Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Chicago's Mansions
    Chicago's Mansions
    Chicago's Mansions
    Ebook239 pages1 hour

    Chicago's Mansions

    By John Graf

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Chicago is known throughout the world for its architecture. Although many people are familiar with the city’s skyscrapers and public buildings, they often overlook or are unaware of Chicago’s mansions that are located throughout the city. These mansions represent Chicago’s past and its future, and it can even be said that they are the very embodiment of Chicago and its architecture. These fashionable residences were built to make a statement, and what better way to have done this than to employ the leading architects of the time to design them. These architects included men such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson, Daniel Burnham, and John Wellborn Root. While the city’s mansions are significant because of who built them, they are just as important because of who lived in them. Many of these mansions were built for Chicago’s elite businessmen and captains of industry-men who represented old money, new money and big money. Just as important were the families of these men and the other residents who came to live in these mansions-for they left a legacy of their own that contributed to the city’s history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 1, 2004
    ISBN9781439615195
    Chicago's Mansions
    Author

    John Graf

    Through this fascinating visual journey, John Graf breathes further life into the many varied and wonderful parks that make Chicago one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the world, and a great place to live and play.

    Related to Chicago's Mansions

    Related ebooks

    Architecture For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Blair Kamin: From The Great Fire To Modernist Houses To Jeanne Gang, A Rich Array Of Design Books For The Holidays

      Dec 16, 2020

      CHICAGO — Chicago isn’t just an architectural capital because of its great buildings. It’s a vital forum of ideas about what makes architecture great. A case in point: this year’s crop of recommended design books. They’re all related to the city and

      4 min read

    • Article

      At Home In The 1920s

      Aug 21, 2017

      At Home In The 1920s
      4 min read

    • Article

      Lights, Camera, Corsicana

      Nov 26, 2020

      Lights, Camera, Corsicana
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Art World Opens Up

      Jun 2, 2020

      The Art World Opens Up
      9 min read

    • Article

      Chicago

      Feb 20, 2020

      Chicago
      1 min read

    • Article

      Revival Las Vegas

      Aug 22, 2023

      Revival Las Vegas
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Art Of Making It

      Apr 5, 2018

      The Art Of Making It
      14 min read

    • Article

      Lilian J. Rice

      Mar 1, 2024

      Lilian J. Rice
      1 min read

    • Article

      Rags To Honest Riches

      Mar 26, 2019

      Rags To Honest Riches
      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘People Think Apartments Are For Losers’: The Homes That Could Help Solve LA’s Housing Crisis

      Jan 11, 2023

      ‘A true southern California city,” declared a 1910 issue of Out West magazine, “would be a garden filled with homes.” It was one of numerous publications at the time designed to lure people to move to the golden state, extolling the virtues of the su

      5 min read

    • Article

      Cast in Iron?

      Apr 2, 2020

      Cast in Iron?
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Good Stuff

      May 1, 2020

      The Good Stuff
      11 min read

    • Article

      Castro GUYS & DOLLS

      Nov 5, 2020

      Castro GUYS & DOLLS
      2 min read

    • Article

      Mapping Our Ancestors' Lives

      Sep 10, 2021

      Mapping Our Ancestors' Lives
      8 min read

    • Article

      Postcards From Suburbia

      Dec 22, 2022

      Postcards From Suburbia
      9 min read

    • Article

      Microstorie

      Feb 24, 2021

      Microstorie
      9 min read

    • Article

      From Our Readers

      Jan 7, 2020

      Dear Antique Trader, What a wonderful article on Norman Rockwell (“Wartime Wonders: Celebrating the Legacy of the Four Freedoms”/Nov. 20, 2019). I didn’t ever remember seeing “The Four Freedoms” that he painted. Anyway, thank you for doing this. We n

      2 min read

    • Article

      Life On Wall Street

      Jan 24, 2022

      Life On Wall Street
      6 min read

    • Article

      San Francisco

      Nov 5, 2020

      San Francisco
      2 min read

    • Article

      EXTERIOR Explorations

      Apr 21, 2020

      EXTERIOR Explorations
      3 min read

    • Article

      Huntingburg—An Old Friend

      Dec 30, 2019

      Huntingburg—An Old Friend
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Chicago's Mansions

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Chicago's Mansions - John Graf

      Directors

      INTRODUCTION

      Chicago is known throughout the world for its architecture. Although many people are familiar with the city’s skyscrapers and public buildings, they often overlook or are unaware of Chicago’s mansions that are located throughout the city. These mansions represent Chicago’s past and its future, and it can even be said that they are the very embodiment of Chicago and its architecture. These fashionable residences were built to make a statement, and what better way to have done this than to employ the leading architects of the time to design them. These architects included men such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson, Daniel Burnham, and John Wellborn Root.

      While the city’s mansions are significant because of who built them, they are just as important because of who lived in them. Many of these mansions were built for Chicago’s elite businessmen and captains of industry—men who represented old money, new money, and big money. Just as important were the families of these men and the other residents who came to live in these mansions—for they left a legacy of their own that contributed to the city’s history.

      This book is about Chicago’s mansions—the people who built them and the people who lived in them. The first section of the book deals with an introduction to these mansions, which is followed by a treatment of mansions located in the South, North, and West Sides of the city. There is also a section about lost mansions because this story is frequently forgotten when considering the city’s great legacy and great past.

      No story about Chicago mansions would be complete, however, without first considering a small plaque in Pioneer Square near the Tribune Tower at 435 N. Michigan Avenue—for it commemorates Chicago’s first mansion. Known as the Kinzie Mansion, this home, built in the 1770s by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (1745-1818), later was owned by Chicago’s first permanent white settler, John Kinzie (1763-1828). The log structure, which stood until approximately 1832, was surrounded by a porch and contained five rooms, dirt floors, and two fireplaces. It lacked central air, closets, and indoor plumbing. While the house (which stood near the present day site of the Tribune Tower along the north bank of the Chicago River) could hardly be considered a mansion by today’s standards, at the time it was undoubtedly one of the city’s finest residences.

      The two oldest existing mansions in Chicago are found at opposite ends of the city. The oldest existing mansion in Chicago is the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House, which stands at 5624 N. Newark in Norwood Park and dates back to 1833. Mark Noble, one of the area’s first European settlers, originally owned the house. The developer of Norwood Park, Thomas Seymour, later owned it. Today it serves as a museum, but it should be noted that at the time the structure was built, the Village of Norwood Park (annexed to Chicago in 1893) was an independent suburb outside the city’s limits. The second oldest existing mansion, which is found on the South Side of the city, is the Henry B. Clarke House located at 1855 S. Indiana Avenue. Built in 1836, this stately white Greek Revival mansion originally stood at 1700 S. Michigan Avenue on a 20-acre estate. This house has been moved a few times, but currently stands near its original location where it now serves as a museum.

      By 1870, Chicago was one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Land was cheap and opportunities were plentiful. The early entrepreneurs who came from the East Coast like Marshall Field, William W. Kimball, and George Pullman made fortunes in Chicago. These men dominated the city in the second half of the 19th century; and they, of course, wished to own the finest residences in the city. After the Great Fire of 1871, these wealthy citizens began building their handsome mansions along a stretch of Prairie Avenue between 16th and 22nd Streets. Prairie Avenue was an ideal location because it was close to the lake, the train was easily accessible, enormous lots upon which to build were readily available; and perhaps most important, unlike areas to the west and north of downtown, the residents of Prairie Avenue did not have to cross a branch of the very busy Chicago River to reach downtown.

      Here on Prairie Avenue, The Sunny Street that held the Sifted Few, were the mansions of the aforementioned Field, Kimball, and Pullman. In addition, the mansions of over fifty of the city’s most successful men including Samuel W. Allerton, John J. Glessner, Fernando Jones, Joseph Sears and John B. Sherman were also found on this exclusive street. Some of the city’s most prominent architects of the time including William Le Baron Jenney, John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Henry Hobson Richardson, Richard Morris Hunt, John Mills VanOsdel, and Solon S. Beman were hired to build these mansions for Chicago’s aristocracy.

      The reign of Prairie Avenue as Chicago’s premier address for the elite was short-lived. This was due in large part to Potter Palmer and his society wife Bertha, who began drawing up plans to build a new mansion in 1881. The logical choice, of course, would have been to build on Prairie Avenue or on South Michigan Avenue where Mrs. Potter Palmer’s parents were living at the time and where many of the city’s largest mansions stood. But since Palmer was a real estate genius, he decided to develop a new area where his mansion would become the centerpiece of the development. He began purchasing large tracts of land on a desolate stretch of North Lake Shore Drive. In 1882, he hired architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost to begin construction on his new mansion, which was to stand on a 100,000 square-foot lakeside frog pond.

      Many people in Chicago thought Palmer had made a bad investment when he began building on the marshy swamps and sand dunes, which were located very far north from the established South Side elite residential areas. But those who doubted Palmer would soon become believers. In 1885, Palmer’s enormous forty-two-room mansion (which resembled a castle) was completed. In addition, he forged ahead to build numerous mansions and residential structures on many of the nearby streets of his newly created development. These stunning mansions became known as Palmer houses (a reference to both Palmer’s grandiose style and his architect Charles M. Palmer who was no relation); and property values in the area soon soared as much as 150 percent. The Palmers move to the new mansion marked the beginning of the migration of Chicago’s elite from the South Side to the North Side—as well as the birth of the Gold Coast. Even today this area (roughly bounded by Lake Shore Drive on the east, State Street on the west, Division on the south, and North Avenue on the north) contains some of the city’s most exclusive residences and it is fittingly still known as the Gold Coast. The Palmer castle was demolished in the 1950s, but many of the other Palmer houses (including several between 1316-1322 N. Astor Street, one at 43-45 E. Bellevue Place, and another at 25 E. Banks Street) are still

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1