7424 N. Paulina Street
7424 N. Paulina Street, M.L. Gordon, 1919.
7424 N. Paulina Street, the Bob Vernille and David Thompson Home
29th Annual House Tour, pages 16 & 17.
Built circa 1914, the home at 7424 N. Paulina Street just celebrated its 100th year as a Rogers Park Prairie School style home. Its first residents are presumed to be the Weimar family, including Fred Weimar, a sailor, and his brother George Weimar. Other family members who lived in the home until about 1920 include Fred's sister Christina Weimar Lovdall, George Lovdall, and Martha Lovdall. The 1920 Census shows that the home had passed to Meyer Gordon, a Russian immigrant and broker. His wife Celia Gordon presumably gave birth to their four daughters there and reared them, at least in the early years, with the help of their Russian house maid Irene; the original structure of the home included a back staircase that led to a small servant's room in the southwest corner of the upstairs.
The Gordon family remained in the home until Meyer's death in August, 1951. Wife Celia put the house on the market within a month of Meyer's death. It was purchased by Congregation Anshe Lubavitch and converted into a synagogue. The congregation diminished throughout the '60s and '70s, and despite calling in the neighboring Catholic boys in order to have males to celebrate the Saturday Sabbath, eventually dissolved. The house was sold in 1986 to developers who converted the synagogue back into a single family home. As a result of this conversion, the only original fixtures are the two small, stained glass windows in the living room.
Paul Cekan purchased the home in October 1990. He lived there with his partner Karen Hoover and their children until 2002. Mr. Cekan had a psychiatric practice in the residence. The current owners purchased the home in April 2002 and undertook significant renovations, including replacing the roof, and all 33 windows and doors and refinishing the original floors. They finished the basement which now includes a home theatre, a full bathroom, and a wine room.
