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| The House that Jan and Angeline Built |
| 2819 Melvina Avenue, Chicago, Illinois (1959) |
| Left: Jan (John) Karpinski (1894-1972) |
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Right: Angeline (Glowiak) Karpinski (1892-1982) |
| A relative snapped this shot in the summer of 1959 during a visit from son Edward and family. The house, built in 1915, included |
| exterior walls of distressed (used) bricks and a large traditional open wooden porch out front; however, in the late 1950's, Jan and |
| Angeline had the front extended and enclosed. Unfortunately, at the time of the renovation, the original style brick was no longer |
| available and could not be matched, so new red bricks were employed, resulting in an unusual, if not unique, patchwork design. |
| Following Angeline's death in 1982 (age 90), an unidentified man bought the house and lived in it for ten years. By September of |
| 2000, the third owners, the Martinez family, had lived there eight years and had renovated the interior, but the exterior remained |
| nearly identical to a 1959 photo. In conversation, Mrs. Martinez recalled seeing Jan Karpinski's name on the building blueprints. |
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| By September 2000, the neighborhood had undergone a transformation; no longer exclusively a Polish enclave, it now boasted |
| wide ethnic diversity, impressive with its clean sidewalks, tidy yards, and neatly trimmed lawns -- a proud corner of the big city. |
