The Potter Palmers and their famous castle

The Potter Palmer “castle” which stood at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive for more than half a century remains one of the most legendary houses ever built in Chicago, despite the fact it was razed in 1950.  Likewise, the builders, Potter and Bertha Honoré Palmer, are names that remain well-known to anyone with even a passing interest in Chicago history.  This Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 5:30pm, WTTW Channel 11 presents a 30-minute documentary entitled Love Under Fire: The Story of Bertha and Potter Palmer. 

The Palmers, in completing their mansion on Lake Shore Drive in 1884, established the North Side Gold Coast which eventually drew many of the families away from Prairie Avenue and the South Side.    Their decision to build where they did was bold – when Potter Palmer purchased a half mile of undeveloped lakefront property north of downtown, many considered it of little value and not worthy of development.  But Palmer saw the potential and soon acquired additional property, eventually amassing an impressive portfolio of real estate upon which he built dozens of homes that he resold to members of Chicago’s social elite, establishing the character of the neighborhood. 

The Palmers’ own house, the largest ever built in Chicago, was designed by Cobb & Frost, and although originally budgeted at “just” $90,000, cost more than a million dollars by the time it was finished three years after construction began.  The opulent interiors were designed by Herter & Company of New York in a variety of styles from Renaissance to Gothic and Moorish to Eastlake, and served as a showcase for the Palmer’s collection of paintings and other art objects.  In preparation for the 1893 World’s Fair, the Palmers hired Henry Hardenberg (architect of New York’s Plaza Hotel) to build a huge art gallery addition to the house.  Famously, the house had no exterior doorknobs or locks, so that entry was possible only when admitted by a servant.

The Glessners, although preferring a far less ostentatious way of living, were guests at the Palmer mansion on a number of occasions and Frances Glessner and Bertha Palmer collaborated on various projects, and were members of various clubs together including the Fortnightly.  The letter below, sent to Frances Glessner in May 1888, is typical of the letters from Bertha Palmer now preserved in the Glessner House Museum archives:

100 Lake Shore Drive

My dear Mrs. Glessner:

I regret very much that I was not at home to accept your kind invitation to meet Mrs. Ashton Dilke.  I am sure it was a charming occasion and that I missed a great treat.

May I ask if you would like to make one of five ladies to open your house for readings by Mrs. Sherwood of New York?  She would be here the latter part of May I think, that has not been definitely determined.

You of course know of the great success she has had in New York, especially this season.  She wishes to have at least one hundred ladies at ten dollars each for the five readings and I think your rooms open so charmingly that they could be accommodated.  Please do not think of saying “Yes” if you are tired out with all you have been doing to give pleasure to your friends.  I would understand fully that there is a limit to human endurance and that you have possibly reached it.

Thanking you again for your kind invitation and begging an early reply to my importunate request – by telephone if possible –

I remain

As always

Your sincere friend

Bertha M. H. Palmer

(Notes:  The letter bears the original address of the Palmer house, 100 Lake Shore Drive.  Mrs. Glessner did consent to host one of Mrs. Sherwood’s readings at her home, which took place on May 22, 1888 with 150 ladies present).

Potter Palmer died in 1902 and Bertha Palmer in 1918.  The castle remained vacant until 1921 when Potter Palmer Jr. moved in, hiring architect David Adler to make significant alterations.  It was sold to Vincent Bendix in 1928 but reacquired by Palmer Jr. in 1933, standing largely unused, and finally succumbing to the wrecking ball in 1950.

Note regarding photographs:  The photo of the castle shown at the top of the article was taken about 1888 by the Glessners’ son George, a talented amateur photograph.  The portrait of Bertha Palmer is a cabinet card given by her to Frances Glessner.  It was taken at M. J. Steffens Atelier, located at the time at the southeast corner of Prairie Avenue and 22^nd Street (now Cermak Road).

Prairie Avenue mansion designated landmark

On January 5, 2012, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks gave its final approval for the designation of the Harriet F. Rees house at 2110 S. Prairie Avenue as a Chicago landmark.  The house was designated for its exemplary architecture, as the work of a significant architect, and as an outstanding example of our city’s heritage.   The designation is good news for preservationists who were concerned about the future of the house.  Although it is in the hand of dedicated owners, who have spent several years restoring the structure, the building was threatened in recent years by plans to build a large hotel on the block to accommodate visitors to McCormick Place Convention Center, located one block to the south.   Landmark status adds an important level of protection to the structure, the last surviving mansion on the 2100 block of Prairie Avenue.

The elegant row house was built in 1888 for Harriet F. Rees, the 70-year-old widow of James H. Rees, a prominent early real estate dealer and land surveyor, primarily remembered today for the set of maps he created of the Chicago area in 1851.  The architects, Cobb & Frost, designed a significant number of homes in the Prairie Avenue neighborhood, most of which have been lost, except for the Joseph G. Coleman house at 1811 S. Prairie Avenue.   The Rees house was designed in the Romanesque style and features a smooth limestone façade highlighted with rich ornamentation at the front entryway, on the oriel window, around the third-story arcade, and most prominently in the steeply pitched gable.

After Rees died in the 1890s, the house was purchased by Edson Keith Jr. who had grown up in a house at 1906 S. Prairie Avenue (demolished).  His daughter Katherine was raised in the house and in 1916, became the wife of architect David Adler.  She also published two novels, The Girl and The Crystal Icicle, before her untimely death in 1930, the result of an auto accident while traveling with her husband in France.  In later years, the building housed furnished rooms, and during the 1970s was converted to the Prairie Avenue Café. 

The interior is richly appointed and has survived largely intact, a pleasant surprise given its varied uses during the years.  Cobb & Frost designed an interesting moulding pattern that is used on the main staircase and around the doorways of many of the principal rooms.  The most prominent features however are the beautiful fireplaces which possess exceptionally fine tilework, each room being different.  The dining room fireplace is surrounded by a full wall of built in cabinets.

Near the rear of the first floor is the original hand-crank elevator, one of the first to be used in a private residence, no doubt installed for the widow for whom the house was built.

The interior of the house will be open for tours on Sunday June 10, 2012 as part of the annual Glessner House Museum fundraising tour, A Walk Through Time.  For further information, visit www.glessnerhouse.org.