SOLD! A One-Family MCM Ranch by Edward Humrich Backing to Bonnie Brook Golf Course
Usually, when a modern architecture fan in the Chicago area hears the name Edward Humrich, there’s one place that comes to mind: Riverwoods. This is no surprise as Humrich, who was in real estate sales before becoming an architect, was chosen by steel magnate Edward L. Ryerson to be the recommended architect for the then burgeoning village in the 1950s.
In reality, Humrich designed homes in many Chicago-area suburbs. His preferred materials were Chicago common brick, limestone and glass, but he was also a man who could work on a client’s budget.
Like some of his contemporaries, Humrich believed that a home should go with the land it sits on, and not “violate the land,” as he put it.
So it was a fortunate circumstance that Betty and Ozzie Kalo and Edward Humrich had a mutual acquaintance.
“When my parents were ready to have a home of their own,” says Zari Kalo, the current owner of 2345 N McAree Road in Waukegan, “living in a cookie-cutter house, in a congested neighborhood, was not going to work for them.”
Through their mutual acquaintance, the Kalos hired Humrich to design & build a modestly-sized 1-story home on a beautiful lot they purchased in 1953.
“No homes existed to the north,” says Zari. “The land to the west was a hay field surrounding a lone silo. To the east was and still is the fifth fairway of Bonnie Brook Golf Course. The strips of lots surrounding the golf course are collectively known as Bonnie Brook Subdivision. Back then, only a few houses, including two Sears Roebuck homes, existed to the south along the narrow, meandering South Bonnie Brook Lane.”
As with many Humrich homes, there is a limited palette of materials: Glass, concrete block and wood are the three main ingredients that make up the home, with many walls being wood rather than drywall. Deep roof overhangs offer passive solar benefits, and the low, long profile of the house is a welcome and familiar sight to anybody familiar with Midwestern modernism.
That limited palette of materials automatically creates an elegance to the home, and belies the budget that the Kalos had set for their home.
“Edward Humrich was flexible in designing houses for various budgets, various needs and options for expansion,” says Zari. “His mimicking of Wright’s Prairie style homes with just one level was perfect for my parents and my paternal grandparents.
“Humrich also guided my father in acting as his own general contractor as a means of staying on budget. I remember my parents telling me that budgeting for the construction mortgage was a challenge. Despite both of my parents being college graduates who were gainfully employed, banks didn’t want to lend money for the project, with numerous lenders telling my father that the design was too avant garde and that it would likely be nearly impossible to sell the house should there be a mortgage default.”
The home Humrich designed for Betty and Ozzie, as initially built, was smaller than how it presents today. Originally featuring 3 bedrooms and a single bathroom on the main level, plus a combination kitchen and dining area, laundry room, screened in porch, a large living room with feature fireplace, and a carport for parking, the home was expanded at a later date.
The carport was later made to be part of the house and repurposed as a large kitchen & dining area plus a laundry room. The original kitchen and laundry area were reworked as a large storage closet, a 2nd bathroom, and a small office.
The partial basement, which has doors to the exterior on the north and east sides, was originally intended to be an office. Another bathroom is framed out and partially finished, and is usable as a 1/2 bath, and is also plumbed for a shower.
On the main level, at the north end of the home sits the living room, a generously-sized space with a large fireplace – a signature Humrich element – built of concrete block with massive limestone hearth at the front and a bank of large windows & doors at the back, essentially creating a wall of glass.
This space is rich with lovely architectural details, such as a pair of floating shelves on the north wall, exposed plank-and-beam ceiling, and lights that run along both the north and south sections of the ceiling, with a grid-like structure that’s ripe for some translucent panels.
In addition, you’ll notice here that the roofline pitches gently towards the front of the house, presumably to prevent the window line along the back of house from being spoiled by rain falling off the roof in inclement weather.
The furniture in this space, in particular a couple of sofas and a set of tables, were designed and created just for this space and will stay with the home.
One of my favorite elements of this room, though, is the glass door that sits at the west end of the north wall: A door that you can see out of as you’re walking down the hall from the other end of the house, once again creating that connection with the outside world and simultaneously adding natural light to the space.
Next down the hall are the three bedrooms and one of the full bathrooms, which sits between bedrooms 2 and 3. These three bedrooms and the bathroom are accessed by a second, smaller hallway running parallel to home’s primary hallway. This, in effect, creates a separate, private area for the bedrooms and bathroom.
The bedrooms have some common architectural and design features, such as wood battens that separate sections of the walls, and rich, wood sliding closet doors. Here again, you can see the pitch of the roof that rises toward the back of the home, making each space feel that much larger.
“The bringing of the outside to the inside via expansive windows throughout exists in this house,” says Zari. “Almost every room has a nearly floor to ceiling bank of windows; they open to the outside in the mode of French window doors.”
Past the front door is a glass vestibule of sorts that leads to the kitchen, which was refreshed in recent years with updated cabinets, stainless appliances and more. The laundry room and walk-in pantry are accessed through a doorway on the side of the kitchen.
A bank of large windows – essentially from just above the counter top up to the ceiling – covers the north wall of the kitchen, with another window on the west side, looking into the side entryway between the 2-car garage and the door into the laundry room & kitchen. With two sets of glass French doors at the back of the kitchen & dining area, the whole space is flooded with natural light, and offers views of the many beautiful, mature trees outside.
“I’m so glad my parents had the carport converted to be the kitchen and dining room,” says Zari. “The original kitchen was quite small, and creating this space really made the house into so much more than it was originally, which was already a beautiful home. Realistically, though, it was small, and this has really made the home feel so much bigger. On top of that, it’s allowed the kitchen & dining space to be the center of family activity.”
Toward the south end of the home are the large storage closet, the office and the screened-in porch.
“It’s unusual for a Humrich house to have a screened-in porch,” says Zari. “It wasn’t something he typically did. But it was important to my paternal Armenian grandparents, who also lived in the house, so they made sure he designed in one for them so that they could sit out there and enjoy days with nice weather.”
Step into and through that screened-in porch and you’ll be on the east side of the house, where a concrete patio stretches the entire width of the home.
“This is easily one of my favorite aspects of the house,” adds Zari. “The patio, including the balcony, run the north-to-south length of the house. Two steps down is the rock garden, with an almost 4 1/2 foot high granite pagoda from Kyoto, Japan. The step down toward the east is the approximately 40,000 gallon heated pool, surrounded by a custom deck. It’s the pulse of summer gatherings, or a tranquil escape when needed.”
This entire part of the back yard is fenced in, but beyond that the property continues for hundreds of feet toward a line of mature trees that separates the property from the fifth fairway of the Bonnie Brook Golf Course.
It’s interesting and clever how Humrich sited the house on its lot: The front yard is actually quite generous, and from the street, it’s impossible to see what’s behind the house. But once you’re in the house, looking outside one of the many windows along that rear window line, you can see that the back yard is 2 or 3 times bigger still.
In fact, it goes back so far that you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s somebody else’s property.
“Growing up, our house was always the hanging out spot for friends,” says Zari. “When my friends and I got older and started having our own families, friends would tell me they hoped to create the same kind of vibe at their houses, for their kids, that we had at ours when we were kids. It was a place where everybody wanted to be and that all the parents knew was a place where their kids could have fun and be safe.
“I think my parents, and my Mom in particular, were really proud of that. Not only that the house was a place where everybody loved to spend time, but that people were aware that it was special,” adds Zari. “Recently, friends have even said I should have a farewell party here before I sell the house. That this home has maintained a warm memory in so many of my friends for nearly six decades is amazing.”
Those warm memories will always stay with Zari, even though she’s now selling the house that’s been in her family for 71 years, as she plans to move out of state to be close to other family. It’s time for a new steward to live in and love this house, make their own memories, and be inspired by the simple elegance of this Humrich home.
“I remember my mother telling me that tradespeople who would come to the house to work on this or that over the years would make positive and admiring comments about the house. Given that they had been in a LOT of houses, it always made my mother feel proud about what they had built for our family. Even my son told me that this house was a factor in his decision to become an architect!”
This property sold on January 30th, 2026.
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