View map and walking directions

Welcome to the Lester and Edith Gill House; built in 1930, as the development of Blue Island’s residential areas pushed northward with the construction of attractive, affordable, single-family homes like this.

Lester, born in Nebraska, married his Canadian-born wife Edith before making his way to Blue Island; we found the couple as early as 1930 living at 2246 Orchard Street, just before the completion of this home’s construction. They had one daughter, Mary Jane.

A “doctor of naprapathy” by trade, Lester and his family spent about ten years in the house before moving to Bradenton, Florida. A 1937 newspaper article in the Chicago Daily Tribune details a crackdown on 20 bogus doctors, with Lester named in the piece. While we don’t know exactly how this episode ended for the Gills, by 1940 they had moved to Florida, where Lester passed away in 1963 at the age of 76. His wife Edith passed away in 1971 at the age of 74, after moving to Lansing, Michigan a year earlier.

Following the Gills ownership, we found Martin (a chiropractor) and Mildred Tift living here in the 1950s, and in the 1980s and 90s, Raymond and Mary Elm owned the home – Mary was a member of Blue Island’s Historic Preservation Commission in the late 80s and early 90s.

You’ll find similar houses on this block, and all are examples of typical, affordable residential construction at the time. The materials and details used for this home and others surrounding it are similar to their slightly-larger cousin, the Chicago Bungalow, many of them likely offered via catalogs – making this possibly a second example on this year’s House Walk of a kit or catalog home.

You’ll start your tour of the home by viewing the second floor, before touring the first floor by beginning in the living room after you descend the stairs. You’ll finish in the basement, where you’ll exit through the walkout into the backyard, where you can enjoy some refreshments and chat with the homeowners.

Click here to return to the main house walk page