The Aitken Building

While the Tudor-style building on the northwest corner of Gage and Green Bay looks modern, portions of it surprisingly date back to the late 1800s. Built by Swedish immigrant Carl Forberg, it was originally constructed on Gage Street between Green Bay (then called Linden Avenue) and the train tracks where the southern side of Hubbard Woods park is located now.

With retail on the bottom and apartments on the top floors, the Forberg building was the center of Hubbard Wood’s downtown in the early 1900s. By 1920, the building housed several businesses in its retail spaces, including Forberg’s Grocery at 1059 Gage, the Hubbard Woods Post Office at 1061 Gage, H. E. Odhner’s Tailor Shop at 1063 Gage, and William Aitken’s real estate office at 1065 Gage.

When Carl Forberg died in early 1921, the Forberg building was left without an owner. Later that year, the Winnetka Park District condemned the building to clear the land for a park. Rather than demolish the building, they solicited bids to move it from the property.

William Aitken, a tenant in the building with a successful real estate development business, clearly understood its historic value and purchased it from the Park District for $5,000. Aitken then paid $6,000 to move the 55-by-95 foot building across Green Bay Road to the northwest corner of Gage and Green Bay.

William Aitken, a tenant in the building with a successful real estate development business, clearly understood its historic value and purchased it from the Park District for $5,000. Aitken then paid $6,000 to move the 55-by-95 foot building across Green Bay Road to the northwest corner of Gage and Green Bay.

Once in its new location, Aitken extensively remodeled the building in a Tudor style so it would blend seamlessly with the new construction that surrounded it.

Aitken was proud of keeping the post office in continuous operation throughout the process of moving and construction. According a 1923 article in the Winnetka Talk, “Aitken decided that if Uncle Sam wanted to continue to do business ‘at the old stand,’ well, he could arrange it.” The article goes on to explain that “While the post office was ‘on wheels,’ he provided heat by electricity, although it was necessary to cut the wiring almost daily while the journey was underway.”

Once complete, the building (which was renamed the Aitken Building) quickly filled with new tenants. Notably, there has been a barbershop at 1083 Gage Street continuously since the Aitken building was completed in 1922. While it currently does not have any historic status, the building has been a major landmark in Hubbard Woods for well over 100 years.