Home Remodeling & General Contracting in Oak Park, IL

Oak Park has more architecturally significant houses per square mile than almost anywhere in America, and remodeling here comes with a responsibility that most towns do not impose. What you do to the outside of a house in the historic districts is reviewed, and what you do inside should still respect the way the house was designed.

The housing stock in Oak Park

The village runs from Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School houses and the concentration around Forest and Chicago Avenues, through Queen Anne Victorians and American foursquares, to 1920s brick two-flats and bungalows on the south end. Lots are narrow and deep, coach houses are common, and interiors are full of original quartersawn oak trim that is worth keeping and worth matching.

What that means for your project

Rear additions and kitchen expansions are usually the right move here because the front elevation is often untouchable. That means new work has to tie into old framing, old floor heights and old trim profiles — finish carpentry that matches rather than approximates. It is slower work and it is the kind we like.