A reversible, motorized screen that adds outdoor-living function to a Highland Park loggia — without a permanent structure that changes the home's character.
Highland Park is famous for its architecture — Wilbur David Cook, who planned Beverly Hills, master-planned the Town in the 1910s — and for protecting it through the owners' own choices rather than any historic-district ordinance. That's exactly why a motorized retractable screen fits here: it turns a loggia or veranda into a sealed, usable outdoor room and then disappears, with no permanent addition that alters the home's lines.
For all its architectural fame, Highland Park has no historic district and no landmark register; preservation is left to owners, and grand homes have been lost. A reversible, motorized retractable screen is the considered choice in that context — it adds shade and bug control to an existing covered area without a permanent structure that changes the elevation, and it rolls completely out of sight. On Beverly Drive, Armstrong Parkway and the estate blocks toward the Tollway, that's the difference between a screen the home wears well and a structure that fights it.
Highland Park runs its own Building Inspection Department, with permits and inspections through the Town's online portal, mandatory contractor registration, a completeness review before an application is even accepted, and construction limited to Monday–Saturday, 7 a.m.–6 p.m. The Town requires a permit for patio covers, accessory structures and additions, and the zoning is precise — patios may project only a few feet into a required yard. We mount a retractable screen on an existing covered area to stay clear of those structural and setback triggers wherever possible, and we pull the permit for the electrical tie-in.
Highland Park's Georgian, Mediterranean and Tudor estates were built with loggias, verandas and covered terraces — outdoor rooms waiting to be made usable year-round. We match the screen's frame color and mounting to the home so the system reads as original, and the motor tucks away cleanly. The result is a four-season outdoor room near Highland Park Village and the parks that doesn't read as an add-on at all.
Highland Park requires a permit for patio covers, accessory structures and additions, and contractor registration is mandatory. A motorized retractable screen added to an existing covered area is non-structural and reversible, so it typically avoids the bigger structural triggers — but the electrical tie-in needs a permit and the Town reviews exterior work closely. We're set up for the Town's process and confirm every job with Highland Park Building Inspection.
That's exactly why we recommend a retractable one. Highland Park has no historic-district ordinance — preservation is the owner's call — and a reversible motorized screen adds outdoor-living function to a loggia or veranda without a permanent structure that alters the home's lines. It rolls completely out of sight when you're not using it.
The Town runs its own Building Inspection Department with an online portal, requires registered contractors, reviews applications for completeness before accepting them, and limits construction to Monday–Saturday, 7 a.m.–6 p.m. We handle the submittal and inspections to those standards.
Yes — that's the ideal Highland Park install. We mount the retractable system on the existing covered structure, match the frame color to the home, and tuck the motor away so it reads as original architecture.