Chicagoland Dream Houses

Siobhan Moroney is an associate professor of politics and the chair of American Studies at Lake Forest College.

"Moroney's book digs deep into the mid-century housing market and the mindset that produced so many homes after the Second World War and through to the present. . . . Readers may never see the vast stock of postwar homes the same way again. Not only did their designs refashion the family home, they created an ideal made possible by a combination of media attention, marketing and government intervention." --NewCity"An impressively documented work on an important, generally overlooked postwar homes competition. What makes the book exceptional is that it covers 'architecture and design for everyday life,' created by trained architects along with others, including those who were talented amateurs. That populist aspect makes Moroney's work compelling and very different from many other books."--John Zukowsky, author of Building Chicago: The Architectural Masterworks"An impressively documented work on an important, generally overlooked postwar homes competition. What makes the book exceptional is that it covers 'architecture and design for everyday life,' created by trained architects along with others, including those who were talented amateurs. That populist aspect makes Moroney's work compelling and very different from many other books."--John Zukowsky, author of Building Chicago: The Architectural Masterworks

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Shortages: The Postwar Housing Crisis and Architectural Competitions To the Rescue: The Chicago Tribune's Chicagoland Prize Homes Competition Spreading the News: Putting the Competition before the Public A More Permanent Legacy: Publishing the Prize Homes Book House Design and Domestic Life: Analyzing the Houses Modernism Skepticism: Contemporaneous Views of the Modern Aesthetic Competing Visions: Other Architectural Competitions Breaking Ground: The Building Project Houses in Flux: Prize Homes Houses Evolve Conclusion: A Competition Like No OtherAppendix I Known Entries to the Prize Homes Competition Appendix II Prize Homes Competition Winners and the Designs Known to Be Built Notes Index