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The Oak Circle Historic District

Posted on March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 by Hunter

How A 156 Year-Old Chicago Suburb Withstood The Test of Time

Nestled in a corner of Wilmette, IL the 156-year old suburb north of Chicago and located on the Lake Michigan shore, stands the Oak Circle Historic District. It is a small grouping of 15 early twentieth-century houses. Each built primarily in the Craftsmen style with magnificent detailing from the Prairie School of Architecture, both which were born from the Arts and Crafts movement.

Amazingly, the original integrity of 14 of the houses have survived the onslaught of time, enabling them to join the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Walking through the peace and tranquility of the Oak Circle Historic District leaves one bewildered of how graceful the path is. The curvature of the street adds considerable charm and status to Wilmette’s signature brick-paved streets. Venturing deeper, the houses reveal themselves — similar in style while each remains wonderfully and amazingly varied. The Prairie style motifs unabashedly present themselves from one home to the next — horizontal planes, leaded glass windows, the use of brick and wood — all coexisting in aesthetic harmony.

Red vitrified brick. Photo: Historic Pavements

Twelve of the houses on Oak Circle are bungalows, the house type most closely associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement in America. The bungalows, along with the other homes on the block, showcase a variety of features found in Craftsman architecture, as well as the distinctive bands of windows with geometric patterns of small-pane glazing associated with the Prairie style.

The 12 bungalows also exhibit a variety of floor plans. Some are one-story, some one-and-a-half, but no two are exactly alike. True to the Arts and Crafts ideal of being close to nature, the bungalows share a distinctive horizontal emphasis in tandem with the midwestern landscape.

Oak Circle is a treasure trove of sights waiting to be explored. Just only blocks away from the Wilmette public library and a 7-minute walk from Optima Verdana®, it’s a delightful architectural and historical landmark with boundless charm that reminds both residents and visitors why Wilmette remains a vibrant, delightful community!

Optima + Sustainability Series: EV Parking

Posted on February 8, 2023March 12, 2024 by Hunter

The evidence that electric and hybrid vehicles are gaining traction is on the roads everywhere. From personal vehicles to rideshares and public transport, we are, as a nation, beginning to embrace the importance of reducing carbon emissions by replacing the fossil fuels that traditional gasoline-powered engines use with forms of clean energy.

Encouraged by the funding made available to help states fund public charging infrastructure, and Illinois’ ambitious goal to get one million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2023, EVs are becoming increasingly desirable. And those who own and manage residential buildings are faced with the challenge to provide ample access to EV battery charging stations that residents need.

At Optima, we have always been sustainability-focused across our entire integrated business model — from design to building materials to landscaping – and EV parking. We began providing EV parking spaces in 2016 and 2017 at 7160 Optima Kierland and Optima Signature with 8 EV parking spaces, which represented only a small portion of the overall spaces in the garage.

Now in April 2023, Optima Verdana in Wilmette will open with 24% of the total spaces dedicated to EVs. In all of our communities — in both Illinois and Arizona — we have continued to increase EV capacity every year based upon resident demand, with the capacity to reach a full 100% at many projects. In recognition for our commitment to EV parking, Optima Sonoran Village won the Salt River Project Champions of Sustainability Award in the Building Communities for Electric Vehicles category.

In a recent Bisnow article that explores how future-facing multifamily developers are preparing for the future of electric vehicles, David Hovey Jr., AIA, Optima president and chief operating officer, observes, “Just from a sustainability perspective, obviously, demand is getting higher from both people wanting to be more sustainable … and cities wanting to be more sustainable, as well as just overall demand.”

Sustainability remains one of our most precious values at Optima. And we’re proud to be part of a growing community of property owners and managers that seeks to support sustainable practices on behalf of our residents.

Growing Your Own Herbs at Optima Verdana®

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Hunter

The stellar Rooftop Sky Deck and communal courtyard at Optima Verdana® abound with gorgeous greenspace and reflective hardscape surfaces to reduce heat. Our residents can delight in the outdoors year-round for both recreation and relaxation. And for those with green thumbs, dedicated planters atop the Sky Deck will be home to a seasonal herb garden.

Check your kitchen cabinets, your cupboards, your drawers! If you spend any time cooking, you probably have dried thyme, basil, and even a bit of parsley or oregano. These earthly delights known as herbs are easily accessible from most grocery stores, but imagine what it would be like if you grew them yourself?

In spite of their simplicity, herb gardens are magical places and offer many gifts — from cooking, to medicine, to unique fragrances. Growing your own herbs also serves as an exercise in gratification, and so much more:

Great for All Skill Levels

First, herb gardens are great for beginner gardeners because they require minimal effort and are easier to grow than vegetables. They don’t require large plots of land, and grow well in pots, planters and other containers. Herbs don’t need much fertilizing, which is a huge plus for beginners, and they can handle a wide range of temperatures that’s ideal for Chicago’s seasons.

Redefining the Word “Fresh”

When your recipes call for fresh herbs, what could be more delightful — and satisfying — than heading to your herb garden with a pair of kitchen shears and picking or cutting what you need? And because you can harvest your herbs while you’re cooking, they will always be fresh and fragrant.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Knowing that you have easy access to what you’re growing, you may find yourself with an appetite for expanding your repertoire with dishes that specifically call for fresh herbs. This is a real treat, since the flavors are so much more robust and the option to have full leaves, stems and flowers in your preparations is a real bonus.

The herb garden also offers the opportunity to experiment with new flavor combinations. Take advantage of your herbs and try out a new recipe or two. Try growing herbs that are uncharted territory for you, this will likely lead to taking new risks in your cooking. Which in turn will enrich your life with new and flavorful experiences.

As you head into the fall and winter months, you can harvest your herbs and dry them indoors. This will tide you over until spring arrives and it’s time to plant again.

Creating A Healthy, Budding Community

The herb garden at Optima Verdana® is part of the powerful community experience of connecting with others around a shared purpose. All it takes is one seed to sow a relationship and build a budding new friendship with a neighbor. This convenience of access offers residents physical exercise, fresh air and the meditative qualities of connecting to the earth.

If you’re looking for ideas for dishes that will put your fresh herbs in the spotlight at your next dinner or event, The Food Network offers quite a few!

The Role of the Courtyard in Optima® Communities

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Hunter

In a former Forever Modern post, we shared a brief history of the courtyard. From their earliest uses around 6000 BC in the Jordan Valley, courtyards have evolved into physical settings that enable people to interact harmoniously with others — and with their natural surroundings.

Within the Optima® culture, we never grow tired of exploring relevant, resonant expressions of the courtyard within the communities we design and build. Over the past several years, we have turned our attention to the role of courtyards in our projects in Chicago — Optima Lakeview® and Optima Verdana® — as an integral element in creating an elevated sense of home.

Take the atrium at Optima Lakeview®. Sharing the same properties as a courtyard, this distinctive architectural feature is a stunning landscaped interior volume that runs through the building’s 7-story core and is enclosed by a fixed in-place skylight at the roof to bring natural light into the building’s interior. The residential units and building amenities are arranged around the atrium. In its central role, the atrium serves as a public space flooded with light, filled with plants and flowers, and outfitted with comfortable seating where residents and their guests can linger and enjoy the outdoors, even with the Midwest’s seasons might not make it hospitable to be outdoors.

A rendering of Optima Verdana’s lounge and residential courtyard

Exemplifying our passion for opportunities to engage with nature and organic environments is a vibrantly landscaped courtyard found in the heart of Optima Verdana® in Wilmette. The open-air space serves as a lush oasis for residents and is home to 7’ high garden walls, verdant trees, restful seating and more than 1,500 light-filled square feet. Beyond the tranquility and sheer beauty of the abundant plantings in the courtyard, residents enjoy remarkable access to reoxygenating air, natural light and the absence of ambient noise. It’s no surprise that the building is a proud recipient of two Green Globes from the prestigious Green Globes® Building Certification program, acknowledging that the building’s courtyard design contributes to the larger eco-friendly environment!

At Optima, we celebrate the power of connection — to nature and to each other — as we express it through timeless architecture complimenting the built environment.

Trending Now: Play the 5,000-Year-Old Royal Game of Ur

Posted on January 9, 2023March 12, 2024 by Hunter

History

The Royal Game of Ur received its name from a British archaeologist named Sir Leonard Woolley in 1928. He was part of a team that excavated five worn boards at the Royal Cemetery of the Sumerian City of Ur. These ornate boards, made of wood, lapis lazuli, and inlaid shell are expected to have been made between 2600-2400 B.C. Making the Royal Game of Ur the oldest tabletop game.

Also known as the Game of 20 Squares, it appears to have been immensely popular with people of all classes according to archaeological evidence. With the game being so widely played, it spread across many Middle Eastern countries we know today. Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon are a few to name. Archaeologists have also discovered that when no board was available, players scratched it into clay or rock.

Even though the Royal Game of Ur was very popular in ancient Mesopotamia for 1,000 years, its popularity and instructions waned as more games were introduced.

Consequently, figuring out the rules of the Royal Game of Ur was no easy task. It took Irving Finkel, a curator and Assyriologist at the British Museum to uncover the instructions of this ancient game. Dr. Finkel received a crumbling clay tablet from an antiquities dealer in the 1980s. It was inscribed with what appeared to be the rules of a game.

His research led him to Itti-Marduk-balatu, the author of the 177-176 B.C. tablet. Later, Finkel was able to decipher the rules by comparing them with other games.

This led to an understanding that the Royal Game of Ur is a race between two players. With the single goal of getting all 7 pieces across the board before your opponent.

So How Does One Play The Royal Game of Ur?

Playing a Game of Ur — The Royal Game of Ur with player pieces. Credit: British Museum via Picryl.com, Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

Fast forward to today. The Royal Game of Ur is back in the mix, and attracting fellow gamers near and far! Here are the rules:

Throw the dice to decide who plays first – highest score goes first, if it’s a draw, throw again.
Players take turns to throw three binary lots and move one of their pieces.
Only one piece may be moved per throw of the dice and pieces must always move forward around the track.
If a counter lands upon a square occupied by an opposing counter, the counter landed upon start’s from the beginning.

Finally, if you weren’t planning on time traveling several thousand years ago to discover an ancient Ur board. Get your very own modern Ur board in this New York Times article!

Check out the not so distant relative of The Royal Game of Ur, Backgammon.

Being a Good Neighbor Makes a Difference

Posted on November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 by Hunter

With a commitment to community as one of our core beliefs at Optima®, it’s no surprise that we are tuned into the notion of neighborliness and what it means to be a good neighbor. We take great satisfaction in nurturing the desire for connection and engagement with residents across all of our communities and love to keep abreast with research that lends new insight into why it matters to know your neighbors.

In a recent Axios piece, published on July 27, 2022, Erica Pandey explores “The power of knowing your neighbors.” Drawing data from a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2019, here’s what we’ve learned:

A majority of Americans don’t know most of their neighbors — and they barely talk to the ones they do know.

Why it matters: Strong communities boost the health, happiness, and longevity of their residents. Befriending neighbors ensures a helping hand in times of need and provides new friends to explore your larger neighborhood. But over the last several decades, our connections with our neighbors have been fraying.

What’s happening: We’re leaving our homes with screens in our hands. And since the pandemic made us even less likely than we were before to stop and chat with new folks, most of the people living around us are strangers.

Optima Lakeview’s communal sports lounge, golf simulator and basketball/pickleball court

Thankfully, each of our Optima Communities supports plenty of opportunities to engage with fellow neighbors, whether you know them or not! We design spaces that inherently bring people closer to each other, closer to their environment and closer to themselves. This intention manifests itself from the thought-provoking artwork that fills the hallways of each community to the wealth of communal amenity spaces, including fully outfitted sports areas, movie theaters, party and game rooms and state-of-the-art fitness centers.

Along with our state-of-the-art amenities, each of our onsite teams carefully curates a variety of social events and programs throughout the year. From hosting food trucks and music and cocktail nights to flower arranging courses and fitness classes, we take the time to understand each of our residents’ interests, so we can thoughtfully tailor our programming around them!

And because we not only see the value in having a tight-knit community within our walls but within our broader neighborhoods, we created the Optima® Connect Program. Through the program, residents in each of our multi-family communities receive exclusive benefits and discounts to local businesses around their larger communities, further fostering a friendly community ecosystem.

Supporting connection among our residents and neighbors is something we care deeply about at Optima. So, what’re you waiting for? Step outside and spark a conversation today!

Trending Now: Backgammon — Fun and Then Some!

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Hunter

If you’re feeling sheepish about using your “free time” to settle into the card room at Optima Verdana® with a friend, relative or neighbor — and a backgammon board between the two of you — worry no more. You are about to engage in a high-value activity with a game that is a perfect combination of relaxation and stimulation.

That’s because backgammon, one one of the most classic board games, is a treasure trove that offers you far more than entertainment.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to discover its delights, backgammon is a two-player game. It uses a board with a series of narrow color-coded wedges and two sets of 15-pieces, one for each player.There is also a pair of dice and a cube used for betting, called a doubling cube. The ancestors of backgammon date back nearly 5,000 years to Mesopotamia and Persia; the earliest record of backgammon itself dates to 17th century England, where it descended from an earlier game called Irish.

Backgammon involves plenty of strategy, coupled with the luck related to rolling the dice at the beginning of each player’s move. With each roll of the dice, you must choose from numerous options for moving your pieces, while anticipating possible counter-moves by your opponent. And when you get the doubling cube involved, you raise the stakes during a game. What fun!

And the good times don’t stop there. Backgammon has the potential to boost memory and cognition abilities, regardless of your age, since the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are given a workout. These areas are responsible for memory formation and complex thought processes. And with the exercise your brain gets through playing, you’ll also decrease the risk of cognitive diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Optima Lakeview’s game room, Chef’s kitchen and dining area

Playing backgammon is fun and confidence-building. When your opponent pulls ahead or you roll double sixes three times in a row, you can’t help but crack a smile. And that means your endorphins are flowing and your blood pressure decreases — as you experience a moment of pure pleasure — all the while enjoying the company of another person. If you are able to organize regular sessions of backgammon with a group of people, imagine how good it can feel to sharpen your skills and strengthen your relationships.

It’s somewhat of a cliché to say that games are for all ages. But a simple truth about backgammon is that it is a fantastic way to teach math and probability concepts to children, while providing a forum for children and adults to relate on a level playing field. Literally.

Backgammon boards/sets come in all shapes and sizes. Choose the one best suited for you and your comrades and head up to the Optima Verdana® game room!

Trending Now: Euchre Anyone?

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Hunter

Imagine a beautiful afternoon in the Optima Verdana® game room, with sunlight flooding the space and the scent of hot coffee and fresh cookies wafting. Sounds like a perfect setting for a rousing game of Euchre.

If you’re not a fan yet, euchre is the faster and wilder cousin of bridge. Both are four-person games with two players on each team that involve bidding, trumping and taking tricks.. As we’ve shared previously, bridge is methodical, complex and mathematically precise. It is often played in near silence, since players need to focus their energies on accounting for all 52 cards in the deck. In contrast, euchre only uses 24 cards, making the game simpler and easier to play, and leaves lots of opportunity for levity. Of the 24 cards — the nines, tens, jacks, queens, kings and aces — only 20 are played each hand, since four cards remain face-down in the “kitty,” increasing the role that chance plays in the game.

Euchre has been played in North America since the early 19th century, and was widely regarded as our national card game. Most researchers agree that it originated in Alsace as “Juckerspiel” and was brought to the New World by German-speaking immigrants. It’s also fascinating that game manufacturers in the U.S. added the first “Joker” to decks of playing cards as a glorified Jack. Once you dig into the game, all of this will make perfect sense!

Optima Verdana’s sky deck features various game rooms among the pool, sauna and spa.

As with many analog in-person pastimes, Euchre waned in popularity as mobility and technology offered myriad alternatives for recreation and entertainment. In recent years, however, the trend has started to reverse — in large measure as a response to Covid’s forced isolation. Today, people of all ages are forming weekly Euchre clubs and regular meetups, and once again the game is drawing people together for challenge, camaraderie and relaxation. At Optima Verdana, residents have the luxury of engaging with neighbors in private game rooms, book and cooking clubs, yoga classes and other neighborhood volunteer opportunities!

So while you wait for the card tables to be set up at Optima Verdana®, start learning the rules!

How to Make Your Pets More Comfortable at Home

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Hunter

At Optima, we constantly challenge ourselves to bring exceptional features to our communities that elevate the lives of our residents — and the lives of their beloved pets, too. Whether bringing your pet into a new home or welcoming a new pet into your forever home, ensuring their comfort and happiness should always be a top priority. So, here are our tips for how you can make your furry friend most comfortable in their home:

While it might sound strange, one of the first steps you can take to ensure your pet is comfortable in your surroundings is getting to know the amenities they can utilize throughout your larger community. Outdoor areas and parks like One Bennett Park and Cityfront Plaza near Optima Signature, Lincoln Park near Optima Lakeview and Horizon Dog Park near Optima Kierland make great locations to get outside with your pet.

Exercise is another crucial factor in a pet’s comfort. Whether you find time to enjoy a refreshing walk outside with your pet throughout the day or spend time with them indoors, an active pet usually equals a happy pet. For pet owners at Optima Lakeview, Optima Kierland, Optima Signature, Optima Sonoran Village and our upcoming Optima Verdana property, our exceptional private dog parks provide the perfect place to exercise steps from home! Additional pet perks for Optima residents include dog walking services, onsite grooming, pet visits and pet sitting!

There are plenty of other steps you can pick up to ensure your pets are safe and stress-free when home. If you don’t work from home, leaving at a set time each day helps set a routine for your pet and can alleviate their anxiety when you’re gone. Crafting an indoor space dedicated to your pet is another great way to make them feel more at home when you’re gone; adorn the area with a comfortable bed and plenty of toys.

Whether you have the luxury of working from home and spending the day with your furry friend or your time together is limited during the day, making sure your pet is happy and comfortable at home is always important to remember. So make sure you’re taking the correct steps to do so!

Attention all board game lovers!

Posted on September 26, 2022April 23, 2024 by Hunter

As we continue to anticipate great times ahead once the Optima Verdana® card room opens — when we will spend many an evening with friends huddled over a backgammon or Scrabble board — we can, in the meantime, feed our curiosity about the history of board games. It’s fascinating!

While much has been written about board games by scholars and laypeople alike, one of the best sources around is It’s All a Game:The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan. Written by Tristan Donovan and published by St. Martin’s Press in 2017, this smart, engaging book by a renowned games expert helps us understand how board games continue to captivate our attention and to bring us back to the proverbial table, in spite of the allure of myriad technology toys and the scourge of decreasing attention spans.

Optima Verdana’s sky deck featuring various game rooms among the pool, sauna and spa.

Throughout the book, Donovan explores the roots of board games’ consistent popularity. Analyzing the influence of social, political, and economic influences on board game designers and manufacturers, Donovan maps the evolution of our modern-day relationship with board games across time, geographies, and cultures. He also examines the impact this leisure activity has had on popular psychology.

Donovan writes expansively on the history and evolution of ancient games and their current-day counterparts. He traces the Indian and Persian influences on chess and explains how the rules and game pieces evolved to reflect first Muslim and then European societies. He also examines how games like Monopoly developed as games that required both strategy and luck, paying special attention to how the original versions of these games reflected the times in which they were born, and how they changed over time.

Marvin Glass, a board game inventor from Chicago, in the a 1961 issue of Chicago Tribune Magazine

Donovan’s survey of gaming history is full of amusing anecdotes and eccentric characters, including a discussion of Marvin Glass, an eccentric and paranoid toy inventor from Chicago, whose infusion of plastics into board games like Operation and Mouse Trap brought the board game and toy industries together.

If you’re a trivia buff, you’ll also love It’s All a Game, since Donovan spares no detail about board games and their histories. And if nothing else, it will help you build a huge arsenal of interesting tidbits and stories to share when you find yourself gathering and gaming at Optima Verdana®!

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