Historic Gold Coast cottage faces critical juncture

It stands as a historic reminder--albeit, a somewhat dilapidated reminder of Chicago's illustrious past.

Built sometime in the months following the Great Chicago Fire, a cottage on North State Street once housed the men charged with rebuilding the City of Chicago, but that was 140 years ago and now it's been sold and is slated for demolition -- a decision that has those who live in the neighborhood divided

"I did not know it's history until I read it a couple of weeks ago," Lorelei Mayhan, a longtime Gold Coast resident said. "Please, please save this building, for all of us."

Next-door neighbor Getty Hill isn't quite so enthused about the building's significance

"I personally think it should get ripped down, they've had a lot of rodent problems and such," Hill said. "A lot of people who live right over here, my other neighbors, we've all been significantly impacted and we've had to call the city numerous times."

The cottage isn't the first historically significant structure on the block to be sold. However, past developers spent time and money preserving the facades of the many smaller condominiums and townhomes that now line the street. 

"David Adler, the famous architect we just had four of houses landmarked in the past few months, the famous architect, who was known world wide for his houses actually lived across the street and remodeled that building and yet restored the facade respected its architecture and made it fit for him. I think we could do the same here," Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said.

There is no definitive word on what the buyer has in mind for the home. Still, some believe it's destined to be torn down and replaced with something much larger, housing a lot more people.

"I think it should have been afforded landmark status and I wasn't involved enough to let my views be known but I think it's beautiful and I think it's unfortunately a hallmark of corporate greed," resident Stuart Katz said.