40 Somerset Road

One of a handful of houses in Blake Park built according to plans ordered through a catalog (see also 28 Somerset Road), 40 Somerset was based on a design from the Home-Builders' Catalog Company in Chicago. The company published pattern books with over 500 designs, which, according to a 1984 article in the Chicago Tribune, "for some odd reason all began with the letter 'A' -- from the 'Agate' and the 'Arbor" to the 'Alpena' and the 'Ainger.'" It is not known which design this house was based on.

The first residents of this house were Percival and Alice Greene, listed here in the Street List from 1929 to 1940. Percival Green (1887?-1971?) was listed as a manager, and later as an executive. He was shown as an assistant manager of plumbing supplies in the 1930 U.S. Census, which listed the residents as : Percival L. Greene, 43, assistant manager, plumbing supplies; Alice G. Greene, 42; Elizabeth J. Greene, 10; and James Greene, 9. The house was valued at $20,000.

Following the Greenes at this address, after a one year gap in the Street List, were Harriet J. and Raymond L. Miranda (1898-1969) who moved here from 3 Bradford Terrace. Raymond Miranda was listed as a salesman in the Street List. The house still belongs to the Miranda family, and is one of the few in Blake Park that is home to members of the same family that lived in it at the end of World War II.