64-Year-Old Zook Home in Hinsdale Gets Landmark Status

The Village of Hinsdale Board of Trustees unanimously approved local landmark status for a Harold Zook-designed home on North Washington Street at its meeting Tuesday night. 

The home was built by Zook in 1949, according to a letter to the village from owners Jean Follett Thompson and Doug Thompson. It was one of the last homes the Hinsdale resident designed, as he died that same year.

"The rough limestone walls, large windows and deep eaves of this split-level house are unusual in Zook's work, representing a more modern direction than his earlier Tudor designs," the Thompsons write. "The quality of the masonry and the heavy wood details are typical, but the breadth and simplicity of the windows and the rectangularity of the house are not."

"The house at 820 N. Washington is an excellent example of the work of R. Harold Zook and an important work of architecture for 1940s Hinsdale."

The Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) recommended landmark status at its Oc.t 8 meeting.

Local Hinsdale historic landmarks are legally protected from exterior changes “that would compromise its historical and architectural significance,” according to an HPC handout commissioner John Bohnen passed along. The HPC approves all exterior changes on such homes.

The status also helps protect homes against demolition and allows an owner who wants to renovate to participate in the state’s property-tax freeze program, which keeps property taxes on such homes from rising for eight years.

According to the historic preservation commission’s application for local landmark status, “In order to be eligible for designation as an Historic Landmark in the Village of Hinsdale, a structure or site must be at least 50 years old and must meet the designation criteria set forth by the Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission.”

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