Glessner House
Museum is one of two buildings in Chicago that carry the Glessner name. The other is a lesser known, five-story brick
loft building at 130 S. Jefferson Street in the West Loop known as The Glessner
Center. In this article, we will explore
the history of that building and how it came to be known by that name.
John Glessner
arrived in Chicago in December 1870 with his new bride, in order to take over
management of the sales office for his farm machinery firm, Warder, Bushnell
& Glessner. Business thrived under
his capable leadership, and by the early 1880s, the firm sought to build a
larger headquarters to house their offices, showrooms, and warehouse.
In August 1882,
the firm purchased a lot at the northwest corner of Adams and Jefferson,
measuring 80 by 200 feet, for $31,000.
Glessner engaged the firm of Jaffray & Scott to design the
five-story building. The newly formed
partnership consisted of architect Henry S. Jaffray (best remembered today for
his design of the George M. Pullman mansion at 1729 S. Prairie Avenue), and
designer Isaac Scott, a close friend of the Glessner family, who had completed
numerous projects for them including furniture and interiors for their home on
West Washington Street.
All was
proceeding according to plan until April 10, 1883 when a wooden pier collapsed
in the north half of the building, causing the whole interior to crash into the
basement level and taking much of the north wall with it. Later that evening, during a heavy windstorm,
the east wall, which had been compromised by the earlier collapse, also fell
in. Jaffray and Scott were dismissed
from the project, and architect W. W. Boyington was called in to complete the
building.
The new
headquarters was ready for occupancy by October of that year. Known as the “Champion Building” after the
trademarked name of the machines produced by the firm, its efficient and
attractive design was praised in newspapers and other publications. The building consisted of two main
parts. The south half of the building
facing Adams contained offices and the showrooms, with huge windows facing
south to bathe the spaces in natural light.
The north half of the building was utilized as a warehouse, and was
bisected by a tall driveway that ran east to west through the building,
allowing up to eight delivery wagons to be loaded and unloaded simultaneously
while protected from the elements.
The functions of
the building were clearly demarcated on the exterior – the offices and
showrooms were set beneath a hipped roof with dormers and a tower, whereas the
warehouse was a more utilitarian structure with a simple brick cornice. A delicate band of terra cotta ran across the
top of the large showroom windows and depicted oak leaves and acorns, an image
that would be welcoming to farmers visiting to purchase equipment. Four different designs of oak leaves and
three different designs of acorns were used to create a meandering, naturalistic
pattern.
The Chicago Tribune, in an October 27, 1883
article entitled “A Champion Enterprise,” praised the building and stated, in
part:
“The building, covering an area of 80x200
feet, built of the best pressed brick, terra cotta trimmings, etc. is of
elegant architectural proportions, and forms at once an ornament and landmark. Designed and built expressly for a reaper
warehouse with great care in every arrangement, it is today the best-lighted
and most perfect building of its kind in America.”
Main Office
(Inland Architect, October 1883)
Another article,
published simultaneously in The Inland
Architect and Builder, gave a detailed description of the interior:
“What are conceded to be the finest
appointed mercantile offices west of New York are those just completed in the
Champion Reaper Company’s building built by architects Jaffray &
Scott. These offices occupy two floors
in the front part of the warehouse proper.
The total space occupied is about 60 x 80 feet. A space of 20 feet square is occupied by an
immense vault and the stairway leading to the upper tier of offices. This stairway is open, and like the general
woodwork, is of red-oak. The main office
is 40 x 60, and divided from this and also from each other by partitions
composed almost entirely of plate-glass, are four offices about occupying an
equally divided space, 18 x 60. The
ceilings are frescoed in colors harmonizing with a heavy, solid, polished
red-oak cornice and stained glass in quiet shades, give a softening
effect. The smaller offices are
elegantly fitted with grates and mantels, Turkish rugs are on the polished
red-oak floors, and above the mantels bronze panels add effectiveness to the
general interior, in which one is apt to forget that this is an office devoted
to the demands of trade, and not a costly private apartment. . . As a whole,
this office in its arrangement and light-colored decoration, with the view of
securing perfect light, is a model in office construction, and reflects general
credit upon architect and owner.”
John J. Glessner's office
(Inland Architect, October 1883)
(Inland Architect, October 1883)
After Glessner’s
firm merged with others to form International Harvester in 1902, the building
was utilized by the new corporation, but was sold in 1907. Through the years, it was occupied and owned
by various companies and was known by its address – 600 W. Adams Street. For many years, it was owned by Polk
Brothers, which used it as a furniture and appliance warehouse-outlet
store.
In 1984, as the
surrounding neighborhood was rapidly changing, it was purchased by a developer
and completely gutted and rehabbed into a luxury loft office building,
containing 60,000 square feet of office space.
The architects were Booth/Hansen and Associates, with Paul Hansen
serving as project architect.
It was
renamed The Glessner Center and the main entrance was shifted around the corner
to 130 S. Jefferson Street. Many of the
exterior features were altered, including the roofline and corner tower, but
the basic structure remains as it did when first built. And one original interior feature was left in
place – the massive door to the vault, which still bears the inscription “The
Warder, Bushnell and Glessner Company – Champion Binders & Mowers.”
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