 |
 |
| The House that Jan and Angeline Built |
| 2819 Melvina Avenue, Chicago, Illinois (1959) |
| Left: Jan (John) Karpinski (1894-1972) |
|
Right: Angeline (Glowiak) Karpinski (1892-1982) |
| A relative snapped this shot in the summer of 1959 during a visit from son Edward and |
| family. The house, built in 1915, included outer walls of distressed (used) bricks and |
| a large open wooden front porch; however, in the late 1950's, the front section of the |
| house was extended and enclosed. Unfortunately, the original style of brick no longer |
| existed and could not be properly matched, so new red bricks were employed, resulting |
| in an unusual patchwork appearance. Following Angeline's death in 1982, the house was |
| sold to an unidentified man who kept it approximately ten years. By September 2000, |
| the third owners of the house, the Martinez family, had lived there eight years and had |
| renovated the interior, but the exterior of the structure remained virtually unchanged |
| from 1959. In conversation, Mrs. Martinez recalled seeing Jan Karpinski's name on the |
| blueprints to the building. The photo below was taken in September 2000. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The entire neighborhood had undergone a transformation in recent years; no longer an |
| exclusively Polish enclave, it now displayed a wide ethnic diversity, impressive with its |
| clean sidewalks, tidy yards, and neatly trimmed lawns -- a proud corner of the city. |
