History By Design: A modern shopping center for Hubbard Woods

In 1954, the retail strip mall at 67-95 Green Bay Road in Glencoe was opened as the Hubbard Woods Fashion Center. It included tenants such as the high-end jeweler C.D. Peacock and women’s clothes retailer Lane Bryant. Today as Hubbard Woods Plaza, it houses a mix of goods and services for local residents, stores like Binny’s Beverage Depot, Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts. 

This post-World War II shopping destination reflected a new look. It was unabashedly modern, rejecting all European influences, including the Tudor style that was embraced in the 1920s by developers of North Shore business districts. And it looks exactly as it did 75 years ago.

The design of this plaza is all about geometry, with no ornamentation to distract from the names of the businesses located there. The signage is meant to be seen by passing cars, and there was ample parking right in front of the shopper’s destination.

The first strip mall center as we know it today was built in 1930 and called ”Park and Shop.” Located in Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C., the mall was L-shaped with plentiful on-site parking space in front — at that time a novelty. 

For many years the property where the Hubbard Woods Fashion Center is located was used as a lumber yard. In the late 1930s, a movie theater was proposed for the site. It was to be named the Glen-Win and designed by Rapp & Rapp, the go-to architects for Chicago movie palaces. But this entertainment venue did not materialize.

The Fashion Center was designed by the architectural firm of Cone & Dornbusch, which was established in 1950. Spencer B. Cone and Charles H. Dornbusch were the principals. In 1938, Dornbusch had designed an addition to Ten Chimneys, the country house of acclaimed actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, west of Milwaukee. The firm received honors and citations for excellence in the design of shopping centers and schools. As part of its practice Cone & Dornbusch designed an addition to Glencoe’s Central School in 1968. 

The convenience of stopping on the way from dropping off kids at school or from work remains immensely popular. Although large indoor malls are struggling, the construction of strip centers easily accessible from a major thoroughfare like Green Bay Road is booming. There are over 68,000 strip malls across the country. The opportunity to visit one that is architecturally enticing like the Fashion Center speaks to the importance of preserving its design.

History By Design is The Record’s 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.
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