Pacesetter Gardens Historic District

The Pacesetter Gardens Historic District is a historic district encompassing twelve townhouses along South Lowe Avenue in Riverdale, Illinois. The townhouses were built in 1960 by Harry J. Quinn, a developer who constructed and advocated for multi-family housing. Prior to 1960, Riverdale was mainly a community of single-family homes; Pacesetter Gardens and another nearby development by Quinn diversified the city's housing and made it easier for lower-income residents to live there. Quinn, who was also an architect, designed the buildings, which feature simple exteriors with box bay windows and a horizontal emphasis. Ten of the twelve townhouses have eight units, while the remaining two have four and six respectively. Quinn planned each unit according to minimum house design, a technique popular with housing reformers that emphasized compactness and eliminated less essential rooms such as hallways and dining rooms.[2]

Pacesetter Gardens Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	13604-13736 S. Lowe Ave., Riverdale, Illinois
Coordinates	41°38′48″N 87°38′14″W
Area	7.3 acres (3.0 ha)
Architect	Harry J. Quinn
NRHP reference No.	05001252[1]
Added to NRHP	November 16, 2005

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 2005.[1]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
2. Bluestone, Daniel (July 15, 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Pacesetter Gardens Historic District" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Division. Retrieved July 4, 2020.