7421 N. Sheridan Road

From HistoryWiki

7421 N. Sheridan Road was owned by brothers Ralph L. Atlass (1903-1979) and H. Leslie Atlass (1894-1960). Owners of the Mallory Battery Company, they started the radio station WBBM in their basement.

In 1985, 7421 N. Sheridan Road was owned by Bill and Jean Foss and was featured in the 1985 Annual Fall House Tour.

7421 N. Sheridan Road later became the Cats Cradle Bed & Breakfast. This was featured in Open House Chicago 2011.

In 2013, the name became The Lang House, a gay-owned B&B.

29th Annual House Tour Booklet, pages 20-21

Points of Interest (Walk-bys)

Built a few years after its next-door neighbor, The Lang House is an American Foursquare design that incorporates Prairie School-style elements sch as wide overhangs, asymmetrical facade, banded casement windows, and limestone coursing that delineates the spaces. It was designed by architect Edgar M. Newman and commissioned by Charles and Emma Lang. (The name of the house has been shortened.) Mr Lange owned the (then) largest Buick dealership in the world (Charles Lang & Brothers Company); it was inherited by his son Charles Lang, Jr. after his death. Charles Lang, Jr. and his wife and daughter, his mother Emma Lang and his brother Marvin Lang lived there through the 1940s. The mural in the parlor was created by renown Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha.

The basement of the home once housed a radio station that was the forerunner of WBBM. (The station later broadcast from the Broadmoor Hotel on Bosworth Avenue.) During another period the home served as a boarding house for students from Mundelein College. It is now operated as the Lang House Bed and Breakfast with five guest suites all including private baths. Co-owner Bruce Boyd serves on the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society Board of Directors.

Chicago Landmarks Historic Resources Survey

Architect: Newman, Edgar M.

Historic Name:

Community: Rogers Park (01)

Address: 7421 N. Sheridan Road

Constructed: Started in 07/01/1919

Classification: Building

Style: American Foursquare

Type: Single-Family Residence

Color Code: Orange

Landmark? N

National Register? N

Major Tenant:

Building Details: Prairie School

Pin: 1129312002