Michigan-Lee is a historic Evanston Landmark

The building was selected for inclusion in the Inventory of Historic Structures in Evanston, Cook County, prepared in October 1972 by the Illinois Department of Conservation.  From the nominating documents....

Date of construction:  1928
Significant alterations:  1949  
Two basement apartments were constructed


This three-story and English basement brick apartment building is unique in Evanston.  It wraps around a very private interior courtyard accessed from the corner circular drive.  The building's style is decidedly Georgian. Mainly red brick, it has a limestone water table, sills, quoining, parapets, urns, coping stones and blind balustrades.  The sunken courtyard is entered via a narrow stair.  Radiating from a central planting are paths leading to the three tiers of apartments.  Each of the three gracious double-door entries is surrounded by four round columns and flanked by iron lamps.  The building contains apartments of 4 to 7 rooms. The apartments are very light and well ventilated with triple floor-to-ceiling French windows topped by segmental arches in the living and dining rooms.  The apartments have arched doorways between the rooms and slightly coved ceilings. The building was constructed with nine inside garage spaces.

The Michigan-Lee is a noteworthy example of an elegant Georgian building, unusually sited so as to provide a formal and intimate courtyard space graced with handsome architectural detailing.  Occupying roughly 50% of the lot, this building provides its tenants with amenities and a home-like atmosphere you would expect to find in a single-family dwelling; gracious entries, spacious rooms, elegant window detailing, wood-burning fireplaces, garage space and ample closets.  Its high architectural quality, human scale and lovely gardens easily relate this distinctive apartment building to the single-family residential section which is included in the Evanston Lakeshore Historic District just north of Lee Street.