Tour Information

Glessner House Museum offers guided tours of Glessner House (1886), a National Historic Landmark and Clarke House (1836), the City's oldest surviving building located in the adjacent Chicago Women's Park and Gardens. Tours are led by trained docents and last approximately one hour in each house.  All tours begin at Glessner House Museum.

We are open year-round, except for major holidays.

Glessner House Museum
Wednesday through Sunday

at 1:00 and 3:00 pm

Clarke House Museum
Wednesday through Sunday

at 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm
(for further information on the history and architecture of the Clarke House, please visit www.clarkehousemuseum.org)

Glessner House Museum engages
diverse audiences in exploring urban life and design through the preservation and interpretation of the architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson and the historic home of John and Frances Glessner.

Upcoming Events

See Events

for more details and dates

Terrific Tuesdays

Recommended for children ages 3 - 13

Tuesdays from 10:00am to 12:00 noon
Through August 10, 2010

Prairie Avenue History Tour

Sunday August 8, 2010 at 2:00pm

Lecture by Con Buckley
"Memories of the Battle of Fort

Dearborn: Soldiers, Civilians, and Statues"

Sunday August 15, 2010 at 2:00pm

Tour by Gunny Harboe

of the Sullivan Center
(formerly Carson Pirie Scott & Co.)
Thursday August 19, 2010 at 5:30pm

Prairie Avenue History Tour
Sunday September 12, 2010 at 2:00pm

Tour by Timothy Long
I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 1:00pm

Collections Cameo

ADJUSTABLE-BACK MORRIS CHAIR

The museum is proud to have an example of one of the most admired furniture designs of Morris & Company: the adjustable-back Morris chair.  Big, roomy, and incredibly comfortable, it is a chair in which one of the Glessners could easily spend an evening reading by the fire.  The chair has wide arms to accommodate books, a loose cushioned seat, and a reclining back that is adjustable by a hinge at the base and held secure with a brass rod across the back.  In a sense this was the first Lazy-boy (albeit the former is arguably a more striking composition). 

The original Morris chair - as it is simply referred to today - was designed by Philip Webb in 1866 for Morris & Co.  At the time, the company's business manager, Warington Taylor, recommended that Webb create a chair based on one he had seen belonging to an old Sussex carpenter.  Eventually many variations of the design were being produced in different styles (Flemish, Spanish, Mission), materials (oak, mahogany), and price points ($4.25 - $100).  By 1905, nearly every manufacturer at the New York Furniture Exchange displayed some form of the chair and it went on to become a must-have for every household in America. 

Webb's design is the most common; however it is not the style that the Glessners chose.  William Watt, another designer for Morris & Co., designed our Morris chair in 1883.  The two styles, although not far apart in age, are quite different.  Webb's design is more formal with beaded scrolling and a slightly curved frame - more reminiscent of the Queen Anne style, while Watt's simplistic form is a nice example of arts and crafts design.  Our Morris chair has an oak frame and is upholstered in green velvet. 

An historic photograph of the library taken in 1888 shows that the Morris chair was actually upholstered in a patterned fabric.  It seems highly probable that a William Morris designed upholstery was used to match or compliment the adjacent sofa which also shows a richly patterned fabric.  In the months ahead, this is yet another mystery we hope to solve on our mission to restore the house back to its original appearance.

Through the Years with the Glessners

Journals courtesy of the Chicago History Museum

1885

March 24 - We bought the lot on the southwest corner of Prairie Avenue and 18th Street, 78 feet front by 176 feet deep, $50,500.

March 29 - I spent all day looking over books on architecture.

April 19 (Chicago Tribune) - SIGNIFICANT SALE OF A RESIDENCE LOT.  The sale of the southwest corner of Prairie avenue and Eighteenth street to J. J. Glessner for $50,000, reported during the last week, indicates that, notwithstanding the general dullness in trade, there are men in Chicago who have the disposition and the means to gratify their taste for an elegant home.  It also shows that really choice residence lots are steadily increasing in value.  A few years ago, before building in his present location (1827 S. Prairie Avenue) J. W. Doane offered $40,000 for this same property, and this price was then considered by the owners an adequate one, but owing to complications among the Hitchcock heirs the sale was not made.  The price now paid - about $675 per foot - is not considered an extravagant one for this choice corner.  Mr. Glessner will build an elegant home on his purchase as soon as his plans are completed.

April 11 - I took George and Fanny to the (opera) matinee.  Manta was given by (Adelina) Patti and Schalchi.  Fanny carried an exquisite bunch of pink roses, which she told me in a whisper she wanted to throw to Patti . . . Fanny said she loved her roses, but was glad she had given them to Patti.

April 25 - We have had a number of letters from architects - and now expect to go east next week.  Today Fanny received a beautiful photograph of Patti from herself, written on it, "For dear little Fanny Glessner in grateful acknowledgement of Adelina Patti," dated and sent to her from New York.

Framed photo of Adelina Patti sent to Fanny Glessner