Neglected storybook house in Beverly heads toward a happy ending, thanks to $1.5 million state grant

The Eugene S. Pike House is storybook perfect: a quaint, wood and stone 19th century Tudor Revival home on the edge of a forest preserve.

But its story had been one of neglect in recent decades.

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County owns the home, near 91st Street and Longwood Drive, at the southern tip of 257-acre Dan Ryan Woods. But it lacked the cash keep it in good repair — or even fix up the house when its condition slipped.

However, the 132-year-old Beverly landmark might end up happily ever after, as the first phase of stabilization and repairs on the vacant building is likely to begin this spring following a $1.5 million state grant.

The funding was set aside in 2024 but wasn't able to be allocated until last month. That's when the Cook County Board approved a partnership agreement with the recently-created Eugene S. Pike House Foundation and the Beverly Area Arts Alliance that allows the groups to raise money for the home's rehabilitation and ultimately, use the building as the Pike House Community Cultural Center.

"There's a lot of us out here who really care deeply about preserving any historic property that can be preserved," Eugene S. Pike House Foundation President Grace Kuikman said. "But the Pike House — it's just special."

Once upon a time

The Eugene S. Pike House was built in 1894 as a gardener's cottage on what were then the grounds of Pike's 32-acre estate.

Pike, a real estate developer who helped downtown rebuild after the Great Chicago Fire of 1872, hired architect Henry Hale Waterman to design the small home.

Waterman's solution was perfect for the site: a picturesque home with a deep-pitched gable roof, rusticated sandstone base, half-timbering and prominent turret.

The American Institute of Architects Guide to Chicago said the house looks as if one could "expect Hansel and Gretel to come tripping past."

Waterman was just 25 years old and had made his bones as a draftsman, working in the downtown office of Joseph Lyman Silsbee, the architect whose firm had its share of giants on the rise, including Frank Lloyd Wright and George W. Maher.

In addition to the Pike House, Waterman designed at least 40 other structures in the Beverly and Morgan Park communities from the 1890s to the 1920s, including what was briefly his own home at 10838 S. Longwood Drive, which was built into the glacial ridge along Longwood Drive that marks the two neighborhoods. (A non-Beverly/Morgan Park Waterman design I've always liked is South Park Terrace at 61st and King Drive.)

Ridge Historical Society Director Tim Blackburn said most of Waterman's Beverly and Morgan Park work sits on or near the ridge.

"He just built so many houses and really used the ridge and the majestic hill [created by it] to its fullest effect," Blackburn said.

The Forest Preserve District bought Pike's estate in 1921, when the agency moved to create Dan Ryan Woods. The home was used as the Forest Preserve District superintendent's office then became the Dan Ryan Woods watchman's house in the 1960s.

More repair money needed

The $1.5 million grant will cover exterior repairs, Kuikman said. The home was in such bad condition that Landmarks Illinois listed it among the state's most endangered places in 2022.

"The roof is in terrible condition, and there's a lot of structural things that need to be replaced and saved and rehabilitated," she said. "Foundation issues need to be addressed in phase one [and the] beautiful red sandstone exterior that was common with those Waterman houses of that time."

Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore helped the home get funding. Legislation for the grant was sponsored by State Sen. Willie Preston (16th).

While Kuikman said repair work will begin in the spring, another $1.5 million or so will be needed down the road to repair the home's interior.

"The interior is in pretty sad shape," she said.

When the work is done, the home will be an asset to the area, Beverly Area Arts Alliance President Sal Campbell said.

The group will have discussions with the community about the building's future use, she said. But the organization envisions the home hosting exhibitions, classes and an artist-in-residence program that could feature "artists from all over the world to stay there and share their art," Campbell said.

"We want to draw people to that place," she said.