555 Cherry

The expansive Queen Anne Victorian at 555 Cherry was built c. 1876 for Jennie and Alexander J. W. Copelin, son of notable early settlers Thomas and Julia Copelin.

Alex, as he was known to his friends and family, was born in New York in 1850 and moved to Chicago at a very young age. His father, Thomas, was a pioneer photographer in the city, eventually becoming the oldest person in the city working in the business. Alex followed in his father’s footsteps and by the he was 20 years old, was working as a “photographic artist” at his father’s company. In the early 1870s, Alex became a partner in the business and it was renamed Copelin & Son.

In 1872, shortly after the Chicago Fire devastated the city, the Copelins moved to Winnetka and purchased the house at 559 Oak. Alex moved with his parents at first. In 1874, however, he met and married Jennie Izgard in Kalamazoo, MI. The couple first moved into an apartment in the city before moving back to Winnetka around 1876.

Like many early settler homes, the exact build date of this house is unclear. City directories show that Alex and Jennie were living in the city in 1875 and had moved to Winnetka a year later. In the 1880 census, they are listed in Winnetka at a separate house from his parents, living with their young daughter Amie and son Bertram. Since our records indicate that this house was built by Alex Copelin, it was likely built upon his return to Winnetka in 1876 or shortly thereafter.

Like his father, Alex became quite successful as a photographer. As demand grew, he increasingly focused on commercial photography. In the early 1900s, he and Jennie moved to Hyde Park, where they lived until Alex’s death in 1923.

Since the Copelins lived here, there have certainly been changes, most notably the large addition that makes up the left half of the house, which was added sometime after 1990s or early 2000s.