It is move-in day for Ronald H. and Shirley Gliot and the Standard Moving Company truck from Chicago sits in the driveway. The number, 183, is drawn on the front window to denote the lot number in the new subdivision of the young village of Schaumburg.
The Gliots built this particular house because “they loved the modern design, radiant heat, wall mounted refrigerator, nice size yards [and] future schools in the neighborhood. As a young neighborhood, everyone had young families, was very social and everyone early on was friends!”
This was Ronald H. Gliot’s response to a question about the positives of moving into Schaumburg’s new Weathersfield subdivision in November 1960–just a year after Campanelli began construction of the subdivision.
The story began when his parents, Harold and Ava Gliot, bought a lot in Sunset Hills in the southern part of the township in 1957. They then purchased a “prefab kit house” to build themselves. Harold and Ronald largely accomplished that master feat on their own and Harold and Ava moved into the house in the same year.
Around the same time their son Ronald H. and his wife, Shirley, also bought property in Sunset Hills and, as their son Ronald D. said, “Grandpa stumbled upon the new Weathersfield models when going to buy eggs, and Mom and Dad sold the Sunset Hills lot and had the Weathersfield home built… the value was very good for very nice homes with sewer and water as part of it, and no hassle of building the home with similar costs.”
The lot the Gliots purchased in Weathersfield was in the original “W” section on Wedgewood Lane. The address was 48 Wedgewood but, as they bought so early, the property still resembled farmland. Notice the farm buildings in the background.
In the photo above you can even see some of the new Weathersfield homes going up behind where the young couple is standing. The roll of the land is more prominent and the rooftops are visible. It also looks as if a copse of trees has been preserved by Campanelli, the construction company.
Ronald D. said this photo was “taken looking east, with the big trees in the background being the spot of the old farmhouse/barn. In that time period, Springinsguth Road was considered “0” so we lived .48 miles west of Springinsguth.”
Even though, the parcel was purchased in 1959, construction did not begin until 1960. The first thing accomplished was the pouring of the concrete slab along with laying the piping for the utilities.
Next, the walls were framed in and the plywood went up. Here you can see the water lines coming out of the slab. The water was used for the radiant heat in the floors.
Other houses that have been built are visible out the front window. We can also see that the outline of the front door is in place. The Webster model that the Gliots had selected is definitely taking shape.
The Gliot house has now been completely framed in and the roof is in place with plywood on top. The house has a one-car garage and a large picture window in front. Note, too, that the sidewalk, and the curb and gutter, has been poured. The curve of the street is now somewhat obvious judging by the placement of the houses next door.
This photo was taken on the same day as the one above and it is now clear that some of the windows are installed. A pile of construction debris is at the feet of the Gliots and the front stoop is behind them. According to a couple of the commenters below, those concrete blocks that are on a slab to their right were used to create the fireplace that was then faced with brick.
Now the large front window has been installed and there are brick pillars holding up the eave over the front door and that same window. Maybe those concrete blocks in the photo above were used to create the pillars?
It is a few years later and the house has been finished, painted and decorated for Christmas. Snow covers the yard and the driveway has been shoveled. We can even see a couple of small trees that have been planted. What isn’t evident just yet are any television antennas on the Gliot’s house or on those of their neighbors.
These next two photos give you a good idea of why the Gliots loved the modern, stylish home they had purchased. The large front window very much says “mid-century modern” as does the front door with its three embedded panes. Even the divider between the front door and the living room has square lines to match those of the door and window.
It is Halloween and a young Ronald D. Gliot stands in front of three very modern appliances of the time. From the top down, we see that wall-mounted refrigerator that the Gliots appreciated so much. It is hung on the wall, just above Ronald who recalls that it was a GE. He also said, “Ours was a very typical late 50s/early 60s pink. They didn’t last real long as the compressor was at ceiling level and ran too hot, so most people ripped them out. My buddy’s up the street failed and they never took it down and just used it as a cabinet.”
Next is the clock radio sitting on the counter with its dial in the upper left corner that could tune in local radio stations. It probably had an alarm too. The pink appliance that is beneath the counter is a washing machine that came with the house. Can anyone tell us the brand?
According to Ronald, “The house also had a flush mount, in-counter stove and cabinet mounted oven as well. These were many of the things my folks liked and why they decided to buy there.”
The Gliots spent many good years in their house until they retired to Arizona. The Campanelli house served them well, gave them and their son good friends and a neighborhood they loved. It was, indeed, a fortunate day when Grandpa Harold Gliot took a drive to buy some eggs
Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org
My thanks to Ronald D. Gliot and his father, Ronald H. Gliot, for passing on these marvelous photos and for providing me with the details to write these last two blog posts on their family’s house building experiences in Schaumburg Township. They were able to answer every question I threw at them and that kind of recall is invaluable to local history. We are incredibly fortunate they took the time.
History of Schaumburg Township 