The Oldest House in Chicago:
The Noble Seymour Crippen House

In 1833, Mark and Margaret Noble purchased 150 acres in the area and built the first frame house in the township on the top of Union Ridge, a glacial moraine and once the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The home is the oldest existing home in Chicago.

The Norwood Park Historical Society launched a whole house restoration and landscaping improvements, in cooperation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. The goal was to restore the house to its early 20th century appearance. Fortune Restoration Contractors was entrusted with the restoration of the exterior of this National Landmark.

The Noble Seymour Crippen House was designated a City of Chicago Historical Landmark on May 11, 1988 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 11, 2000.

Some areas required up to 90% removal of paint by sanding and grinding. The quality of a restoration can only be as good as the preparation—a Fortune Restoration trademark.

173 years of weather and countless coats of paint, required exhaustive preparation to restore the exterior to its original character.

Today the Nobel house enjoys a crisp look. All the surfaces were thoroughly prepped, sanded, filled, primed and painted with the highest quality paints by Fortune Restoration Contractors. The Norwood home has regained its youthful appearance from the turn of the 20th century.

"It has once again been my pleasure to work with you and your painting crew to get the east side of our historic, Noble-Seymour-Crippen House stripped and painted this past spring. All the young men on the assigned crew were courteous, ambitious and thorough in completing their job. As usual, they went the extra mile..."

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