Though the exact date is disputed, some time between 1905 and 1917 the founder of J.W. Allen & Company commissioned the English architect Allen Frank to design a residence at 175 N. Taylor Ave. in Oak Park.

This house is designed in the Tudor fashion, a style named after the royal line of King Henry the VII. “This dominant style of domestic building was used for a large proportion of the early 20th century suburban houses throughout the country,” according to “A Field Guide to American Houses” by Virginia and Lee McAlester. “It was particularly fashionable during the 20s and early 30s, when only the colonial revival rivaled it in popularity as a vernacular style.”

According to articles at the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest, most houses made in the Tudor style are made with an outer layer of stucco, masonry or masonry-veneer walls. Brick is also common, but gables (which are the places where two principal rafters meet) are usually made with stucco or masonry “infilling” between the half timbers. 

Other common features of Tudors include massive chimneys with patterned brick or stone work, often finished with decorative chimney pots, cylindrical pipes that were attached to the tops of chimneys so as to better ventilate them of smoke in the days when coal was burned in domestic housing. Other features include tall and narrow windows and false thatched roofs. 

As to the design of the house, I wish to give a word about the original owner. His name was John William Allen. According to the Made-in-Chicago Museum, Allen came to Chicago to make his fortune in the year 1872 with his life savings of $500. Much to his disappointment, he was relieved of his savings by a pickpocket at the Michigan Central Depot. 

In the years that followed, Allen toiled as an employee for the Chicago tea and coffee company called Lyman and Silliman. And after 10 years of this, he established his baking firm in 1881, which grew to produce bulk products for bakeries around the midwest.

According to a report that was published in the Oak Leaves in 1918, Allen passed away in his home some time during that year, and his son, Harry, became the head of the business. During the prohibition era, sugar had become a kind of substitute to liquor for consumers. And in light of this came a new success for the company. 

The Allen house at 175 N. Taylor Ave. stands as a reminder of this early 20th century success story and as a representative example of Tudor architecture in America.