Note: This story is the second of two on local architecture.
A homes tour in Flossmoor and Olympia Fields in 2023 was designed to promote the architectural gems in the village, but it ended up accomplishing something else — it was the spark for the creation of a community of mid-century modern architecture enthusiasts.
The Modernism Road Rally Tour of Homes in June 2023 brought about 500 people from around the region to see 13 homes. It was the second biennial tour founded by Flossmoor resident Scott Mehaffey, who is the executive director of the Edith Farnsworth House in Plano. The third tour was June 21 in Riverwoods.
One of the Olympia Fields homes on the 2023 tour is owned by Ed Peck and Katie Martin. After the tour, they founded the Southland Collective of Mid-Century Modern along with a core group of people whose homes were also on the tour.
SoCoMCM is a “nonprofit collective that advocates for the preservation of Chicago’s Southland Mid-Century Modern Architecture, Art, Objects and the Spirit of Modernism,” according to the organization’s website.
Peck said the key moment came the night before the tour when homeowners took a tour of their own to view each other’s homes. He said the group bonded during the ride on the trolley, suddenly relieved of the pressure to get ready for the arrival of people the next day.
“We had all had three or four months of prepping. I was out the week before with a headlamp on putting linseed oil on my house,” he said. “It was a relief because when we stepped on that bus, we were done.”
The tour also sparked appreciation for the variety of homes in the community.
“We were so impressed by everybody’s house because everything is unique and different,” Peck said.
Seeing the variety of architectural visions up close, inside and out, increased Peck’s appreciation for the quality of what the South Suburbs has to offer.
“You’ve got New Canaan, Connecticut. There’s a collection there that is like no other. There’s a collection in Palm Springs (California) like no other,” Peck said. “We have a collection that nobody knows about, but it’s at some level on par with those two places.”
The current condition of the whole collection might not rival those more famous places, he said, but the innovation demonstrated by architects working here does.
Among the goals of SoCoMCM is to develop a database of information about the homes in the area to document their historic and architectural features. That project will help with the larger goal of bringing wider awareness of the area’s architectural treasures.
While working on that larger mission, the organization has been active sponsoring events that bring together members and anyone else interested in mid-century modern art and architecture. Those events have included a happy hour at the Peck and Martin home in June, a picnic at Nathan Manilow Sculpture Garden on the campus of Governors State University in May and a tour of the Higgins Glass Studio with a reception at the Freeark House in Riverside in February.
The organization has more events coming this summer and fall, including a trip to the Edith Farnsworth House for live jazz on the lawn starting at 4 p.m. on July 26, a social gathering on Sept. 6 with details to come and seminar in October that will feature DePaul University Professor Marcy Dinius, who will talk about the work of McPherson, Swing & Associates, a Homewood-based architectural firm in the 1950s and 1960s.
For more information or to join SoCoMCM, visit socomcm.org.
Flossmoor architectural survey makes progress
Flossmoor has been working for several years, with help from volunteers, on creating an inventory of the village’s architectural gems.
Mayor Michelle Nelson said the work continues and is making progress.
“I recently proofed the initial batch, which we plan to host on the village website,” she said. “I don’t have exact timing for that project yet, but it is still happening.”
