Mrs. Pullman in Washington, D.C.

In last week’s article, we noted an excerpt from the June 28, 1915 Chicago Tribune about Mrs. George Pullman departing Chicago to spend the season at her summer estate in Elberon, New Jersey.  The article also noted, “Mrs. Pullman has another mansion in Washington, which she did not occupy this winter.”  That reference was to her largest home of all, which she had actually already sold by 1915. 

The Pullmans’ daughter Florence was united in marriage to Frank O. Lowden in 1896.  Lowden was actively involved in the Republican Party, and rose in stature when he campaigned for William McKinley in 1900.  From 1906 to 1911, Lowden served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and lived in Washington, D.C. during that time.  Lowden had high aspirations for political office, including the Presidency, so Mrs. Pullman took steps to ensure he and his family would have an appropriate home in the nation’s capitol.

In February 1909, Mrs. Pullman purchased a lot at 1125 16^th Street NW, just three blocks from the White House.  She hired the prominent architect Nathan Wyeth to design the 64 room house, which cost over $350,000 to construct.  Wyeth had just designed the new West Wing and Oval Office of the White House, and would soon be hired to design a home in DC for Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh (a Chicago friend of the Pullmans).

The exterior of the four-story Pullman house was clad in limestone on the ground level, with Roman brick facing the second and third stories.  

The fourth story was set behind a massive slate-covered mansard roof.  The interior was grand on a scale that far exceeded the Pullman house on Prairie Avenue in Chicago.  

The imposing entrance hall was designed for the large and elegant receptions Mrs. Pullman envisioned for her daughter and son-in-law. 

The oak paneled dining room was among the largest rooms in the house.  As construction was proceeding, she made trips to Europe, bringing back large quantities of antiques and decorative arts to furnish the massive home.  

The grandest space of all was the enormous gold and white ball room or grand salon, reminiscent of her own Chicago drawing room. 

But alas, Mrs. Pullman’s plans for her son-in-law didn’t come to pass.  Frank Lowden was taken ill, and didn’t run for reelection, leaving Washington, D.C. at the conclusion of his second term in the House in March 1911.  Mrs. Pullman had also been ill, and ultimately no one in the family ever lived in the mansion.

In May 1913, she sold the house and furnishings to a buyer who within a few months sold it to the Imperial Russian government for use as their new embassy.  Most of the original furnishings were removed in 1917 when the Ambassador fled to Paris.  

In the 1930s the house was redecorated by Eugene Schoen & Sons of New York, who refused to alter the grand salon, “down to the last hair of the last cupid.”  It remains in use as the Russian Embassy to this day.

Note:  Frank O. Lowden went on to serve as governor of Illinois from 1917 to 1921.  In 1920, he was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, but ultimately lost to Warren G. Harding.  He declined the vice presidential nomination in 1924. 

Queer, Quaint, and . . . Dutch??

The construction of the Glessners’ house on Prairie Avenue received considerable attention in the Chicago newspapers.  Without a doubt, certain articles were more accurate than others, and some sought merely to sensationalize the controversial architectural features.  A good example of one of the more positive and accurate articles is found pasted in the Glessners’ scrapbook.  The newspaper in which it was published is not identified, but it appears to date to the latter part of 1887, just before the Glessners moved into their home.

NEW THINGS IN TOWN

A Queer House Out on the Avenue

Reaper Man Glessner’s Dutch House in the Aristocratic Precincts of Prairie Avenue

That is an odd house, surely, which the workmen are just now putting the inner and finishing touches upon at the corner of Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue, diagonally across the street from George M. Pullman’s mansion.  It is a unique house, in fact, it is the only one of the kind in America.  It is a typical Dutch house – a veritable ‘huis’ from Amsterdam – only it was designed by an American architect, built by American workmen of American materials, and stands in that hub of Chicago aristocracy and Americanism – Eighteenth and Prairie avenue.  The quaint house appears all the more quaint amid its surroundings, where all is modern and United States and almost monotonously stiff in architecture and style.  This Dutch house belongs to J. J. Glessner, the reaper man, and was designed by Richardson, the lately deceased leader of American architecture.  The illustration printed herewith gives a good idea of the general exterior appearance of the structure – the Dutch roof, the prison-like windows on the Eighteenth street side, the low stories, and the huge chimneys of granite.  The first story is only a basement, the second contains the library, dining-room, kitchen, etc. while the third is given up to bed-chambers.  At the left of the front entrance and grand staircase is a very large bed-chamber, with dressing-rooms and porcelain baths.  At the right the corner of the house is given up to the library, wherein is an old Dutch fire-place nearly as large as that in Wayne MacVeagh’s new house on Lincoln Park drive.  In the rear of the library, and just behind that quartet of cell-like windows, is the dining-room.  But these windows do not light the dining-room.  They open from a corridor which leads from the kitchen to the front part of the house.  Light for the dining-room, and for many other rooms in both stories, is taken from the court, which is one of the distinguishing features of the house, and a novelty in this country.  The problem which the architect had to solve in this house was not an easy one.  Given, a long, narrow lot – 75 x 160.  Wanted – a large, well-lighted house, with stable and yard.  See how nicely the plan suits the situation.  The stable is really in the rear end of the house, but separated from it by a solid, unbroken wall.  The court, 40 x 100, rivals in beauty the best examples to be found in the old world.  It is the yard of the mansion, completely shut out from the view of neighbors or passers-by, and is to be sodded and adorned with fountain and flowers and a neat bit of shrubbery.  Overlooking the court, at the angle of the house, is a stone porch, and a broad staircase leads from the library and dining-room to the yard.  Just back of the Dutch roof is a sort of tower, indistinctly shown in our illustration.  That is Mr. Glessner’s conservatory on the roof.

‘Tis, indeed, a quaint house.  The finishing material throughout is red oak, the ceilings of the larger rooms being heavily timbered, in Holland style, and the walls of the kitchen, laundry, stable, etc. being lined  with glazed brick.  It is a quaint house, and most people riding by give it a cursory glance and exclaim “how ugly!”  But it’s a home-like house, full of the means of comfort and content, and for his $60,000 Mr. Glessner will acquire not only the quaintest, but one of the best homes in all Chicago.

NOTES:  The numerous references to the house being of Dutch design are a unique feature of this particular article.  The mention of the house of Wayne MacVeagh on Lincoln Park drive is actually a reference to the home of Franklin MacVeagh on Lake Shore Drive – the only other house in Chicago designed by H. H. Richardson.  Richardson’s original design for the Glessner courtyard did feature a fountain and elaborate gardens; these were eliminated in later modifications, presumably due to the fact the Glessners spent their summers in New Hampshire.  The total cost of construction, including new furniture and interior decoration, was $108,713. 

The Glessners dedicate their new home - December 4, 1887

On December 4, 1887, three days after moving into her new home at 1800 South Prairie Avenue, Frances Glessner made the following entry in her journal:

Dec. 4, 1887 – First Sunday in our new home – 1800 Prairie Ave.

Today we took a carriage and went to the old home.  It looked very forlorn.  We kindled a fire in the library and I lighted a lantern which I had carried over and brought the light home – then from that I lighted a fire here in the library.  This afternoon the MacVeagh’s came to tea.  I made tea on the table – we had some salad, some bread, butter, grapes, oranges, cake and canned cherries.  After tea Eames came, then Prof. Swing came.  After we had a lovely chat, we went all over the house, then the Prof. read a few verses from the 5^th chapter of Matthew and made a beautiful prayer.  Now I feel that the house is dedicated.  And then they went home and so ends a very happy day and prosperous beginning. 

On December 4, 2012, nearly 60 members, friends, and volunteers of Glessner House Museum gathered to celebrate the 125^th anniversary of the Glessners dedicating their new home, bringing to a close the 18-month celebration of this milestone in the history of the house.  At 6:00pm, the “fire ceremony” was recreated in the library, with John and Frances Glessner (portrayed by docents Brian Starr and Aimee Daramus) carrying a lantern into the room. 

After all the guests were assembled, Frances Glessner knelt before the fireplace and “lit” the coals, bringing a warm glow to the space.  Afterwards, Professor David Swing (portrayed by Rev. David Neff of Second Presbyterian Church) read verses 14 to 16 from the fifth chapter of Matthew:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The ceremony concluded with Professor Swing praying for the new house and its occupants.  Afterwards, the assembled crowd moved to the coach house for a festive dinner, provided courtesy of D’Absolute Catering.  The evening concluded with an informational presentation on the life and accomplishments of Frances Glessner by Executive Director and Curator William Tyre.  It was a fitting close to a wonderful eighteen months of reflection on the extraordinary house and its occupants.

NOTE:  The artwork at top, depicting the “fire ceremony” in the library fireplace, is an original piece created by talented artist Jack Simmerling specifically for Glessner House.  The artwork is available as both Christmas cards and note cards by calling the Glessner House Museum store at 312-326-1480.

Richardson's other Chicago house

The museum staff is busy preparing a new permanent exhibit on the life and work of Henry Hobson Richardson, architect of Glessner house.  The exhibit is being written by noted Richardson scholar, Professor James F. O’Gorman, and will be installed in the tour center, giving visitors an opportunity to learn more about the man often referred to as the first great American architect.  The unveiling will take place on June 1, 2011, the official start of the 18-month celebration commemorating the 125^th anniversary of the building of Glessner house.

The Glessner house is one of two residential designs Richardson completed in Chicago.  The other, the home of Franklin and Emily MacVeagh, stood at 1400 N. Lake Shore Drive, immediately north of the Potter Palmer “castle.”  Completed at the same time as the Glessner house, it was demolished in 1922 for a high-rise apartment building. 

The MacVeagh house stood three stories high on a battered basement.  Its stalwart main block facing the drive featured two unmatched corner towers flanking a balanced central portion with loggias that opened onto the lake on all floors.  All of the elevations were finished in a creamy rough-cut Ohio sandstone known as Buff Amherst.  The blocks were put up in alternating wide and narrow courses and were virtually devoid of carved ornamentation.  In the fashion of Richardson’s later designs, the walls were carried seamlessly around corners, as if it were possible to stretch a stone skin over a frame.  A steeply pitched red tile roof was set down cap-like above the walls.

Interior spaces were lavishly outfitted.  The library walls were lined in antique French tapestries, the dining room, decorated in an Italian fashion, opened into a conservatory through marble arches, and in 1893, the third floor was finished as a music room with walls painted in the manner of Fontainebleau.  The Chicago Tribune labeled its stout stone facades and lavish interiors “luxurious imprisonment.”

When the house was demolished in 1922, efforts were made to remove and preserve the elaborately carved entryway for installation at another site.  Although contemporary accounts indicate that the entryway may well have been salvaged, whatever became of the fragments is unknown, and they were presumably lost over time. 

(Architectural historian Mary Alice Molloy contributed to this article)