Historic Preservation Commission

Village of Winnetka Historic Preservation Commission Regular Meeting March 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM Winnetka Village Hall - 510 Green Bay Road AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Public Comments 3. Approval of Minutes a. Approval of February 2, 2026, Regular Meeting Minutes 4. Alterations to Locally Designated Landmarks a. Case No. 25-11-HPC - 419 Sheridan Road: Advisory review of proposed alterations to 419 Sheridan Road, a locally designated landmark. This item was continued from the February 2, 2026, Historic Preservation Commission meeting. The Applicant is requesting this item be continued to the April 6, 2026, Historic Preservation Commission meeting. 5. Demolition Permit Applications a. Case No. 26-04-HPC - 795 Pine Street: Review of the demolition permit application submitted for the single-family residence at 795 Pine Street. 6. Other Business a. April 6, 2026, Regular Meeting Quorum Check b. 2025 Preservation Awards - Award Plaque Update c. Monthly Communications For Historic Preservation Commission - Discussionand Content Decision 7. Adjournment NOTICE Public comment is permitted on all agenda items at the meeting. If you wish to provide testimony or comments prior to the meeting, you may provide them one of two ways: (1) by sending an email to planning@winnetka.org; or by sending a letter to Community Development, Village of Winnetka, 510 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, IL 60093. All agenda materials are available at www.villageofwinnetka.org/agendacenter. The Village of Winnetka, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, requests that persons with disabilities, who require certain accommodations to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting or have questions about the accessibility of the meeting or facilities contact the Village ADA Coordinator at 510 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, Illinois 60093, (Telephone (847) 716-3543; T.D.D. (847) 501-6041). Page 1 of 71  1 HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION 2 FEBRUARY 2, 2026 MEETING MINUTES 3 4 Members Present: Jack Coladarci, Chairman 5 Chris Enck 6 Beth Ann Papoutsis 7 Joseph Stuart 8 Patti Van Cleave 9 Paul Weaver 10 Anna Wisniewski 11 12 Members Absent: None 13 14 Non-Voting Members Present: Scott Myers 15 16 Junior Commissioner Present: Louis Zaransky 17 18 Village Staff: Christopher Marx, Associate Planner 19 20 Call to Order & Roll Call: 21 Chairman Coladarci called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Roll call was taken of the Commission Members 22 present. 23 24 Public Comment: 25 No public comment was made at this time. Mr. Marx informed the Commission one additional comment was 26 received after the agenda packet was published with regard to 1161 Pine Street and copies were made available. 27 28 Approval of Minutes: 29 Chairman Coladarci asked if there were any comments or for a motion to approve the January 5, 2026, meeting 30 minutes. Ms. Van Cleave clarified her comments on line 23 under New Business with regard to Crow Island. A 31 motion to approve the January 5, 2026 meeting minutes, as amended, was made by Mr. Weaver and seconded by 32 Mr. Enck. A vote was taken and the motion unanimously passed, 7 to 0: 33 AYES: Coladarci, Enck, Papoutsis, Stuart, Van Cleave, Weaver, Wisniewski 34 NAYS: None 35 NON-VOTING: Myers, Zaransky 36 37 Alterations to Locally Designated Landmarks: 38 a. Case No. 25-11-HPC - 419 Sheridan Road: Advisory review of proposed alterations to 419 Sheridan 39 Road, a locally designated landmark. This item was continued from the January 5, 2026 Historic Preservation 40 Commission meeting. The Applicant is requesting this item be continued to the March 2, 2026 Historic 41 Preservation Commission meeting. 42 Mr. Marx summarized the Commission’s previous discussion of this agenda item and stated the applicant asked for 43 the item to be continued to the March 2, 2026, meeting. Chairman Coladarci confirmed the matter would be 44 continued to the March 2, 2026 meeting. 45 46 The Commission did not take action on this item at this time. 47 48 Demolition Permit Applications: 49 a. Case No. 26-01-HPC - 1161 Pine Street: Review of the demolition permit application submitted for the 50 single-family residence at 1161 Pine Street. 51 Mr. Marx identified the home’s property owners, location, size and zoning classification with a construction date of 52 1920 and subsequent alterations which he summarized in detail. He stated the property does not appear on the 53 Illinois Historic Structures Listing with no public comment received. Mr. Marx stated the Historical Society Page 2 of 71  February 2, 2026 Page 2 1 indicated that the property has architectural and historical significance and noted one written comment was 2 provided today. He added no building permit or site restoration plans have been submitted at this time and then 3 asked if there were any questions. 4 5 Chairman Coladarci asked if there were any interior photos. Mr. Marx responded only exterior photos are required 6 and internal photos were not provided. Mr. Weaver referred to the boundary lines on page 7. Mr. Marx provided 7 additional information with regard to the north property line and the property ownership. No additional questions 8 were raised at this time. 9 10 Chairman Coladarci asked for the applicant’s presentation. Mark Gent stated he and his wife purchased the 11 property in mid-November 2025. He stated they would like to replace the home due to their growing family and 12 the home’s small footprint. Mr. Gent stated the existing home’s condition is livable and informed the Commission 13 they currently live on Trapp Lane. He provided information with regard to the lot pins and its ownership. Mr. 14 Weaver explained the Commission’s role relating to saving homes. Mr. Gent informed the Commission they 15 considered saving the home and due to the home’s layout, expansion would not be possible. He added the new 16 home would not be much bigger than the existing home. 17 18 Chairman Coladarci referred to a neighbor’s concerns with regard to preserving the tree canopy. Mr. Gent 19 responded they plan to preserve trees although they do not have the final home design yet. Mr. Enck asked Mr. 20 Gent how big the new home would be. Mr. Gent responded they have not yet finished the new home’s design and 21 estimated the size to be 7,500 square feet. He reiterated their plan to preserve trees. Mr. Stuart referred to 1153 22 [Pine Street] which came before the Commission some years ago and is similar to the applicants in terms of its 23 positioning on the block. He asked them to consider discussing restoring the old home with a historic restoration 24 architect. Mr. Stuart commented on the loss of homes on Pine Street and stated this home deserved to be saved. 25 Chairman Coladarci referred to the home’s history contained in the agenda packet and referred to the issue of it 26 being a small home on a large lot. He agreed with Mr. Stuart’s suggestion to restore the home. Mr. Gent stated the 27 new home would be traditional for Winnetka. No additional comments were made at this time. 28 29 Chairman Coladarci asked for public comment. No comments were made at this time. Chairman Coladarci called 30 the matter in for discussion. Mr. Enck referred to the Historical Society’s recommendation for an HAIS due to the 31 home’s historical significance. Chairman Coladarci provided the Commission with some information relating to Mr. 32 Getgood, who was a widower of a traincrash victim in the 1930’s. Ms. Van Cleave stated the Commission should 33 ask for an HAIS and referred to the amount of the research done by Mary and Megan due to the home’s 34 significance. Ms. Papoutsis agreed with Ms. Van Cleave’s comments. 35 36 Chairman Coladarci asked for a motion. Mr. Marx suggested the Commission note for the record the criteria they 37 considered. Chairman Coladarci read the findings into the record and asked for a motion to request that an HAIS 38 be done for 1161 Pine Street. A motion to find that the property has sufficient architectural and historical merit 39 was made by Ms. Van Cleave and seconded by Ms. Papoutsis. A vote was taken and the motion unanimously 40 passed, 7 to 0: 41 AYES: Coladarci, Enck, Papoutsis, Stuart, Van Cleave, Weaver, Wisniewski 42 NAYS: None 43 NON-VOTING: Myers, Zaransky 44 45 b. Case No. 26-02-HPC - 785 Locust Street: Review of the demolition permit application submitted for the 46 single-family residence at 785 Locust Street. 47 Mr. Marx identified the home’s property owners, location, size and zoning classification with a construction date of 48 approximately 1911 with one 1949 alteration. He stated the property does not appear on the Illinois Historic 49 Structures Listing with no public comment received. Mr. Marx stated the Historical Society indicated that the 50 property did not have architectural and historical significance and no public comments were received. He then 51 asked if there were any questions. No questions were raised at this time. 52 Page 3 of 71  February 2, 2026 Page 3 1 Chairman Coladarci asked for the applicant’s presentation. Rodrigo Serna, the property owner, introduced himself 2 and his wife Jennifer, and stated the home is in very rough condition which he described for the Commission. He 3 stated the new home would be modest at approximately 2,800 square feet to take advantage of the large lot. Mr. 4 Weaver asked if the home was recently occupied. Mr. Serna stated the prior owners’ son lived in the home and the 5 home was not well maintained. The Commission Members confirmed that a previous owner won the Nobel Peace 6 Prize and Ms. Van Cleave provided additional information on the owner. Mr. Stuart asked if the home had ever 7 been remodeled or expanded. Mr. Marx responded not according to building records and stated the Historical 8 Society may have more extensive records but they could not find any work permits beside the 1949 alteration. He 9 added the applicant provided interior photos. 10 11 Chairman Coladarci asked if there were any other questions. No additional questions were raised at this time. He 12 asked for public comment. No comments were made at this time. Chairman Coladarci then called the matter in for 13 discussion. 14 15 Chairman Coladarci asked for the Commission’s comments as to whether a demolition permit should be issued or 16 an HAIS required. Mr. Enck referred to the Historical Society’s research which stated the home did not have 17 architectural or historical significance and questioned the architect, F. Robert Seyfarth. No recommendation was 18 made for an HAIS. Chairman Coladarci then asked for a motion to approve the demolition permit for 785 Locust 19 Road and read the findings into the record from page 85. A motion as stated by Chairman Coladarci was made by 20 Mr. Weaver and seconded by Mr. Enck. A vote was taken and the motion unanimously passed, 7 to 0: 21 AYES: Coladarci, Enck, Papoutsis, Stuart, Van Cleave, Weaver, Wisniewski 22 NAYS: None 23 NON-VOTING: Myers, Zaransky 24 25 Other Business: 26 a. March 2, 2026 Meeting – Quorum Check. 27 The Commission Members discussed their availability. Mr. Marx referred to two items on the March 2026 agenda. 28 29 b. 2025 Preservation Awards. 30 Ms. Van Cleave stated a finished plaque sample would be provided to the Commission for their review. Mr. Marx 31 noted an announcement for the 2026 preservation awards would be issued soon. He stated the deadline 32 submission date can be extended to allow for more nominations to be considered and would confirm with the 33 Village Director. Ms. Van Cleave informed the Commission the plaque manufacturer would be able to make the 34 desired number of plaques. Mr. Enck referred to the Commission’s prior discussions relating to refining certain 35 categories. The Commission Members discussed the process required to make category refinements as well as the 36 nomination process. 37 38 c. Monthly Communications for Historic Preservation Commission - Discussion and Content Decision. 39 Ms. Van Cleave referred to the article written by Laurie Peterson of the Crow Island Stewardship Group and sent to 40 the school district which provided edits for the Commission’s review. Mr. Enck stated the goal is for the article to 41 be included in next paper distribution together with photos. The Commission Members commented the article 42 looked great and Mr. Marx identified the deadline. 43 44 Chairman Coladarci asked for a motion to approve the article presented. A Commission Member made a motion to 45 approve the article as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Papoutsis. A vote was taken and the motion 46 unanimously passed, 7 to 0: 47 AYES: Coladarci, Enck, Papoutsis, Stuart, Van Cleave, Weaver, Wisniewski 48 NAYS: None 49 NON-VOTING: Myers, Zaransky 50 51 Mr. Enck referred to the trolley tour. Mr. Marx provided an update to the Commission with regard to having the 52 tour restarted and stated he would check with the Village Director in terms of the budget. Mr. Myers provided 53 information to the Commission in terms of the process to finance the tour. Page 4 of 71  February 2, 2026 Page 4 1 2 Adjournment: 3 Chairman Coladarci asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn was made by several Commission 4 Members and seconded by Mr. Enck. A vote was taken and the motion unanimously passed, 7 to 0: 5 AYES: Coladarci, Mr. Enck, Papoutsis, Stuart, Van Cleave, Mr. Weaver, Wisniewski 6 NAYS: None 7 NON-VOTING: Myers, Zaransky 8 The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. 9 10 Respectfully submitted, 11 12 Antionette Johnson 13 Recording Secretary Page 5 of 71  MEMORANDUM VILLAGE OF WINNETKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO: HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION FROM: CHRISTOPHER, MARX, AICP, ASSOCIATE PLANNER DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2026 SUBJECT: 795 PINE STREET - DEMOLITION PERMIT (CASE NO. 26-04-HPC) INTRODUCTION Meeting Date March 2, 2026 Commission Action Preliminary historic and architectural review to determine if a Historic Architectural Impact Study (HAIS) is necessary or if demolition may proceed without delay. Property Address 795 Pine Street (See Attachment A – Aerial Map) Property Owner 795 Pine Corp. Application Submitted by Alan McNea, representing the ownership Mail Notice to Property Owners within 250 Completed feet Public Comments as of Date of Memo As of the date of this memo, staff has not received any written comments from the public for this application. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION Size 0.26 acres Location North side of Pine Street between Lincoln Avenue and Green Bay Road Improvements Single-family residence with detached garage Zoning R-5 Single Family Residential Surrounding Zoning R-5 Single Family Residential to the west and north, R-4 Single Family Residential to the east, B1 Multi-Family Residential to the south on the other side of Pine Street PROPERTY HISTORY See Attachment B, Preliminary Property History Study; Attachment C, Winnetka Historical Society (WHS) Research Constructed 1927 Additional Construction Activity 1927 - Build a two-story frame residence and garage, 1948 - Construct a porch addition, 1949 - Extend a one- story car garage, 1969 - Enclose existing porch on single- family residence Illinois Historic Structure Survey Listing No Winnetka Historical Society (WHS) WHS research indicates that the property is architecturally significant. (See Attachment C - Historical Society Research) Page 1 Page 6 of 71  ADJACENT CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY Other Permits for New Primary Structures None on Same Block (either side of Pine Street) Director’s 60-Day Delay - Construction Delay is not necessary to prevent undue congestion and Activity noise impacts in the neighborhood. New Construction or Site Restoration Plans No building permit application has been submitted for a Submitted new single-family home or site restoration at this time. DEMOLITION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION The Commission may order the issuance of a demolition delay of a historic or architecturally significant structure for up to but not exceeding 270 days from the date the Commission determines that an HAIS submission from the applicant is required for the structure that is applied to be demolished. Should the HPC request an HAIS for the subject property at the March 2, 2026, meeting, and after reviewing the HAIS at a future meeting, the HPC determines the structure is significant and issues a delay, the Commission may issue a demolition delay up to but not exceeding 270 days from March 2, 2026. COMMISSION REVIEW The Commission may consider the following motions: (1) Historical Architectural Impact Study Required or (2) Building and/or Property is Not Historic or Architecturally Significant. Historical Architectural Impact Study Required The Commission finds that based upon (1) the preliminary property history study, (2) the Winnetka Historical Society comments, and (3) other information, comments, or evidence received by the HPC during its preliminary review that the building and/or property is of sufficient historic or architectural merit to warrant conducting a Historical Architectural Impact Study (HAIS) prior to issuance of the demolition permit. The Commission reached its conclusion based upon the property meeting the following criteria: [The Commission must note which of the following criteria is met] 1. The property or structures have sufficient architectural or historical merit to warrant a full HAIS prior to issuance of a demolition permit; 2. The property or structures have been designated a landmark pursuant to Chapter 15.64 of the Village Code; (Subject Property is not a landmark) 3. The property or structures have been included in the most recent Illinois Historic Structure Survey conducted under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Conservation; and (Subject Property is not on the state survey) 4. The property or structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Illinois Register of Historic Places. (Subject Property is not listed on either register) Building and/or Property Lacks Historic or Architectural Significance The Commission has determined, in accordance with Section 15.52.040 of the Village Code, that the building and/or property is not of sufficient historic or architectural merit to warrant a Historic Architectural Impact Study, and the demolition of the structure may proceed without delay. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: GIS Aerial Map Attachment B: Preliminary Property History Study Attachment C: Historical Society Research Attachment D: Application Materials Page 7 of 71  ATTACHMENT A 0 100 200 ft Disclaimer: The GIS Consortium and MGP Inc. are not liable for any use, misuse, modification or disclosure of any map provided under applicable law. This map is for general information purposes only. Although the information is believed to be generally accurate, errors may exist and the user should independently confirm for accuracy. The map does not constitute a regulatory determination and is not a base for engineering design. A Registered Land Surveyor should be consulted to determine precise location boundaries on the ground. Page 8 of 71  ATTACHMENT B MEMORANDUM VILLAGE OF WINNETKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO: WINNETKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY FROM: CHRISTOPHER MARX, ASSOCIATE PLANNER DATE: FEBRUARY 6, 2026 SUBJECT: CASE NO. 26-04-HPC: 795 PINE STREET INTRODUCTION On March 2, 2026, the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) is scheduled to consider a request to demolish the residence at 1161 Pine Street. Please return any available information regarding the architectural and historical significance of the structure to Christopher Marx by the end of the day on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at cmarx@winnetka.org or (847) 716-3587. PRELIMINARY PROPERTY HISTORY STUDY/VILLAGE HALL RECORDS Building Permits Date Type Owner Architect 3-5-1927 Build a two-story frame residence T.L. Chapman George C. and garage. Nimmons 6-14-1948 Construct a porch addition. Mrs. Helen Matschall 10-18-1949 Extend a one-story car garage. Mrs. Helen Matschall Not listed 10-2-1969 Enclose existing porch on single James Shute Arnold J. Busscher family residence. Page 9 of 71 Page 10 of 71 Page 11 of 71 795 Pine – January 2026 Page 12 of 71 Page 13 of 71 Page 14 of 71  ATTACHMENT C PROPERTY RESEARCH COVERSHEET Address: 795 Pine Street Construction Details: Original construction date: 1927 Construction type: Frame with aluminum siding Style: Cape Cod OWNERSHIP HISTORY: OWNER/RESIDENT DATES INFORMATION SIGNIFICANCE NAME OCCUPIED ATTACHED T. L. Chapman 1927 Building permit application Dr. deWet and Paula By 1929 – at least 1929 directory, 1935 Vorster 1935 directory, Winnetka Talk articles Harry M. Jupp 1937 – 1945 Winnetka Talk articles Helen Matschall 1945 – 1956 Building permit application Jay K. Buck 1957 – 1962 Real estate listing slip, Winnetka Talk aritcle James D. and Mary L. 1963 – 1972 Building permit Shute application, real estate listing slip, Winnetka Talk articles David James Shanahan, 1973-2026 Ancestry.com records, David J Shanahan Trust, Cook County recorder Carrie A. Shanahan Trust records, Donnellan Funeral Services obituaries ARCHITECTS: ARCHITECT NAME DATE AND INFORMATION DESCRIPTION OF ATTACHED PROJECT George C. Nimmons 1927 – build a two-story “The Life and Works of frame residence and garage George C. Nimmons” by David Martin, Historic- Structures.com biography of Nimmons, Pacific Coast Page 15 of 71  Architecture Database information on Nimmons Arthur J. Busscher 1969 – enclose existing porch on single-family residence RESEARCH SOURCES USED: Winnetka Talk, Cook County Assessor records, Cook County Recorder records, historic phone books, WHS property files, WHS digital files, Ancestry.com, Chicago Tribune Findings: Our research indicates that this property is architecturally significant as a design by noted Chicago architect George Croll Nimmons. Nimmons began his career working for Burnham & Root while taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. One of his first notable opportunities arose while at Burnham & Root when he worked as a draftsman for the 1893 Columbian Exposition and was named Superintendent of the Mines and Mining building at the fair. Nimmons formed several partnerships through his career, including Nimmons and Fellows with William K. Fellows. Under this partnership, he designed the Julius Rosenwald house in Chicago. Rosenwald was the president of Sears, Roebuck, & Co., and hired Nimmons and Fellows to design their headquarters. The Sears, Roebuck, & Co. Complex (including the Administration Building and the Homan Square Power House) is one of many of Nimmons’s designs (both alone and under his partnerships) to be listed as a Chicago Landmark and/or on the National Register of Historic Places (the Complex is now also a National Historic Landmark). Others include the Reid, Murdoch & Co. building (National Register and Chicago Landmark), the Landmark Center in Boston (National Register and Boston Landmark), Ponce City Market in Atlanta (National Register), and the Franklin Building in Chicago (contributing structure in the Printing House Row Landmark District), to name a few. In addition to designing the home for Sears’ president and the company’s complex, Nimmons also designed some of the company’s catalogue homes. It is unclear whether this was a catalogue design or a commission for the original homeowner. Additional research by an architectural historian is thus warranted. Date of Research: 2/10/2025 Submitted by: Meagan McChesney, PhD Curator, Winnetka Historical Society Mary Trieschmann, MS Ed Executive Director, Winnetka Historical Society Page 16 of 71 Page 17 of 71 Page 18 of 71 Page 19 of 71 Page 20 of 71 Page 21 of 71 Page 22 of 71 Page 23 of 71 Page 24 of 71 1929 directory 1935 directory Ancestry.com records Page 25 of 71 Cook County Recorder records Page 26 of 71 https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/1694/ George Croll Nimmons (Architect) Exterior view of the Sears Warehouse and Department Store, Los Angeles, 2008; from Wikipedia Commons Newspaper article of Sears plans to add to its Seattle Warehouse, 1914; from the "Sears, Roebuck To Build Soon," Seattle Times, 06/30/1914, p. 17 Portrait of George C. Nimmons, c. 1905; from the Chicago Loop.org Page 27 of 71 Male, US, born 1865-06-08, died 1947-06-17 Associated with the firms Nimmons, Carr and Wright Architects; Nimmons, George C., and Company, Architects Professional History Principal, George C. Nimmons and Company, Architects, Chicago, IL, c. 1922; Partner, Nimmons, Carr and Wright, Architects, Chicago, IL. Over his approximately 50-year career, Nimmons made a living producing department store and warehouse designs for his main client, Sears, Roebuck and Company (founded in Chicago in 1893) across the US. Nimmons made the plans for the grand residences of company co-founder Richard Warren Sears (1863–1914) and Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) in the Chicago area. Rosenwald served in many capacities with the Sears and Roebuck Company, as an important early investor, Vice President and Treasurer (1895-1907) and President (1908-1924). Rosenwald resigned as President to devote himself to his numerous philanthropic interests. Aside from his close relations with Sears and Rosenwald, Nimmons's firm also designed industrial and office buildings for other corporate clients. Nimmons joined the American Institute of Architects in 1905. Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), Personal Born in OH, Nimmons lived with his family in Wooster, OH, a single-family residence on East Liberty Street in 1880. Nimmons lived with his wife, Justine, at 5211 Hibbard Avenue in Chicago, IL, in 1900; at this time, the household included George and Justine, their daughter, Marie, Justine's mother, Marie Wheeler (born 08/1842 in MI) and a 22-year-old servant, Annie Rourke (born 05/1888 in Ireland). George and Justine lived in an apartment together in 1910 on East 53rd Street in Chicago. The family continued to reside in Chicago, IL, in 1930, with a household that included daughter Nancy and a servant of Danish descent, Grace M. Jorgensen (born c. 1901 in WI). (Corrections to the Nimmons record and new information on Nimmons was shared with the author by family member Lois Gumz- Calisal on 09/22/2013. Thank you to Ms. Gumz-Calisal.) Nimmons and his wife were buried in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, IL. His father, John Wesley Nimmons, (born c. 1835 in OH), worked as a traveling salesman in 1880; his mother, Rebecca Croll, (born c. 1841 in OH), kept house. John Nimmons's parents came from NJ (father) and NY. Rebecca's parents, John and Hannah Croll, were Page 28 of 71 born in PA and lived with the Nimmons family in 1880. At this time, George's sister, Josephine, (born c. 1862 in OH), also lived at home and taught music. Nimmons married Justine V. Wheeler (b. 05/28/1874 in Detroit, MI-d. 08/05/1946 in Chicago, IL), nine years his junior, on 04/27/1898 in Chicago, IL. Her father was George Wheeler was born in NY; her mother, Mary Vallee, was also born in MI. One of her grand- parents had been a French immigrant. In 1900, Nimmons had had one child. His daughter, Marie J. Nimmons (born 01/1899 in IL) was 1-and-a-half when the 1900 U.S. Census was taken. A son, Paul Wesley Nimmons (1901-1912), appeared in the 1910 US Census. Another daughter, Nancy Nimmons Button (08/07/1917-07/19/2005), was 14 when the 1930 U.S. Census was done. She passed away on 07/19/2005 at Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington, IL. George, Justine and Nancy Nimmons sailed on the Cunard liner, Aquitania, from New York, NY, arriving in Southampton, UK, on 08/10/1926, The family returned on the Cunard line's S.S. Berengaria to New York via Cherbourg, France, between 10/23/1926-10/29/1926. Page 29 of 71 The Life and Works of George C. Nimmons, Flossmoor Architect Written for the Flossmoor Public Library By David Martin, Adult Services Manager April 2025 Page 30 of 71  INTRODUCTION Although not well-known among the general public today, Ohio-born George C. Nimmons enjoyed a long, prolific, and varied architectural career that made a lasting impact on Flossmoor, the Chicagoland re- gion, and across the country. In 1909 he parlayed his financial success into a large summer home near the gates of the Flossmoor Country Club. Nimmons designed the home himself, along with extensive gardens and other outdoor amenities. His most major local impact would come five years later, when he was selected to design a new clubhouse for the Flossmoor Country Club. In this article I will discuss his career, his Flossmoor estate, and notable local, regional, and national works. PART ONE: EARLY LIFE AND CAREER Nimmons was born July 8th, 1865 in Wooster, Ohio. As a youngster he showed interest in design and architecture, and would build various objects in the family workshop at his home. However, the local college he attended—now known as the College of Wooster—offered no architectural studies degree so he graduat- ed in 1887 with a bachelor’s degree in literature. From there he moved to Chicago and secured a job as an assistant at Burnham & Root—one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the world at that time— while taking night classes in architecture from the Art Institute. While at Burnham & Root, he had the oppor- tunity to work as a draftsman for Chicago’s historic 1893 Columbian Exposition, and was named the Superin- tendent of the “Mines and Mining” building at that fair. Nimmons eventually left Burnham & Root and began working independently at the age of 29 in 1894. His first important commission was the summer estate of W.B. Conkey in Holland, MI. Conkey, a Chicago printing magnate, was impressed by Nimmons’s skills and work ethic and became a supporter and friend to the architect. After the completion of the house, Conkey hired Nimmons to design a large new printing plant in Hammond, IN in 1898. In previous generations, most industrial buildings were given very little thought by business owners and the architects they hired. They were considered nothing more than a functional, basic building meant for labor—dirty, dingy, and odorous. Nimmons expressed the progressive belief—which he would later elaborate upon in numerous journal articles he wrote—that the industrial building could be not just an efficient model of workplace organization, but also a place that promotes the health and well-being of the employee through good design. Conkey was supportive of this idea and approved Nimmons’s design even though it increased his construction costs. At this time, Nimmons took on a partner in William K. Fellows and together they operated under the firm name of Nimmons and Fellows until 1910. One of W.B. Conkey’s key clients was Sears, Roebuck & Company, the mail order retailer which print- ed thousands of catalogs a year with him. It may have been a recommendation from Conkey that resulted in Nimmons and Fellows designing the home of Sears president Julius Rosenwald in Chicago in 1902. Soon, the firm became the Sears corporation’s preferred architects. Sears was about to build a massive headquarters complex in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, and they hired Nimmons and Fellows for the project, which opened in 1905 and underwent expansion for the next decade. Sears was also expanding operations across the country and Nimmons’s firm designed distribution centers nationwide. The steady employment offered by Sears and other companies stabilized Nimmons’s career and made him very wealthy. Page 31 of 71  EARLY (PRE-1910) WORK WITH WILLIAM K. FELLOWS Home designed in 1902 by Nimmons & Fellows for Sears president Julius Rosenwald in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood. The 1898 printing plant for the W.B. Conkey Company was Nimmons’s first industrial commission. The design incorporated a large amount of windows, some topped with decorative arch brick- work. Decorative touches like these were unheard of in industrial buildings of previous generations. The plant also had a full outdoor park installed on-site for employees to enjoy. The “Original Sears Tower” at 906 S. Homan Avenue is In 1905 Nimmons and Fellows began work on the 40-acre Sears, Roebuck & the last remaining Company Headquarters in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. The component of the massive complex included a 3 million square foot mail order plant—the largest building pictured in the commercial building in the world at the time. Only three buildings from the postcard at left. immense complex survive today—one in partial form (see right). Page 32 of 71  SOLO WORK FROM 1910—1917 The 1914 Reid, Murdoch & Company Building is—to generations of Chicagoans—one of Nimmons’s most recognizable buildings, due primarily to its prestigious location on the Chicago River at LaSalle Street. With the positioning of the iconic clocktower, Nimmons was the first to follow an edict in Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan For Chicago that new downtown buildings should engage with, rather than turn away from, the river. The building was initially entirely symmetrical; a later street widening project required the removal of an entire bay on the left side, as seen here. The building is now the headquarters of Encyclopædia Britannica. The Franklin Building, located in Chicago’s Printers Row neighborhood, was built in 1916 for the Franklin Printing Company. The building was an active printing press until Sears distribution center in Seattle, WA, 1983, when it closed. The building was renovated into 65 built 1915. This building is now the world- condominiums and reopened in 1989. wide headquarters of Starbucks. Page 33 of 71  PART TWO: NIMMONS’S IMPACT ON FLOSSMOOR Like many early residents, Nimmons was drawn to the young village of Flossmoor both by the idyllic peaceful setting and by his love of golf. It is likely not possible to know exactly when he first visited Floss- moor, but records show he was a Flossmoor Country Club (FCC) member since at least 1903. Indications are Nimmons took his golf game seriously, appearing in multiple local tournaments at Flossmoor and on other Chicagoland courses throughout the next twenty years. Around 1904, Nimmons was hired to design the Flossmoor home of W.T. Beatty, the president of a road construction machinery company. Beatty’s crafts- man-style home is located at 1110 Western Avenue and was Nimmons’ first architectural contribution to Flossmoor. In time, Nimmons decided to build his own summer home in Flossmoor. He purchased a 300 feet by 420 feet lot just south of the Beatty house, at 1240 Western Avenue. Although his self-designed house still stands, later reductions in the size of the lot meant the elimination of several amenities of the estate: a 40 by 100 foot lily pond, flower gardens, an orchard, vegetable and berry gardens, a playground, a tennis court, and a putting green/croquet lawn have all been eliminated. Nimmons designed his summer home so that the second story balcony looked out over the lush greens and fairways of FCC across the street. At that time, the FCC clubhouse was positioned further north, with entry from Flossmoor Road. On May 4th, 1914, that clubhouse—which was supposed to be fireproof— was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. From this tragedy, and a $100,000 insurance policy for the club, came the opportunity for Nimmons to make a lasting impact on Flossmoor as the club soon asked him to design the replacement clubhouse, which still stands today. Nimmons actually designed two clubhouses for FCC. The first, in a Spanish Revival style, was favored by the club leaders but construction estimates came in at substantially higher than the $100,000 insurance policy would provide for. Instead, they chose the present design, which had a construction estimate of $95,000 ($3 million in 2025 dollars). That cost provided for both the clubhouse and a dormitory that mem- bers from the city could use for overnight accommodations. Before construction on the new buildings began, it was decided that they would be placed in the center of the course and the course would be renumbered and reconfigured so that it began and ended at the new location. Meanwhile, the Spanish Revival design originally planned for FCC by Nimmons had attracted the attention of others. In 1917, elements of this design were adapted into a new clubhouse for the Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood. Although aesthetically extravagant, the Ravisloe plan reused and absorbed some preexisting buildings, keeping the cost low at $70,000. Designing FCC and Ravisloe provided Nimmons with the experience necessary to take on “the largest private clubhouse in the world,” that of the Olympia Fields Country Club (OFCC). Nimmons’s 1923 design for the OFCC clubhouse was made in a English Tudor style. The club, which was the first ever to feature four 18-hole courses (later reduced to two courses), was designed from the start to be the biggest of them all. Still, the statistics—and costs— for the building are staggering: a dining room seating eight hundred, a cafe with seating for an additional six hundred, five hundred feet of veranda. Where FCC was thrifty—spending only $95,000—OFCC was outlandish, spending over $1 million on the building by the end of construction in 1925. This is about $18 million in 2025 dollars. Page 34 of 71  THE BEATTY HOUSE Right: The W.T. Beatty house (1110 Western Avenue) as photographed in 2020 for a real estate ad. This was the first building designed by Nimmons built in Flossmoor. When completed in 1905, the house sat on a four-acre lot which was later subdivided. Right: Living room in the Beatty house. The home was first “modernized” way back in 1939. Since then, subsequent owners have provided continuous updates. Page 35 of 71  THE NIMMONS ESTATE The historic images in this section are sourced from an extensive article in a 1919 issue of The Architectural Record, a journal Nimmons contributed articles to for a number of years. Below is Nimmons’s original plan for the land, which show the positions of gardens, the pond (blue circle), tennis court, etc. The area within the red square is the current size of the lot (approximately). Right: George C. Nimmons’ self- designed house, built circa 1909. This home sat on a 2.9 acre lot before later subdivision. The front door, located on the right in this 2017 image, faced West- ern Avenue and provided a view golf course across the street— before the trees grew large enough to block it. Nimmons owned the house the rest of his life. Page 36 of 71 1919 view from the northwest corner of the estate over the gardens to the rear side of the house. Gardens and pathways on the estate. View of the front door, with balcony above. Page 37 of 71 Above: A southerly view across the lily pond to the back side of the home. The back of the home features a large open porch on the first floor, with an enclosed “sleeping porch” above. Right: The pond was 40 feet by 100 feet and surrounded with paths. Page 38 of 71 Above is a picture of the home’s dining room from 1919 Architectural Record article. Below is a photograph from a 2017 real estate ad, when the house was last for sale, taken from almost the same angle. Page 39 of 71  THE SECOND NIMMONS HOUSE Right: A detail of a 1924 map of Flossmoor that includes the names of homeowners in red ink, with their homes represented as black squares. This map shows George C. Nimmons as owning the houses labelled as #22 and #23 in the bottom-right corner. It is not known exactly why Nimmons built a second house on his estate, although we can likely assume it was a guest house for out-of-town visitors. Map is sourced from the “Flossmoor Historic Home Study” produced by Richard W. Condon and Dr. Kristine Condon in 2020. Right: The home at 1295 Brassie Avenue, as photographed in 2014. Public records state the home was built in 1908, but that is contradicted by the Nimmons’s site plan (shown earlier in this essay) which has a chicken yard and a vegetable garden in this area. Only the central portion of the house is original; the garage on the left and the taller part on the right are later additions. I have not been able to find definitive evidence that Nimmons acted as his own architect on this project, but it seems likely that he did. After Nimmons’s death in 1947, the house was separated from the estate and converted from a “presumed guest house” to a full-time residence. In the 1950 census, the Lester Dean fami- ly was living in the home. They did not stay long, moving to California by 1951. Page 40 of 71  FLOSSMOOR COUNTRY CLUB Above and Right: Mid-1920s photographs of the southern façade of the FCC Clubhouse designed by Nimmons. Right: A 1916 photograph of the FCC dormitory built as a compan- ion piece to the clubhouse. Many of the members lived in the city and did not have summer homes in Flossmoor, so the club provided them with overnight accommoda- tions. Page 41 of 71 Above: Photograph of the Lounging Room in the FCC clubhouse. Below: The “Men’s Lunch Room” in the FCC clubhouse. Both photographs appear in an article on golf course architecture written by Nimmons in the February 1917 issue of “The Architectural Review.” Page 42 of 71  RAVISLOE AND OLYMPIA FIELDS COUNTRY CLUBS Right: Artistic rendering of an interior courtyard from Nimmons’s unused Spanish Revival plan for Flossmoor. From “The Architectural Review.” Below: Ravisloe Country Club’s clubhouse, Nimmons’ second golf clubhouse design, contained elements from his unused first design for FCC. Photo from the Ravisloe website. Right: The Olympia Fields Country Club clubhouse, done in an English Tudor style and featuring an 80- foot high four-sided clock tower, was Nimmons’s larg- est and most expensive golf clubhouse design by far. Photo from OFCC website. Page 43 of 71  PART 3: SEARS “KIT HOMES” Readers with a special interest in early 20th Century American history might be asking themselves a question by this point. We know Nimmons was the Sears company’s preferred ar- chitect for their commercial buildings, and we know he had the ability to design fine residences. Did he also design any of the famous “kit homes” that Sears sold by mail? The answer is yes, but we don’t know how many. The cause for uncertainty is the Sears company was notoriously secretive about crediting architects at all. The Sears kit home program ran from 1908 to 1942. During the 34 year history of the program, over 370 different home kits were pro- duced by Sears, and over 70,000 kits were sold— an average of 189 sales per model. Customers would order the kits by catalog, and prices were lower than traditional homebuilding due to Sears’ ability to mass produce items and pass cost sav- ings along. The kits, which could contain over 30,000 individual parts, would arrive by boxcar if the building site was close to a train line. Some customers received their order by the truckload. At that point, it was up to them or their hired Cover of the 1922 edition of the Sears “Modern Homes” contractors to put the house together. catalog. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Sears did not credit individual architects in the catalog. The blueprints would occasionally list the ar- chitect, but very few customers kept them and the company discarded most of their records after ending the program. Thus, attaching a particular kit design to a particular architect takes a lot of detective work from a number of online sleuths devoted to the cause. Often, these researchers are having better luck searching municipal archives, because homeowners would occasionally transcribe the architect’s name from the blue- prints to their city or town’s building permit application (although a larger contingent would just write “Sears” on the municipal form). So far, there is compelling evidence that Nimmons designed at least three of the 370 kit plans—and odds are there’s more waiting to be discovered. On the next page are the three designs currently attributed to George C. Nimmons by internet re- searchers. Although there are no Sears Kit Homes in Flossmoor, there are three separate models in Home- wood. Only one of them has a verified architect, and it is not Nimmons. Page 44 of 71  SEARS KIT HOME PLANS ATTRIBUTED TO NIMMONS All images on this page are sourced from the “Sears Homes of Chicagoland” website Above left: The “Alhambra,” a popular Spanish-style house in the 1921 catalog. Above right: This mirror-imaged version of the Alhambra was built in 1922 on Chicago’s northwest side. Nimmons’s name appears on the building permit. Above left: The “Walton,” a craftsman-styled bungalow by Nimmons, was sold from 1920-1930 and was one of Sears’ best-selling plans. Above right: This Walton example is on Wood Street in Crete. Right: The “Crescent,” a nostalgic Cape Cod design. Page 45 of 71  PART 4: LATER CAREER, RETIREMENT, AND DEATH Nimmons split with William K. Fellows in 1910 and worked solo until incorporating the new firm of George C. Nimmons and Company in 1917. His work for Sears continued unabated. In addition to designing ten regional distribution centers across the country, Nimmons and/or his firm eventually designed over 150 stores for Sears as the company pivoted to in-person retail in 1925. Work was credited to the firm in general and it can be difficult to attribute it to one specific partner, but Nimmons likely had a hand in each design. Following the “Roaring ‘20s,” Nimmons’s career extended throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. Obviously, the economic strife meant that less money was available for grand ar- chitectural efforts. As but one example, at right is an extravagant proposal Nimmons designed for the Chicago Yacht Club in 1929, just before the stock market crash. It would never be built. In 1933, Nimmons made his assistants George Wallace Carr and Clark Wright full partners and reincorporated the firm as Nimmons, Carr and Wright. At right is one of the firm’s most im- portant accomplishments of the 1930s—The Sears, Roebuck, & Company pavilion, a strikingly modern showpiece built as a temporary structure for the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Due to his work as a draftsman for Burnham and Root during the 1893 Columbian Exposition, it is entirely possi- ble that Nimmons may be the only architect to have worked on both the 1893 and the 1933 Chi- cago World’s Fairs. Right: This striking two -story display window As the Great Depression continued, work was the central feature for the firm became much less frequent than of the 1938 design by what Nimmons experienced earlier in his career. Nimmons’s firm for a In 1944, after over fifty years of work, he retired Sears store at the “Six at the age of 79. He died three years later, in Corners” location on 1947. Despite his prolific career, his death seems Irving Park Road in Chi- to have prompted little interest at the time. cago. Hometown paper The Chicago Tribune only pub- lished a brief death notice that didn’t even men- tion his career as an architect. Page 46 of 71  LATER (POST-1917) WORK Above: Nimmons’s firm designed over 150 retail stores for Sears. This example is from 79th Street in Kenwood. Above: By the time Nimmons & Company designed this Los Angeles building in 1926, they had started using art deco/streamline motifs that appear more modern than Nimmons’s earlier works. This was a hy- brid building that contained both a ground level retail store and a distribution plant. Above: Nimmons worked with fellow architects Max Raeder and Nelson M. Dunning on the 1926 American Furniture Mart Building in Chicago. Above: The last of the ten regional Sears distribu- Encompassing an entire city block, the building was tion centers, all of which were designed by Nimmons the largest in the world at the time it was built. It or his firm. This opened in 1928 in Boston. has been converted into residential usage, with over 400 units. Page 47 of 71  PART 5: LEGACY That Nimmons died in relative obscurity— and remained there in the decades since—should perhaps not be a great surprise. For every “name brand” architect like Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright or Daniel Burnham, there are dozens if not The brief obituary published by the Chicago Tribune. hundreds of capable architects that do not achieve Tribune articles in previous decades would report on any level of fame. Also, the period of Nimmons’s most of Nimmons’s architectural creations in the city, career—1888 to 1944—overlapped not just with the but the obituary doesn’t mention his career at all. aforementioned titans but also with the rise of groundbreaking European Modernists like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe (who moved to Chicago in 1938 and radically changed the city’s architecture). It is easy to see why he would have been overshadowed. Still, he had a career worth recognizing and left behind a number of well-designed buildings, some modest and some monumental, that are still inspiring people today. Although a complete list has seemingly never been compiled, it is safe to say that there are between 200 and 300 buildings designed in whole or in part by Nimmons throughout the country—and that’s not counting the untold number of Sears kit homes that may be out there. Dozens of his buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and 21 have been desig- nated as Chicago Landmarks. One of the trends that keeps Nimmons’s legacy alive today is that of adaptive reuse, the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally designed. Many of the massive commercial buildings Nimmons designed have taken on a new life. These developments have used Nim- mons’s architecture to help reinvigorate neighborhoods that had been declining through the decades of America’s postindustrial era. Here in Chicago, the three remaining buildings at the old Sears Headquarters have been converted to loft apartments, a charter high school, and office space for local non-profit organiza- tions. In Seattle, Starbucks remodeled an entire Nimmons building to serve as their global headquarters. In Boston, developers turned a warehouse into 401 Park, a retail and dining destination which is located just a block from venerated Fenway Park and helps anchor the neighborhood. More recently, adaptive reuse has been tied into “New Urbanism,” the movement towards creating mixed-use, densely populated, and walka- ble neighborhoods in cities that are heavily car-dependent. Recent conversions have changed Nimmons’s old Sears warehouses into spaces that combine retail stores, corporate offices, and residential units—all under one roof. Examples include Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, Southside on Lamar in Dallas, and Midtown Exchange in Minneapolis. Nimmons owned his Flossmoor estate, as well as his main residence in Chicago’s Kenwood neighbor- hood, right up until his death. His wife Justine had died ten months prior. Their remaining adult daughter lived in north suburban Wilmette and sold off the estate after 38 years of family ownership. Thankfully the homes he designed, as well as the FCC Clubhouse across the street, continue to contribute to the collective aesthetic value of Flossmoor well over 110 years after their construction. Page 48 of 71 Above left: The façade of the Ponce City Market in Atlanta, originally designed by Nimmons as a Sears distribution center in 1926. Above right: The dining area of the Ponce City Market retains the building’s industrial aesthetic. Above: Atrium in the Crosstown Concourse in Memphis. This redevelopment created a theater, retail spaces, restaurants, offices, and apartment units on the upper floors. Page 49 of 71  APPENDIX A: SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL VIEWING Before moving on to the bibliography, I wanted to advise the reader—should they be interested— about a trove of remarkable videos available online. George Nimmons was an avid “home movie” hobbyist, and approximately seven years ago the Olympia Fields Country Club Historic Landmark Foundation went to great lengths to digitize and publish online a series of short clips he had filmed between 1929 and 1933. While a significant portion of the videos were filmed at the OFCC, there is also a great amount filmed at the Flossmoor Country Club or Nimmons’s Flossmoor estate. After learning about the estate through this essay, you may be interested in the rare opportunity of taking a “virtual walk” through the extensive grounds, most of which has been lost to later development. Below is a series of links to the relevant videos, along with my annotations of the scenes. Thanks again to the OFCC Historic Landmark Foundation for making these enchanting glimpses into the past availa- ble for the general public. If viewing this PDF on a computer, hold Ctrl key and click on the links in blue; if on a phone or tablet, simply tap on the links. Nimmons Estate Scenes, Presented in chronological order: https://vimeo.com/277542927 This video from 1929 starts at the front gate of the Nimmons estate. The video then follows George’s young daughter Nancy Nimmons on a stroll through- out the grounds. At 2:26 Nancy and two others go for a swim in the pond. At 4:00 George, Justine and Nancy appear together in a touching family scene (screen grab at right). George is 64 and Justine is 55, but be- cause they had Nancy late in life she is only 12 or 13. In fact, George and Justine had two children before Nan- cy who both died before she was born; daughter Marie lived from 1899—1903 and son Paul from 1901—1912. Nancy was born in 1916. https://vimeo.com/277542869 The entirety of this video follows Nancy Nimmons and another young girl walking around the estate. The pond and various gardens are seen. Continued on next page Page 50 of 71  SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL VIEWING (CONTINUED) https://vimeo.com/277542934 The video begins on the house’s balcony. FCC golfers are seen walking in the background. Nancy and a friend are working on a project. At 00:45 George comes out to greet them, and the scene ends. From 00:58 to the end, Nancy and her friends are seen around the grounds in very extravagant period costumes, as if for a fash- ion show or a theatrical performance. https://vimeo.com/277542861 Video begins with a group of young people, including an older Nancy with a shorter haircut, walking through the gardens of the estate. At 00:30 they exit the estate and walk alongside a busy Western Avenue. At 00:45 they reenter the estate through the front gate and the home is seen in the background. At 1:00 Justine Nim- mons is sitting on a bench in front of the estate’s pond. The young people seen walking earlier join her for a conversation. At 1:50 is a golf scene, probably filmed at OFCC. This portion is noteworthy for some unusual and comedic putting sequences that would have required either some in-camera special effects or a trick ball and green; see 2:34—2:42 and 3:04—3:25. From 3:35 to the end of the video are more scenes from the es- tate. https://vimeo.com/277542891 A rather lengthy video (9+ minutes), all shot at the estate. Mostly features Nancy Nimmons and her friends strolling through the grounds. This was filmed in 1933 and Nancy is now 16 or 17. The house is seen at 6:43. Flossmoor Country Club scenes: https://vimeo.com/277542843 At 00:08, an establishing shot of the Flossmoor Country Club clubhouse. This is followed by several scenes of golf, presumably at FCC. At 3:15, the clubhouse is shown again. At 3:26 the dormitory is briefly seen. https://vimeo.com/277542886 All golf scenes from FCC. The clubhouse is seen from 2:03—2:18 Page 51 of 71  WORKS USED Cole, Regina. “New Urbanism Thrives In Historic Sears Warehouse Buildings.” Forbes. October 29, 2018. “Conkey Building.” Chicagology Website. https://chicagology.com/goldenage/goldenage031/ Downs, Winfield Scott, Ed. Encyclopedia of American Biography. The American Historical Society. 1938. “Homan Square History.” Foundation for Homan Square Website. https://www.homansquare.org/history-2/ Accessed 3/17/2025 McLean, Robert. “The Modern Factory as Illustrated in the Works of George C. Nimmons.” The Western Architect. January, 1916. “New Clubhouse for Flossmoor.” The Chicago Tribune. April 18, 1915. “The Olympia Fields Country Club: George C. Nimmons & Company, Architects.” Uncredited article. The Architectural Forum. November, 1925. “Report Record Home Building in Flossmoor.” The Chicago Tribune. July 30, 1939 Schneider, Benjamin. “From the Ruins of a Retail Meltdown, Post-Industrial Playgrounds Emerge.” Bloomberg. November 16, 2017. Solonickne, Lara. Sears Homes of Chicagoland (Website). Retrieved March 20th, 2025. “Some Industrial Buildings by George C. Nimmons.” Uncredited article. The Architectural Record. August 1915. “The Summer Home of George C. Nimmons.” Uncredited article. The Architectural Record. April 1919. “The 28th Annual Chicago Exhibition.” Uncredited article. The American Architect. May 19, 1915. The Tradition Endures: Flossmoor Country Club 1899-1999. Flossmoor Country Club, 1999. Wagner, Susan F. A History of the Village of Flossmoor 1851—1974. Flossmoor Historical Committee, 1974. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, April 11). “George C. Nimmons.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Nimmons Wikipedia contributors. (2025, March 27). “Sears.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears Wikipedia contributors. (2024, August 26). “Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex.” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears,_Roebuck_and_Company_Complex Page 52 of 71 The below is a list of articles published by George C. Nimmons in various publications be- tween 1907 and 1924. They are available via Google Books or the HathiTrust Digital Library (www.hathitrust.org). It is also very possible that some of the “uncredited” articles that are in bold type on the previous page of this bibliography may have been written by Nimmons, but their lack of attribution precludes them from being listed here. Collectively, these articles provide a modern-day researcher with the best possible insight into Nimmons’s mind, illuminating his architectural philosophies. Some are banal discus- sions of topics such as the use of concrete as a building material, while others explore his progressive belief in the power of architecture and design to improve the lives of the work- ing class. His epic seven-part series on “Modern Industrial Plants” was considered a guiding work for a generation of industrial architects, with citations to the articles appearing in works produced years later. “The Eastern Store of Sears Roebuck & Co., Philadelphia.” The Architectural Record. August 1921. “The Future of Concrete.” Fireproof Magazine. April 1907. “Modern Industrial Plants, Part I.” The Architectural Record. November 1918 “Modern Industrial Plants, Part II.” The Architectural Record. December 1918 “Modern Industrial Plants, Part III.” The Architectural Record. January 1919. “Modern Industrial Plants, Part IV.” The Architectural Record. February 1919. “Modern Industrial Plants, Part V.” The Architectural Record. March 1919. “Modern Industrial Plants, Part VI.” The Architectural Record. April 1919. “Modern Industrial Plants, Part VII.” The Architectural Record. May 1919. “The New Competition & Your Building.” Industrial Management. January 1924. “Special Requirements and Planning of Golf Club Houses.” The Architectural Review. February 1917. Page 53 of 71 historic-structures.com/architects/nimmons-george/ Architect George C. Nimmons George C. Nimmons (1865-6/17/1947) Chicago, Illinois (F.A.I.A.) Active in practice for nearly 50 years, prominently known in Chicago, Mr. Nimmons was a former president of the local Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and a long- time member of the Illinois Society of Architects. He was a native of Wooster, Ohio, educated at the local Academy in 1897, later studied architecture in Europe. Shortly after returning to the U.S., at the age of eighteen, he entered the Chicago office of Burnham & Root, and for a decade continued to serve as draftsman for the firm. In 1897, Mr. Nimmons formed a partnership with William K. Fellows, which continued until 1910, and in that period the firm planned a number of large commercial buildings in Chicago, with the huge Sears & Roebuck Plant one of their most successful works. Following its completion, the partners were commissioned to design branch buildings for the company in several mid-western cities. Residential designs from that period included the R. W. Sears home located in Grayslake, Illinois (1906), and the twenty-room Prairie- style mansion built for Sears, Roebuck and Company president Julius Rosenwald in Chicago (1903). In the years between 1910 and 1917, Mr. Nimmons practiced alone, subsequently (1917- 1933) carried on work as head of his own firm, George C. Nimmons & Company. Some of the projects from these two periods include The Sears, Roebuck and Company Building, North Kansas City, Missouri (1912-13) and several works in Chicago including the Franklin Building (1912), the C. P. Kimball & Company Building (1913), the Reid, Murdoch & Company Building (1913), the Adams Schaaf Building (1916), the Union Special Machines Company Building (1918), the Kelley Building (1921) and the American Furniture Mart (1923, 1926). In the final phase of his career (1933-1945), he continued as senior partner of the firm of Nimmons, Carr & Wright, with an office at 333 North Michigan Avenue. Nimmons, who married Justine V. Wheeler in 1898 (they had three children), retired in 1945. After being active in practice for nearly half a century, Nimmons died on June 17th, 1947. Page 54 of 71 California Sears, Roebuck & Company Mail Order Building, Los Angeles California Florida Sears Store Building, Miami Florida Page 55 of 71 Kentucky Sears, Roebuck and Company Store, Louisville Kentucky Minnesota Sears Mail-Order Warehouse and Retail Store, Minneapolis Minnesota Missouri Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building, Kansas City Missouri Page 56 of 71 Tennessee Sears, Roebuck and Company Catalog Distribution Center and Retail Store, Memphis Tennessee Washington Page 57 of 71 Page 58 of 71 Page 59 of 71 Page 60 of 71 Page 61 of 71 Page 62 of 71 Page 63 of 71 Page 64 of 71 Page 65 of 71 Page 66 of 71 https://www.donnellanfuneral.com/obituaries/Diane-Shanahan?obId=7469246 Diane Shanahan of Winnetka and New Orleans, cherished wife of David; beloved mother of Christopher, Douglas, Carrie and her husband Kirk McCall. A memorial gathering of friends of Diane and her family will be held at 1:00 on Saturday, May 30, 2009 in the Courtyard Garden of the Winnetka Community House, 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka. In lieu of flowers, memorial tributes may be made in her name to The Anti-Cruelty Society, 157 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL,60654. (312) 644"8338 / www.anticruelty.org. Page 67 of 71 https://www.donnellanfuneral.com/obituaries/David-J-Shanahan?obId=43160585 In Loving Memory Of David J. Shanahan September 22, 1936 - June 19, 2025 David James Shanahan was born in Lima, Ohio on September 22, 1936- the youngest of George and Muriel Shanahan’s five children. He graduated from St. Rose High School and University of Notre Dame, where he was a star of the stage in musical theater. He met his wife Diane Hauenstein at Esther Toy’s piano school when they were four years old. They hosted a radio show on etiquette in high school and re- met in San Francisco following his stint in the Navy while she was working as a window dresser at Gump’s department store. She had accidentally dyed her hair lavender and was wearing a plaid lavender coat. He said she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. In the Navy, David was the navigator of a Super Constellation airplane during the Cold War based out of Iceland. They “flew the barrier”, guarding the approaches to the US against possible intrusion by Soviet bombers. Some of his best bedtime stories were about air drops of party supplies to their squadron and running with the bulls in Pamplona. He and Diane moved to New York following their wedding, then made their way to the North Shore of Chicago over 50 years ago, residing in Winnetka until her death in 2009 and his on June 19, 2025 at 88 years old. He went peacefully at home, as he desired. His titles included NBC page, commodities broker and Senior Vice-President at Salomon Smith Barney. He was running his own financial group managing pensions for clients such as the Teamsters Union and the New Orleans Firefighters when he retired well into his 70’s. He and Diane had a second home in the French Quarter of New Orleans because they liked the way people sat on their front stoops and laughed, and he received a key to the city. He traveled extensively, including yearly Ireland trips with his Boston pals, and in his later years often with his daughter Carrie and her family. He was dapper, he could talk his way in anywhere and he made friends everywhere he went. He loved giving Chicago walking tours, Broadway shows with the Donahue gang, fishing trips with the Tebbens, playing piano for sing-alongs, roller coasters, yacht clubs, Heath bars, steak and potatoes, and praying to Saint André for you. He was a very generous lifelong Democrat, a feminist, and he had a knack for finding the shyest person in the room and bringing them out of their shell. He was truly one-of-a-kind with a deep dulcet voice and an easy, unmistakable laugh. He will be forever missed and appreciated. Papere was predeceased by his wife Diane Shanahan, his brothers Jack and Bill, his sisters Gerry (Tebben) and Peach (O’Donnell), and is survived by his sons Christopher and Douglas, his daughter Carrie Shanahan (Kirk McCall) and his beloved grandson Mies McCall, whom he held when he was five minutes old. Visitation will be held on Saturday, July 19th, Sacred Heart Church, 9:30 AM, 1077 Tower Road, Winnetka, IL 60093, until time of the Funeral Mass at 10:30 AM. Interment St Mary's Cemetery in Lake Forest, Illinois. Lunch at Del Rio immediately following. Page 68 of 71 ATTACHMENT D Page 69 of 71 Page 70 of 71  795 PINE CORP 6342 W. Irving Park Rd Chicago, IL 60634 Date: 1/28/2026 Demolition Schedule Project Address: 795 Pine Street, Winnetka, IL 60093 Purpose: Permit Application – Demolition Demolition Timeline: • Start Date: April 1, 2026 • End Date: April 15, 2026 Notes: • Dates listed above are hypothetical and provided for permit application purposes only. Actual dates may vary based on permit approval, inspections, and site conditions. Page 71 of 71