How about an eastern redbud or one of its cultivars? You can pick flower color and it won't mind some shade from the house.

I have a couple around here. Each has its own personality. None are too large. Every so often here I'll actually see a 25 foot tall one. Would think in Chicago a little twig die back limit its height.

Here is a link that might be useful: Redbud

A 10'spread pretty much limits you to a columnar form. I was thinking Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk', but that is going to be more like 15' in width. Malus 'Adirondack' might work for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Malus 'Adirondack'

Hi Cheeseburger,
I really like my Cornus Mas 'Golden Glory' (Cornelian Cherry Dogwood). The branches grow upright so it stays more narrow, and it's very tough. It's planted on the southwest corner of the house so it gets the Chicago winter winds & is baked during the summer. In 4 years it's never had an inch of die-back & I don't think I've watered it in 2 years. And Japanese Beetles leave it alone! It's planted in awful dirt between the driveway & the foundation, and seems to be growing 9" per year.
I got a multi-stem from The Growing Place in Naperville.

Regarding Redbuds - I love them, and just bought a Forest Pansy this year, but in our area they will struggle in a western exposure, unless it's well protected. And they won't survive fall planting here - you must wait til spring.

At our old house I had a 'Kwansan' Cherry - after 15 years it was

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornus Mas 'Golden Glory'

How much sun will it get? What kind of moisture?

Do mean 10ft centerline of tree to the house or a total of 10ft wide? If the latter your going to be looking at a shrub or as someone mentioned a columnar tree, which in my opionion looks...just wrong.

Let us know this and we can offer plenty of choices with multi-seasonal interest.

I like the idea of the multi stem cornus mas just because we have a multi stem river birch and service berry in the front yard that are doing very well and look good. Just to clarify the radius to the new tree needs to be, at maturity, no more than 10 ft. otherwise it will be sandpapering the house. The area is limited to afternoon sun and as far as watering...I never water and to make matters worse six or so inches below the surface is an impervious clay layer. Please keep the suggestions coming. ARTDECO, Is the cornus mas amenable to these conditions?

Cornus Mas "Golden Glory" will be a good choice for you.

It may hit anywhere between 15 and 20ft wide at maturity, but I wouldn't worry about it as it as a more upright habit than the species.

Cornus Mas IS drought and clay soil tolerant.

Make sure you have at least 5 hours of direct sun.

Another suggestion is "Summer Magic" blackhaw viburnum. It is typically limbed up as a small multi-stemmed shrub. Again more upright than the species.

It is drough and clay soil tolerant...but also tolerates more shade than Cornus mas.

And yet another choice, Witchhazel...again fits all the criteria.

Cornus Mas 'Golden Glory' is very tolerant of clay & drought. It's planted between the driveway and the corner of our house in very compacted rocky construction clay, in a 5' wide area. I had tried other small trees & shrubs there that couldn't handle the conditions (Amelachier, columnar crabapple, Vib. trilobum) but Cornus mas is doing good for 4 summers now.
I haven't tested the soil pH, but I'm sure it's alkaline - alot of limstone.
The reason I hunted down this 'Golden Glory' variety is I saw an older single stem w/ beautiful bark in bloom in a yard in Mt. Prospect. The homeowner guessed it was close to 20 years old & it was 10 to 12' wide, without trimming. Maybe in good dirt it gets wider - and grows faster, but looking at mine I'm sure its easy to control it's shape.
The way 'Golden Glory' is structured, you can prune side branches back to the main branch to get them out of your face & narrow the tree without making it look awkward. Since it's not a fast width grower, clipping a couple branches once a year may be all that's needed.
I'm very happy w/ this tree (in this location).

Thanks to all for help. We lucked out and found a clearance priced cornus mas. It was the baby no one wanted to adopt. The multi stem has a slight C shape so it had to be planted with the root ball leaning a bit to get the best vertical look. We love it!

Good choice, I plan to get (2) to replace native hawthorns in my backyard.

I'll have to go with the regular Cornus Mas, as the Golden Glory is only hardy to zone 5.

I am in zone 5a so wonder if I should take the chance to ge the better flowering with the Golden Glory cultivar.

Artdeco,

Do you have any pictures of your cornus mas?

Whaas, For what it's worth, the info card that came with my cornus mas Golden Glory gave a zone 4 cold hardiness. Maybe this will work for you.