Apartment Houses for Thomas Hodgson

On two occasions, Silsbee was hired by carpenter T. J. Hodgson to design flat buildings for him.  The first was constructed in 1894 and the second in 1897.  The buildings are identical except for a slight change in brick type.  

They are simple buildings, each with a central entrance flanked by two-story bays above, on either side.  Much of the charcter of the structures is derived from this massing.  Besides the stone base and coins around the entry and some classical detailing with swags at the cornice, they do not have a lot of added detail.  They are typical of the kind of flat buildings that could be found throughout Chicago.

Hodgson was a contractor and built many fine homes around Chicago.  Silsbee may have known him through his association with construction at Edgewater as Hodgson worked on homes for J. L. Cochran there.