The home and studio R. Harold Zook built for himself in 1924 are getting a second life as a public gathering space in Katherine Legge Memorial Park, and the Hinsdale Historical Society is raising $1.5 million to make it happen.
The project, called Zook Commons, aims to transform the relocated buildings at 5901 S. County Line Road into a European-style dog-friendly cafe, a museum documenting Zook's architectural influence on Hinsdale, and an event space for classes, exhibits, and community programs. Architect Michael Abraham, a Historical Society trustee who has served as lead architect for Zook renovations across the village, is designing the interior conversion.
Abraham detailed the plans at a Thursday, June 4 lecture at the KLM lodge, part of the Hinsdale Public Library's free "After Dark on the Road" series. He framed Zook's work not as quaint nostalgia but as something more consequential.
"It wasn't just a cute aesthetic. It was part of a revolution," Abraham told the crowd.
Zook designed approximately 34 homes and commercial buildings in Hinsdale during his career, including the KLM lodge that sits next door to his relocated home. His signature details include rolled-eave roofs, chevron patterns in wood and brickwork, spiderweb window motifs, and exposed beams carved on site. According to village records cited in a 2005 Chicago Tribune report, seven of his Hinsdale homes were razed in the decade before the Historical Society moved the Oak Street buildings to Katherine Legge Memorial Park to save them from a developer's demolition order.
That 2005 rescue cost about $240,000, funded by an anonymous donor. Twenty years later, the buildings need significant work. Historical Society Treasurer Katie Crotty said the home and studio are "in dire need of updates or we fear they will be forever lost."
The society launched its Zook Legacy Campaign at its 50th anniversary celebration in 2025. In December 2025, Landmarks Illinois awarded a $2,500 grant from the Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund to support a National Register of Historic Places nomination and building assessment. Suzanne Germann, Landmarks Illinois director of reinvestment, said the National Register listing would position the society to pursue additional funding.
The society's annual Kitchen Walk, held in spring 2026 under the theme "Legacy Illuminated," sold out within seven minutes and directed all proceeds to the campaign. Historical Society President Alexis Braden called the home and studio "a perfect fit" for KLM and for Hinsdale. In January 2026, Braden said the society planned to begin demolition and renovation work in summer 2026. The society has not publicly updated that timeline.
No village board approval is required for the capital campaign, which is a private fundraising initiative. The exact amount raised toward the $1.5 million goal has not been publicly disclosed.
The village's Historic Overlay District, established by unanimous board vote on September 20, 2022, already offers property tax rebates, matching grants up to $10,000, and zoning flexibility to owners of historically significant homes. If Zook Commons opens as planned, it would add a visible public anchor to that preservation framework on a site where Hinsdale's most celebrated architect once drew his sketches.
