Trim Houses beautify Chicago & 33rd

by Sara Dick

The two-story houses at Chicago and 33rd stand out in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood for their intricate exterior woodwork: rosettes, cutouts, grooved siding, and custom-turned posts.

The ornamentation began when Paul Amundson purchased 3245 Chicago as a thirtieth birthday project for himself. The year was 1995, and he bought the property for $29,900 as local property values were dropping. Amundson bought the house next door three years later and began replacing and adding trim to it, too.

The houses were always a financial loss to him, Amundson said, but “I was doing what I liked.” And he hoped eventually to rent them as upscale units. “I call it ‘queened out,’” as in Queen Victoria and Victorian-style homes.

It took Amundson more time to prepare the equipment and cut the pieces than to attach the woodwork to the houses; making the porch posts alone took six months.

He lived in 3245 Chicago and rented the other half for most of his years as owner, but 3247 sat empty except for Amundson’s brief stay—in true pioneer spirit—without running water.

Then came another Paul. In May of this year, Paul Bertelson made Paul Amundson an offer. The property values had nearly quadrupled since 1995. Amundson decided it was “time to walk away,” and Bertelson acquired the two Victorians.

“We didn’t exactly have the same idea” for the houses, said Bertelson. “He had invested a lot of time into the—into the—oh golly—the very intricate artwork.”
Bertelson’s priority is affordable, livable housing, though he plans to accent the solid tan houses with decorative colors. His main interest in the properties is having them occupied.

He hopes he’ll have the houses filled by October 1, and is open to tenants with Section 8 vouchers. Each house will have one two-bedroom apartment and one three-bedroom apartment—and great woodwork.