Greystones are a style of residential building most commonly found in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois. As the name suggests, the buildings are typically grey in color and were most often built with Bedford Limestone quarried from South Central Indiana. In Chicago, there are roughly 30,000 greystones, usually built as a semi- or fully detached

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

. The term "greystone" is also used to refer to buildings in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Quebec, Canada (known in French as ''pierre grise''). It refers to the grey limestone facades of many buildings, both residential and institutional, constructed between 1730 and 1920.

History and usage

The building style first began to appear in the 1890s, initially in neighborhoods like Woodlawn and then North Lawndale, and Lake View, and continued through 1930s with two major approaches in design. The first style, between 1890 and 1905, was Romanesque in nature with arches and cornices. This initial style and the choice of grey limestone occurred as the city rebuilt and grew in economic power after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

in 1871, though the buildings were designed for a wide range of socioeconomic classes. The second style was predominately built in a Neoclassical design incorporating smoother limestone blocks featuring columns and bay windows. Greystones were built in a wide variety of sizes to accommodate different residential needs with most being two to three floors in size, many commonly containing two to three flats but some up to six. Regardless of their size, they were always built with the limestone facade facing the street to take advantage of the limited size of standard Chicago lots . There are an estimated 30,000 greystones still remaining in the city and many citizens, architects and preservationists are working to revive those that remain through the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative. Many greystones are preserved as the multi-family structures which they were designed and built as. Today, greystones often retain original Romanesque or Neoclassical details such as "roughly carved blocks of greystone and intricately carved column capitals," though many were built in other styles.

Styles

There are many different styles of greystones, with the City of Chicago defining most attributes for the style for landmark status.

Romanesque Revival

* "Heavy, rough-cut stone walls * Round arches and squat columns * Deeply recessed windows * Pressed metal bays and turrets"

Queen Anne

* "Rich but simple ornament * Wide variety of materials, including wood, stone and pressed metal * Expansive porches * Pressed metal bays and turrets * Irregular roofline with many dormers and chimneys"

Chateauesque

* "Vertical proportions * Massive-looking masonry walls * Ornate carved stone ornament * High-peaked hipped roofs, elaborate dormers and tall chimneys"

Classical Revival/Beaux Arts

* "Symmetrical facades * Minimal use of bays, towers, or other projecting building elements * Classical ornament, including columns, cornices and triangular pediments * Wide variety of materials, including brick, stone and wood"

References

{{Reflist

External links

Greystone Certification Program
American architectural styles Architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures in Chicago History of Chicago House styles