In 1945, the Chicago Tribune sponsored a small house competition, with the intent to see some winning designs materialize in built houses. The parameters of the contest attest to the architectural and social norms of the day, and so did the houses built from winning designs. Over the years, the houses have been altered, demonstrating how the evolution of house design reflects and shapes our assumptions about how people live.

Siobhan Moroney is the author of “Chicagoland Dream Houses: How a Mid-Century Architecture Competition Reimagines the American Home,” and professor at Lake Forest College in the department of Politics & International Relations and in the American Studies Program.