusual and unique look.

Where there are bungalows, there are usually brick 2 flats, most built in the 1920s. Some have been converted into single family homes to increase square footage and growing families. There are many in the Belmont Gardens and Kelvyn Park area, as the land in these areas were typically developed after the turn of the century.

Because the majority of the Hermosa was developed by the 1940s, brick ranches are not prevalent but are sturdy choices in Chicago's housing stock. They are typically built in the 1940s-1950s, many with finished basements and purposeful open kitchen plans that are now popular. Belmont Gardens (north) does have a few streets with rows of ranches near Ken-Well Park, but others usually stand alone on a block of mixed-style housing.