Source: Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
Design
Chicago Workers Cottages Gave Immigrants Access to Homeownership
The cottages’ modest design provided entry-level homes after the Great Chicago Fire. Attempts to preserve them now reflect the ongoing struggle for affordable housing.
(This article is part of Bloomberg CityLab’s series exploring the iconic home designs that shaped global cities. Read more from the series. Get the next story sent to your inbox by subscribing to the CityLab Daily newsletter.)
With their steep gables and simple details, Chicago’s workers cottages can seem today like quaint remnants from another time. Yet the cottages are in many ways the building blocks of the city’s modernity, precursors to the suburban building boom of the 20th and 21st centuries.