495 Ash

The lovely Spanish Revival home at 495 Ash was designed by Chicago-based architect Arthur Huen.

Huen was born in 1866 in Saginaw, MI. After training as an architect in Michigan, he moved to Chicago to work as a draftsman for Francis Whitehouse, who designed the Festive Hall at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, as well as several other buildings and homes in the city. When Whitehouse retired in 1893, Huen took over his practice and continued to grow his reputation as a talented architect. He went on to design several notable buildings, including the Mellody Farm Estate home (now Lake Forest Academy), the William McCormick Blair house on Astor St. (demolished in the 1970s), the Casino Club of Chicago and the Art Club of Chicago.

Huen designed the house at 495 Ash in 1910 for F. J. Leuttig (or Leutig), though he doesn’t appear to have ever lived in the house. In fact, we were not able to find any record of anyone with that name in Winnetka within several decades of when the house was built. Thus, it seems likely that he commissioned the house as a rental and rented it out for many years.

It is likely, then, that Nathan and Florence Klee, who were renting the property by 1917, were the first residents. Nathan Klee was born in Germany in 1875 and immigrated to the US in 1890. While living in the Chicago area, he met and married Florence Thalhimer in Evanston in 1910. Little else is known about the Klees other than the fact that Nathan worked in insurance while living in Winnetka.

What is most notable about this property is its style. This is one of relatively few examples of the Spanish Revival style in Winnetka. According to a survey conducted by an architectural historian in 1989, the leaded glass windows with stained glass detailing on the door and windows make this house particularly notable.