Masonry & Tuckpointing in Highwood, Illinois
Every town on the North Shore wants to talk about the masonry on its estates. Highwood is where the men who laid it went home at night.
The town the North Shore was built from
Drive up Sheridan Road and the villages will tell you about their architects. Almost none of them will tell you who actually laid the stone. The answer, for a great many of those walls, is: men from Highwood.
Northern Italian immigrants came here in the 1920s from Modena, many of them by way of Dalzell, Illinois, a coal town down in Bureau County. By 1920 at least 60 percent of Highwood's grammar school children were of Italian descent. And the work those families did was specific: stone masons, plasterers, gardeners, chauffeurs, landscapers — serving the estates going up along the lake.
The limestone people photograph in Lake Forest and the brick they admire in Winnetka was cut, laid and pointed by tradesmen who finished the day and came back to this half-square-mile town. It is documented properly, in Adria Bernardi's Houses with Names: The Italian Immigrants of Highwood, Illinois, published by the University of Illinois Press. Italian is still the largest reported ancestry in Highwood, at 19.9 percent.
We mention it because it is the truest thing about masonry in this town, and because it sets a standard. Highwood knows what a real mason looks like. It has for a century.
What is actually made of brick here
Now the honest part, because plenty of contractors will not give it to you.
The verified masonry in Highwood is commercial: brick store fronts along Green Bay Road, often with offices or apartments above them, built largely between the 1890s and the 1920s. That is a real, specific, and frequently neglected tuckpointing market — and it is a harder, more valuable job than a house.
On the residential side: no source establishes whether Highwood's houses are predominantly brick or frame. Styles get reported as neo-classical, Italianate and Arts and Crafts bungalow, but that traces to a single uncorroborated source, so we are not going to build you a story on it. If your house is brick and predates 1930, everything below applies. If it is frame, it does not, and you should not be paying anyone to pretend otherwise.
How old the stock really is
Highwood incorporated in 1887 and had 1,575 people by 1900. But in ZIP 60040, 764 of 2,085 housing units were built in 1939 or earlier — about 37 percent. That is the largest single bracket, and it is a plurality, not a majority. The second-largest is the 1970s, at 361 units. Around 41 percent predates 1950.
Worth flagging: a widely-quoted summary of that same dataset asserts the majority of Highwood housing is pre-1950. Its own table does not support that. We used the table.
The mortar problem nobody mentions in the estimate
Anything here built before roughly 1930 — house or storefront — is carrying lime-based mortar, considerably softer than the Portland cement mixes standard on a modern job.
That softness is the design, not a defect. Lime mortar is the sacrificial element in the wall: it moves, it weathers, it takes the freeze-thaw damage — and the brick does not. When the joint fails, you replace the joint. The brick is untouched. Repoint with hard Portland cement and the relationship inverts: the joint becomes stronger than the masonry, and moisture that used to escape through the mortar leaves through the brick face instead, carrying expansion stress with it.
The result is spalling — faces flaking, popping, crumbling. A joint can be redone; a spalled face cannot, because that brick is no longer made. On a Green Bay Road storefront, that failure happens at eye level on your own shop front, which tends to concentrate the mind faster than a rear elevation would.
Nobody here is checking your mortar
Highwood has no historic preservation commission and no local landmark ordinance we could find. The City's boards are Ad Hoc Beautification, Fire and Police Commission, City Council, Committee of the Whole, the Downtown TIF Joint Review Board, General Public Hearings, the two pension boards, and Planning & Zoning. None of them is a preservation body. The Highwood Historical Society exists but is private and carries no regulatory role.
Which cuts both ways, same as it does in Kenilworth. No review means no delay, no hearing, no certificate on a straightforward repointing. It also means no safety net — nobody is going to stop a crew from putting a hard grey joint into a hundred-year-old wall. The diligence sits entirely on your side of the table.
And about Fort Sheridan
You will hear the Fort invoked in local masonry pitches, so here is where it actually stands. Sources conflict on whether any of the Fort Sheridan Historic District lies inside Highwood's corporate limits. Wikipedia describes the neighborhood as spanning Lake Forest, Highwood and Highland Park; the neighborhood's own site names Highland Park and Highwood only; the Library of Congress files the district under Lake Forest. We could not resolve it, so we are not claiming it.
What is verified is worth knowing anyway, because it is the best masonry story on this stretch of the lake: 94 buildings built 1889-1910, of which 64 were the first major works of Holabird & Roche — built of brick molded and fired on site, from clay mined out of the lakefront bluffs. The Fort is, quite literally, made of the ground it stands on. Just do not let anyone sell it to you as Highwood's.
Density changes the job
Highwood packs about 7,048 people per square mile into 0.72 square miles. That makes it dramatically denser than the rest of the North Shore — effectively urban, not suburban, and 100 percent built up.
That is not trivia; it is line items. Buildings sit close to or on the lot line. Elevations front the sidewalk. Staging, scaffolding and access are genuinely harder than on an estate lot with a lawn to park on. And on a mixed-use building the work has to be sequenced around tenants living above a shop that needs to keep trading. Those constraints belong in the quote — and a mason who has not walked the site cannot price them.
Questions worth more than a price per square foot
- Which mortar mix, matched to which brick, at what hardness? Listen for whether the answer references your existing mortar or a standard bag.
- Which joint profile — and does it match what is on the wall now?
- Where is the salvage brick coming from if any needs replacing?
- Who is doing the sample panel, and on which elevation?
- How is the old joint being removed? An angle grinder in the wrong hands widens joints and scars brick edges permanently.
- On a storefront: how do you stage around the sidewalk and the tenants, and who pulls the permit?
A mason who cannot answer those is not cheap. He is quoting a different job than the one your building needs.
Signs your masonry needs a look
- Mortar you can rake out with a house key, or that falls away as sand
- Joints noticeably recessed behind the face of the brick
- Stair-step cracking following the joints — usually movement, not weather
- Damp patches or white efflorescence on interior walls
- Spalling — brick faces flaking or popping off. Water is already getting in and freezing
- On a storefront: a parapet that looks bowed, or a cornice shedding material onto the sidewalk
- Open joints or a leaning stack on a chimney — chimney repair and rebuilds are where freeze-thaw shows up first
Any of these on a wall built before 1930 is worth attention before another freeze-thaw season. Chicago-area winters do the damage; the mortar just tells you first.
Highwood and the surrounding North Shore
Highwood sits wedged between Highland Park and Lake Forest — the two towns whose estate masonry its families largely built. If yours is a greystone, a landmark facade or a full estate elevation, start with our greystone, landmark and estate work, compare tuckpointing in Highland Park or Lake Forest next door, or browse every area we serve across Chicagoland.
Questions Highwood owners ask
Why does Highwood matter to North Shore masonry?
Because the trade lived here. Northern Italian immigrants arrived in the 1920s from Modena, many by way of Dalzell, Illinois, a Bureau County coal town. By 1920 at least 60 percent of Highwood's grammar school children were of Italian descent, and the men worked as stone masons, plasterers, gardeners, chauffeurs and landscapers serving the North Shore estates. The limestone and brick people admire in Winnetka and Lake Forest was laid by men who went home to Highwood at the end of the day. It is documented in Adria Bernardi's book Houses with Names: The Italian Immigrants of Highwood, Illinois, from the University of Illinois Press. Italian is still the largest reported ancestry in town at 19.9 percent.
Does Highwood have a preservation commission that reviews masonry work?
No. The City's boards are Ad Hoc Beautification, Fire and Police Commission, City Council, Committee of the Whole, the Downtown TIF Joint Review Board, General Public Hearings, the two pension boards, and Planning and Zoning. None of them is a preservation or landmark body, and no local landmark ordinance turned up. There is a Highwood Historical Society, but it is private and has no regulatory role. So nobody reviews your mortar here — which means no delay and no hearing, and also no safety net if a contractor specifies the wrong mix.
What masonry does Highwood actually have?
The documented masonry is commercial: brick store fronts along Green Bay Road, often with offices or apartments above them, largely built between the 1890s and the 1920s. That is a real and specific tuckpointing market. On the housing side, we will be straight with you — no source establishes whether Highwood's houses are predominantly brick or frame. Reported styles include neo-classical, Italianate and Arts and Crafts bungalow, but that comes from a single uncorroborated source. If your house is brick and predates 1930, the lime-mortar issue applies to it; if it is frame, none of this is your problem.
How old is Highwood's building stock?
Old, but not uniformly, and the number circulating is wrong. Highwood incorporated in 1887 and had 1,575 people by 1900. In ZIP 60040, 764 of 2,085 housing units were built in 1939 or earlier — about 37 percent. That is the largest single bracket but it is a plurality, not a majority, and the second-largest bracket is the 1970s at 361 units. Roughly 41 percent predates 1950. Worth knowing because a widely-quoted summary of the same dataset claims the majority of Highwood housing is pre-1950, and its own table does not support that. The lime-mortar conversation applies to the pre-1930 share.
Is the Fort Sheridan Historic District in Highwood?
We cannot tell you that it is, and you should be suspicious of anyone who claims otherwise. Sources conflict: Wikipedia describes the Fort Sheridan neighborhood as spanning Lake Forest, Highwood and Highland Park; the neighborhood's own site names only Highland Park and Highwood; and the Library of Congress files the historic district under Lake Forest. Whether any specific district building sits inside Highwood's corporate limits is not something we could verify. What is verified about the Fort is genuinely interesting for masonry: 94 buildings built 1889-1910, of which 64 were the first major works of Holabird and Roche, constructed of brick molded and fired on site from clay mined out of the lakefront bluffs. Just do not let a contractor sell you Fort Sheridan as Highwood's landmark.
Why is Portland cement mortar a problem on an older Highwood building?
Masonry built before roughly 1930 was laid in lime-based mortar, which is softer than modern Portland cement mixes. Lime mortar is designed to be the sacrificial element — it moves and weathers so the brick does not. A hard Portland cement joint reverses that. It traps moisture and transfers stress into the brick face, so instead of a worn joint you get spalling brick. Mortar can be replaced. A spalled face cannot, because that brick is no longer manufactured. On a Green Bay Road storefront that failure is at eye level on your own shop front, which tends to concentrate the mind.
Does Highwood's density change a masonry job?
Yes, more than people expect. Highwood packs about 7,048 people per square mile into 0.72 square miles, which makes it far denser than the rest of the North Shore and effectively urban rather than suburban. Density drives the practical side of masonry: buildings share or nearly share walls, elevations sit close to the lot line or the sidewalk, and scaffolding, staging and access are genuinely harder than on an estate lot. On a mixed-use building with tenants above a shop, the job also has to be sequenced around people living and trading there. Those constraints belong in the quote, and a mason who has not walked the site cannot price them.
How often does brick need tuckpointing in Highwood?
Brick on the North Shore generally runs 25 to 30 years between repointings, but that is an average, not a schedule. Exposure decides it. A storefront elevation facing Green Bay Road takes traffic spray, road salt and freeze-thaw that a sheltered rear wall never sees, and a parapet or a cornice on a commercial block is usually the first thing to go. On a mixed-use building the roof and parapet details matter as much as the face. Any mason quoting a whole-building number without walking every elevation is guessing.
How do I know if a mason is right for a Highwood building?
Ask which mortar mix, matched to which brick, at what hardness — and listen for whether the answer references your existing mortar or a standard bag. Ask about the joint profile, where salvage brick would come from if any needs replacing, and who does the sample panel and on which elevation. On a commercial or mixed-use building, ask how they will stage the work around tenants and the sidewalk, and who pulls the permit. A mason who answers only with a price per square foot is quoting a different job than the one your building needs.
Is MasonryPros.us a masonry contractor?
No. MasonryPros.us is a free matching service operated by Media Express LLC, a Chicago digital agency founded in 1995. We do not perform masonry work and we have no office in Highwood. You describe the job once, and we match you with local contractors who do that specific type of work. There is no obligation to hire.
What are the warning signs my Highwood masonry needs attention?
Mortar you can rake out with a house key or that falls away as sand. Joints recessed noticeably behind the face of the brick. Stair-step cracking, which usually follows the joints and points at movement rather than weather. Damp patches or white efflorescence on interior walls. Brick faces flaking or popping off — that is spalling, and it means water is already getting in and freezing. On a storefront, a parapet that looks bowed or a cornice shedding material. Any of these on a wall built before 1930 is worth a look before another freeze-thaw season.