BEAUTIFUL STARTER HOME READY FOR NEW OWNER!! HOUSE HAS BEEN UPDATED, FRESHLY PAINTED, NEW CARPET, WINDOWS, CABINETS. FENCED BACK YARD ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MOVE IN !! COME AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF!!! WASHER AND DRYER, NEW FRIG,NEW OVEN/ RANGE, GREAT LOCATION !!
$159, 500 --- can you imagine what Grandma and Grandpa could have done with $159,500 ??????
3 comments:
It is so cool to see this house again. I really loved it and all the time I spent there. It was the best to go visit Uncle Don and Aunt June. Loads of food, Uncle Don's inventions, and the great company of older cousins that were not only smart but kind. This was definitely one of my favorite spots as a child.
Okay, here I go into a big story ...
I haven't absolutely, officially confirmed it, but I believe 614 Lavoie was probably built as a "garabungalow," or "garlow." There were a small number of such structures built in the 1920s in Elgin (there is also a neighborhood of "garlows" in Chicago that, if intact in original form, are highly sought-after housing), and 614 Lavoie certainly fits the description. And my father always said that the house was truly built as a garage, though I don't recall him ever using the term "garabungalow" or "garlow."
The concept of the garabungalow was that people with enough money to buy a lot, but not yet enough to build an entire house, would construct a large, liveable garage at the back end of the property and spend a couple years living in it until they could get the true house built at the front. Then, everyone would "move on up," and the garabungalow would become the garage.
Exactly who built 614 Lavoie, and when, is not clear in the county records, but in March 1929, it was purchased by a William F. Ackmann, who apparently shortly after rented it to the Blaziers.
Then, of course, the Depression hit, and if Ackmann had planned to eventually build on the front portion of the lot, the tough times perhaps put a damper on the idea. Possibly he figured he would be as happy to unload it as to continue collecting a trifling rent, and that opportunity came along when Grampa Webster received a settlement from the Elgin Butter Tub Company for the health damage their working conditions had caused him.
In what was certainly the smartest thing they ever did, the Blaziers became the official owners of 614 Lavoie on February 23, 1932 -- my dad's 12th birthday! That was the heart of the Depression, and especially for a family that had already been through so much, it was fantastic timing and luck that they were able to buy, and own free and clear, a house of their own -- when millions of others were going bankrupt and going into foreclosure! It was a very tiny house -- what you see in this picture is after a couple additions -- but it was Home, Sweet Home until 1950.
As to garabungalows, by the way ... when so many wound up being the actual residence and the "real" houses never got built, the city banned the concept. As building codes became more stringent, cheaply-constructed garabungalows did not make the grade -- for instance, in the Blaziers' house, there was no furnace system in their early years there. Their only heat was from a centrally located wood-burning stove, so in the winter, the family huddled around it night and day.
A few garabungalows remain around town. One is at 25 N. Clifton, just off Larkin Avenue ... those of you nearby, if you spin past it, you will notice the resemblance in setting and structure to 614 Lavoie.
Hey, Stephanie -- I share your sentiments for Uncle Don and Aunt June's house, but theirs was at 662 Jay ... but just a stone's throw, down the alley!
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