Right ahead, you’ll spot a grand, classic house with weathered brown shingles, a broad porch, and a chunky white garage-just keep your eyes on the homes nestled between the tall, bare trees lining the avenue.
Welcome to the Hazel Avenue/Prospect Avenue Historic District-step back in time to when Highland Park was the place to escape the noisy city and catch some serious “resort vibes.” Imagine, it’s the early 1900s, and well-dressed families arrive by horse and carriage, laughter drifting through the air as vacationers unpack their trunks for a summer of lakeside fun. Some of Highland Park’s most famous folks called these streets home-like Elisha Gray, the telephone inventor who almost beat Alexander Graham Bell to the punch. Picture Gray in a little cottage at 333 Hazel Avenue, wires everywhere, making history while probably grumbling about dropped calls even before they were a thing.
This district isn’t just about cottages; it’s sprinkled with dream homes by renowned architects. At 289 Prospect, you’ll find a Colonial Revival masterpiece by Howard Van Doren Shaw, whose name sounds almost as impressive as his blueprints. There’s drama here too-homes at 178, 203, and 215 Prospect might be Shaw’s designs, but nobody can quite agree. The Wildwood complex, a set of four summer houses nearby, all shared a single dining room-imagine sibling squabbles over pancakes echoing out the windows.
Not far away, famous author Edith Neisser once raised children (and eyebrows) at 239 Hazel, while Henry Lytton, the department store tycoon, enjoyed southern-style living at 276 Hazel. The gardens? Designed by Jens Jensen, they were good enough to inspire their own little cabin-eventually scooped up and moved to the Heller Nature Center. Wander further and you’ll find Highland Park’s City Hall, the public library, a lone church built in 1941, and even a log cabin dating back to 1847-home to Franz Stuppi and now part museum.
Every creak of these old floors, every rustle of leaves, tells a story-making this district one of Highland Park’s true treasures.
