History By Design: From Spanish Court to Plaza del Lago

History By Design is The Record’s new monthly column focusing on the North Shore’s special and influential architectural history. Local historians and authors Susan S. Benjamin and Robert A. Sideman write and research the column, and the Wilmette Historical Museum contributed photographs for this edition.

No Man’s Land, today Plaza del Lago, has an engaging history. It once consisted of 22 acres of unincorporated Cook County along Sheridan Road, extending from Chestnut Avenue in Wilmette north to the Kenilworth border.

The area was built out in 1927 and then included Spanish Court shops, the Teatro del Lago, and two Spanish-style beach clubs on the water: Vista del Lago and The Breakers.

No Man’s Land did not become part of Wilmette until 1942. Before then, property owners opposed annexation, fighting in court for “No Man’s Land of the Free.” 

Spanish Court was a strip of stores in the Spanish mode with beautiful tilework, decorative features and a picturesque bell tower. In the day, it included a tea room, San Pedro (where Convito is now), and a store famed for its bridal gowns, N.A. Hanna, near the bell tower.

Teatro del Lago was a Spanish-style movie palace with seating for 1,300. Vincente Minnelli, father of Liza Minnelli and husband of Judy Garland, was brought in to decorate the interior. Although some residents of neighboring towns resented the theater being open on Sundays, it was immensely popular, having been built just as talking pictures were being released.

The beach clubs were on the sandy shoreline, and remnants still existed until the 1960s, when the area officially became known as Plaza del Lago and modern high-rises were being built. 

Why Spanish? The style is associated with the Mission architecture of California — the stucco churches. But that is not the entire story. The 1920s was a time of glamour and Hollywood stars. European styles were becoming fashionable. The Spanish style, occasionally found in the design of North Shore houses, was considered exotic and attractive to people for shopping and entertainment. Country Club Plaza, a Spanish-inspired shopping center in Kansas City, was the rage and nationally publicized.

Spanish Court was car-centric. It was convenient and welcomed cars — with shops surrounding a large parking area. The number of cars after World War I grew exponentially. There were 7.5 million automobiles in 1920. Spanish Court was the first shopping center in the Chicago area not adjacent to a train station or business district.

The shopping center, like Market Square in Lake Forest, was designed by a distinguished architect, Edwin Hill Clark. He lived in Winnetka and not only designed many beautiful North Shore houses, but several high-profile public buildings, like the Winnetka Village Hall, the Lake Forest Library and Brookfield Zoo. 

During the 1920s, while the Spanish-style buildings were being constructed, the area along Sheridan Road was becoming commercialized, with tacky hot dog stands, fireworks stores and gas stations. The beach clubs fell victim to the Great Depression and were never completed. 

By the 1960s, the transformation was almost total. The Teatro closed in December 1965 and was replaced by the Jewel. Only fragments of the beach club structures remained. And the area was ripe for development. Spanish Court was renamed Plaza del Lago, considerably expanded and high-rises were built on the lake. Apartment buildings are an anomaly along the shoreline but are an important part of the story of the North Shore.

The Art Deco Miralago Ballroom, designed in 1929 by George Fred Keck, was a stunning part of the complex. Its fascinating architecture and its tragic loss will be featured in our next article on No Man’s Land.

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