2007 Prairie Avenue House Walk Sites

A Walk Through Time

The Prairie Avenue House Walk

2007 Sites

The desire for privacy from the busy street, while maintaining a warm, family-oriented atmosphere, inspired H. H. Richardson to build a house for the Glessner family that differs noticeably from the chic Victorian homes of Prairie Avenue . A fortress-like facade on 18 th street , with slit windows, conceals a warm, inviting interior with a south-facing courtyard, providing the Glessner family with peace from the everyday rumble of the street. With numerous large windows, the house appears massive but graceful, in this tranquil, enclosed environment. Completing the 4,000 square foot courtyard space is a party wall of the once-adjacent house, which closes off this area to the outside world. In contrast to the formal street elevations, the Glessner Courtyard is faced with pink Chicago common brick, trimmed in limestone. The attached Coach House once served as the Glessners’ stable and carriage house. The bedrooms of the male servants were located on the second floor along with feed bins for the horses below. The Coach House was later converted to a garage to house the Glessners’ automobiles until their departure in the 1930s. For nearly sixty years the Coach House was used for many purposes. Today, the Coach House serves as the Museum Store and Visitor Center, event space and is available for private parties.

Constructed in the Chateauesque style employed by some of America ’s wealthiest citizens, including the Vanderbilts of New York City, this was the elegant home of William W. Kimball, president of the Kimball Piano and Organ Co., and his wife Evalyne. Although the general shape of the house is a simple rectangle, the Bedford limestone exterior forges an elaborate image created through the many projections extending from the building, along with a variety of window shapes, and the steeply-pitched roof, featuring hipped, gabled and conical construction. The interior of the home, with an abundance of rich wood surfaces, reflects the artistic interests of the Kimballs, who were well-known collectors of old masters paintings, many of which are now on display at the Art Institute. Overall, this home portrays the pinnacle of refinement and sophistication of the time – the atmosphere of an Early Renaissance French chateau.

Clarke House is a Greek Revival-style home constructed by the Henry B. Clarke family along the shores of Lake Michigan when Chicago was a fledgling town of a just a few thousand people. The Clarke family occupied the home from 1836 to 1871 and the house was later occupied by only two other Chicago families, the Walters-Chrimes and the Bishop Henry Louis Ford families. Today the Clarke House is owned by the City of Chicago and serves as a history museum where visitors can explore the life of middle-class Chicago through period rooms decorated in the pre-civil war “Greek” style that was prevalent in Illinois from the 1830s into the 1860s.

Keith House & Coach House: 1900 S. Prairie Avenue

Elbridge Gallet Keith was one of three successful brothers to build on Prairie Avenue , and he remained in this home until his death in 1905. The residence is constructed of brick with limestone sheathing on the Prairie Avenue façade, and its design reflects both Classical and French models. The formal entrance porch is marked by pairs of columns and pilasters, to the left of which is an imposing three-story bay window. The elaborate bracketed cornice with dentil trim is topped by a slate-covered mansard roof, an 1880s addition to bring it into fashion with its Second Empire neighbors. The interior of the Keith house features large main rooms containing wood paneling, parquet floors and heavy cove moldings, creating a sense of richness and warmth.

Reid House: 2013 S. Prairie Avenue

This three-story Classical Revival house was originally one of a row of attached houses, which extended south from Cullerton Avenue . It was built for successful banker William Henry Reid, who had lived in another house on the site since the early 1870s. Having remarried in 1889 after the death of his first wife, it seems possible that the new wife wanted a residence of her own choosing. The façade features ornament that is flat and delicate in scale, similar to the style of Robert Adam. A formal off-center entrance is located beneath an ornate terra cotta portico, with classical entablature and pairs of Ionic columns and pilasters. The interior of the house remains remarkably intact, and continues the Adamesque style. Handsome woodwork, stained glass, nine fireplaces and many original light fixtures create a sense of refinement and luxury. The most dramatic feature, however, is an impressive seven-foot diameter stained glass dome, with delicate fleur-de-lis design, over the music room .

Harriet F. Rees House: 2110 S. Prairie Avenue

The Harriet F. Rees House was built in 1888 on Upper Prairie Avenue, one of Chicago ’s most prestigious residential neighborhoods in the late 19 th century. Today it is only one of eight historic homes still standing on Prairie Avenue between 18th Street and Cermak Road . Designed by nationally renowned architects Cobb & Frost, it is an excellent and remarkably intact example of the Romanesque Revival style as expressed in the urban townhouse type. The ornate limestone exterior and the interior detailed in rich woods and filled with fireplaces and other built-in features, are virtually unchanged from its original historic appearance.

Its first owner was Harriet F. Rees, widow of real estate pioneer and land surveyor, James H. Rees, who lived there just four years until her death at age 75 in 1892. Second owners were Edson Keith, Jr., a milliner, and his family. Keith’s daughter, Katherine (Mrs. David Adler, Jr.) was a published author. By 1920, 2110 S. Prairie Avenue was serving as a rooming house, and it passed through various uses as apartments and offices, and in the early 1970s it housed the Prairie House Café. For many years after that it stood abandoned and neglected. Today, under new private ownership it is undergoing a meticulous restoration that will return it to its original glory.

Purdy House: 213 E. Cullerton Street

The original house on this site, built about 1870, would have matched the surviving Italianate rowhouse next door at 215. In 1891, Dr. Charles W. Purdy, house physician at the Auditorium Hotel, hired the firm of Thomas & Rapp to rebuild the house in the Renaissance Revival style. (The same firm was hired the following year to rebuild the third rowhouse at 217 E. Cullerton for John Clark). One of the most striking features of the four-story home is the large polygonal oriel, which occupies the center of the second story. A prominent overhanging cornice is embellished with brackets, egg-and-dart trim and dentils. The interior has been extensively restored by the current owner, and reflects the finely scaled detailing evident on the façade. An entry hall and service areas occupy the ground level, with the main public rooms located on the second story, providing privacy from people passing on the sidewalk

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