Chicago is known for its diverse, unique neighborhoods. The city's "Bungalow Belt" neighborhoods were vital to both the expansion of Chicago and the success of families immigrating here from across the country, and other parts of the globe. With more than 80,000 bungalows still standing today, the housing style represents nearly one-third of the city’s single-family housing stock.
Chicago's Bungalow neighborhoods remain affordable, great places for homeowners to raise a family, work and play. We periodically feature Bungalow neighborhoods – their history, local amenities and vital information – for those interested in touring or moving to a great Chicago community.
The Association has designated several areas within these neighborhoods as Historic Bungalow Districts on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rogers Park Manor Bungalow Historic District
Amidst the post-WWI building boom, one-and-a-half story brick bungalows in Rogers Park Manor led the expansion of single-family homeownership. By the late 1920s, large and elaborate homes in the district challenged the accepted idea of the Chicago bungalow. Learn more from the tour booklet for the Vernacular Architecture Forum's 35th Annual Conference in Chicago.
South Shore Bungalow Historic District
South Shore facilitated the American dream of homeownership for many middle-class Chicagoans in the 1910s and 1920s. Yet, while middle-class European Americans were free to buy homes in any Bungalow Belt neighborhood, middle-class African Americans were limited to a few areas of the city. Learn more from the tour booklet for the Vernacular Architecture Forum's 35th Annual Conference in Chicago.