Cable House

Cable House ...
Address: 25 E. Erie St.
Year Built: 1886
Architect: Cobb and Frost
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: October 2, 1991 ..





Designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, this house was built for Ransom R. Cable, the President of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company. The Cable House is among only a few remaining structures that illustrate the original elite residential character of the area just west of North Michigan Avenue.

Historic Gold Coast District ...

Click on the image for enlarged view ...

The Gold Coast District, is a part of Chicago's Near North Side community area. It is roughly bounded by North Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, Oak Street, and Clark Street.

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 ..

The Gold Coast neighborhood grew in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire. In 1882, millionaire Potter Palmer moved to the area from the Prairie Avenue neighborhood on the city's south side. He filled in a swampy area which later became Lake Shore Drive, and built the Palmer Mansion [Demolished in 1951]. Other wealthy Chicagoans followed Potter into the neighborhood, which became one of the richest in Chicago.

It has two Landmark Districts ...
# Seven Houses on Lake Shore Drive District .. click here.
# Astor Street District ... click here ..
And also two Landmark Buildings ...
# James Charney House ... click here ..
# Madlener House .. click here ...


Some of the remarkable buildings in the Gold Coast District includes:



Seven Houses on Lake Shore Drive District ..
Address: 1250-60 and 1516-30 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Year Built: 1889-1917
Architect: Various
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 28, 1989 ..
# For more on ... Chicago Landmark: Seven Houses on Lake Shore Drive District .. click here ...



Astor Street District ...
1200-1600 blocks of Astor Street (and cross streets)
Year Built: 1880-1940
Architect: Various
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: December 19, 1975
# For more on .. Chicago Landmark: Astor Street District ... click here ..



James Charney House ...
Address: 1365 N. Astor St.
Year Built: 1891
Architect: Adler & Sullivan, with Frank Lloyd Wright ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: August 20, 1972 ..
# For more on .. Chicago Landmark: James Charney House ... click here ..



Madlener House ..
Address: 4 W. Burton Pl.
Year Built: 1902
Architect: Richard E. Schmidt & Hugh M.G. Garden ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 22, 1973 ..
# For more on .. Chicago Landmark: Madlener House .. click here ...



Archbishop's Residence ...
Address: 1555 N State Parkway
Completed: 1885 ..
Architect: Alfred F. Pashley ..
# For more on .. Archbishop's Residence .. click here ...



Patterson McCormick Mansion ...
Address: 20 E Burton Pl
Completed: 1892
Architect: Stanford White ...
# for more on .. Patterson McCormick Mansion .. click here ..



William Wrigley residence ..
Address: 1400 N Astor Street ..
Completed: 1885
Architect: ???
# for more on .. William Wrigley House ... click here...



The original Playboy Mansion ..
Address: 1340 North State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610 ..
Architect: David Adler
Completed: 1899 ..
# for more on the ... original Playboy Mansion.. click here..



Florsheim Mansion ..
Address: 1328 N. State Parkway ..
Architect: Chicago architect Andrew Rebori ..
Completed: 1938 ..
# For more on .. Florsheim Mansion .. click here ...



Archbisop Quigley Preparatory Seminary ...
Address: 103 East Chestnut Street ..
Architect: Gustav Steinbeck and Zachary Taylor Davis ..
Completed: 1917
It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places ..
# For more on Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary ... click here ..

Gold Coast District ... continued ...

Victorian Romanesque brownstone row houses ..
East Schiller Street at North Astor in the Gold Coast.



Heaton B. Owsley House
Architect: ???
Completed: 1891



Edward P. Russell House
Address: 1444 N. Astor St.
Architect: Holabird & Root
Completed: 1929 ...



Townhouses on E Division Street ...

The original Playboy Mansion

The original Playboy Mansion ..
Address: 1340 North State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610 ..
Architect: David Adler
Completed: 1899 ..

It was built for George Swift Isham and acquired by Hugh Hefner in 1959. Hefner divided his time between the Chicago mansion and the Mansion West [Los Angeles, California], moving full time to the California mansion in 1974. The Chicago mansion boasted a brass plate on the door with the Latin inscription:
"Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare"
Translated: "If you don't swing, don't ring" ...
It is no longer occupied by girls with bunny ears but is divided into three family homes.





# For more on the historic Gold Coast District.. click here..

Florsheim Mansion

Florsheim Mansion ..
Address: 1328 N. State Parkway ..
Architect: Chicago architect Andrew Rebori ..
Completed: 1938 ..

I love this building!!! I was struck by the quote at the entrance ...
"Dwell in the Birthplace of Modernity" ...
It's really a striking building ... with rounded glass blocks and horizontal lines defining it's exterior.



# For more on the historic Gold Coast District.. click here..

REF:
Florsheim Mansion .. click here ...

Madlener House

Madlener House ..
Address: 4 W. Burton Pl.
Year Built: 1902
Architect: Richard E. Schmidt & Hugh M.G. Garden ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 22, 1973 ..



The plaque reads ...
" The clarity, simplicity, and order of the Madlener House make it an outstanding residence in the tradition of the Chicago and Prairie School of architecture. design. It has the massing, logic, and dignity of a Renaissance Revivial-style palace, yet it is a thoroughly modern design.
Designated a Chicago Landmark on March 22, 1973,
by the City Council of Chicago
Richard J Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks"...

This residence, which was built for liquor wholesaler Albert F. and Elsa S. Madlener. The building was purchased in 1963 by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, an educational institution.



# For more on the historic Gold Coast District.. click here..

REF: Chicago Landmarks: Madlener House .. click here ...

Archbisop Quigley Preparatoty Seminary

Archbisop Quigley Preparatoty Seminary ...
Address: 103 East Chestnut Street ..
Architect: Gustav Steinbeck and Zachary Taylor Davis ..
with stained glass by Robert Giles of the John J. Kinsella Company of Chicago..
Completed: 1917
It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places ..







Built in Gothic Revival style, architecturally it's a hidden gem lost amongst the skyscrapers of Chicago.

# For more on the historic Gold Coast District.. click here..