5240A
This first floor residence has been reconfigured to accommodate an interior entrance to the basement. The front hallway door has been removed so that the hall is open space. The unit’s front door is what was once the hallway door. The entrance to the apartment opens into the front parlor. Unlike the upstairs unit there is no small sitting room off this room.
The next room is the 2nd parlor with fireplace and original cabinet surrounding it. Again, there is a bay with one high window. The window trim moldings are complete with crowns. It is probable that the original wood was oak. It was painted by a previous owner.
The hallway to the rear opens to a bedroom on the right and the dining room on the left. In this room is the original built-in china-cabinet/buffet. Next to it is the doorway to the kitchen. Again, the high window allows for both light and privacy. This building was designed to be in a row of two and three-flats like those across the street. However, for some reason, the lots on this block did not sell and so, at a later date, they were purchased in a group to build larger buildings.
Back in the hallway there is the bathroom and then the back bedroom which is reached through the kitchen. The kitchen also has a small pantry. Although many Chicago two-flats are designed with the same arrangement of rooms, this one was given many custom touches by the architect. A.E. Norman went on later to build the Ebenezer Lutheran Church on Foster and many other homes and buildings in Edgewater.