The Villa District, also known as Villa Historic District, ( pl, Polskie Wille) is a historic district in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States. It is located on Chicago's Northwest Side within the community area of Irving Park. Its borders are along Pulaski Road to the west, the Union Pacific/Northwest rail line to the north, Hamlin Avenue to the east, and

Addison Street Addison Street is a major east–west street on the north side of Chicago and its western suburbs. Wrigley Field is located at 1060 West Addison Street, which is the home of the Chicago Cubs. Chicago communities From east to west: *Lake View (City ...

to the south. Located directly north of the Wacławowo area of Avondale, the Villa District is serviced by the Blue Line's

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...

street station. The district was built in 1902 by a number of architects, many of them visibly influenced by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

Prairie Style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

of architecture. Most notable among these were

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

designed by the architectural firm of Hatzfeld and Knox, whose partner Clarence Hatzfeld would later design the fieldhouse and natatorium at Portage Park. The area was originally developed as the "Villa addition to Irving Park" and showcases many unique Craftsman and

Prairie style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

homes fronting on picturesque

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

style streets. Although St. Wenceslaus church, a majestic Romanesque-

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

hybrid draws many of the tourists visiting the area, this historic church is actually a few blocks south of the district's formal boundaries. The Villa district was the northwest "bookend" for Chicago's vaunted ''Polish Corridor'' along Milwaukee Avenue that extended from

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

and Ashland Avenue at

Polonia Triangle Polonia Triangle ( pl, Trójkąt Polonijny), also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown area of Chicago. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in ...

. Journalist Mike Royko famously dubbed the area as the ''Polish

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

'' after the posh suburb of Chicago's North Shore. The Villa Historic District was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on September 11, 1979. Its area was increased on March 10, 1983 by the addition of the Villa Apartments, 3948-3952 and 3949-3953 W. Waveland Ave. The Villa District was designated a Chicago Landmark on November 23, 1983.

References

External links

The Villa Improvement League
{{National Register of Historic Places Historic districts in Chicago North Side, Chicago Neighborhoods in Chicago Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Houses completed in 1902 Polish-American culture in Chicago Populated places established in 1902 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Chicago Landmarks