Rees coach house relocated

The long-awaited relocation of the Rees coach house took place on Wednesday October 1, 2014.  In just under an hour, beginning at 8:00am, the brick masonry structure was moved about 400 feet from the southwest corner of Prairie Avenue and 21^st Street to its new home at the rear of 2017 S. Prairie Avenue.   The coach house measures 25 feet wide by 35 feet deep, stands 23 feet high, and weighs 187 tons (374,000 pounds).

The Harriet F. Rees house was built in 1888-1889 at 2110 S. Prairie Avenue at a cost of $20,000.  It was designed by Henry Ives Cobb of the firm of Cobb & Frost, architects of the Potter Palmer castle (demolished), the Newberry Library, 18 buildings on the University of Chicago, the Chicago Athletic Club, the house at 1811 S. Prairie Avenue, and many other structures.  Rees, a 71 year old widow at the time construction began, died in 1892 and the house was sold to the Edson Keith Jr. family.  By 1920, during the decline of Prairie Avenue, the house was converted to a rooming house.  In 1970, it was briefly home to the Prairie House Café, and then reverted to use as apartments.  The current owners purchased the house in 2001 and have undertaken extensive restoration of the interior.  It was designated a Chicago landmark in March 2012.

The coach house has an interesting history of its own.    When Rees purchased her property in 1888 for $15,000 from Mark Kimball, who lived next door at 2108 S. Prairie Avenue, Kimball’s coach house extended across the back of both lots.  It is believed that the Kimball house was built in the late 1860s, meaning that the coach house may actually pre-date the Great Chicago Fire (which bypassed the neighborhood).  Rees acquired ownership of the south half of the coach house, and a party wall was constructed in the middle to divide it into two separate sections.  The Kimball house and its half of the coach house were demolished in the 1930s, leaving the two-story Rees coach house intact.  Interesting also is the fact that the coach house had a full basement.  Story has it that the carriages utilized the ground floor, and a ramp was used to take the horses down to the stables in the basement level.  The coachman would have occupied the rooms on the second story.

Media, including Frank Mathie from Channel 7, mixed with a crowd of curious neighbors and onlookers, as the coach house moved north on Prairie Avenue, at a rate of one to three miles per hour.  

The street had been leveled with gravel and steel plates, providing a smooth and level surface.   

After being moved back onto its new lot, the coach house was rolled onto wood cribbings that had been constructed on the base of what will form the new foundation.  

Over the next several days, more cribbing will be added, the dollies will be removed, and the foundation walls will be constructed.  Once that is complete, all of the cribbing, consisting of 6 and 8 foot hardwood beams, will be removed, and the coach house will then rest solely upon its new foundation.

In preparation for the move, the coach house was separated from its foundation using diamond-bladed masonry saws.  

Steel corner braces were installed at all four corners and chains were wrapped around the building, to keep it square and plumb.  

Jacks were then used to raise the building seven feet into the air, at which point it was placed onto six massive automated dollies and turned 90 degrees.   

While this work was ongoing, excavation at the new site was undertaken, and the floor of the new basement was poured. 

On September 25^th, the structure was turned another 45 degrees and rolled to the corner where it sat on its dollies until today’s move.  

In the past two days, all of the trees along the route on the 2000 block of Prairie Avenue were cut down, and the stone base and steel plates were put into place along the planned route.

At the same time, the wood cribbing was built at the new site to support the structure once it was moved.

The main house is scheduled to be moved in early November 2014.  That move will take much longer and will be far more complicated.  For one thing, the 3-1/2 story brick and limestone house weighs in at 763 tons, more than four times the weight of the coach house.  That will make it one of the heaviest residential buildings ever moved in the United States.  Additionally, the house will need to be turned around, as the front façade will face west at its new location, rather than east as it does presently.  That will involve moving the house considerably north of its new site, almost to Cullerton, and then backing the house onto the lot. 

The move and restoration of the Rees house and coach house are being coordinated by Chicago contractor Bulley & Andrews, with Thornton Tomasetti serving as the project’s engineering firm, and Iron Workers, Machinery Movers, Riggers & Machinery Erectors Local #136 providing the necessary labor.  Wolfe House and Building Movers is performing the move of both structures, and McGuire Igleski & Associates, Inc. is serving as historic preservation consultant.    The relocation will make room for the McCormick Place Entertainment District, which will include a 10,000-seat event center on the block bounded by Prairie Avenue, 21^st Street, Indiana Avenue, and Cermak Road.

This final series of photos shows the coach house turning off of Prairie Avenue and being moved back on its new site.

Moving a House on Prairie Avenue - 1891

The subject house where it was stopped on
Prairie Avenue just south of Twenty-first Street

The landmark Harriet F. Rees house, designed by Cobb & Frost, was built at 2110 S. Prairie Avenue in 1888.  Later this month, plans call for lifting the four-story masonry structure off of its original foundation and relocating it one block to the north where a new foundation will be prepared at 2017 S. Prairie Avenue.  All of this is being done in preparation for construction of the new DePaul Arena which will occupy the entire block on which the house currently sits.

Although the idea of moving a house is intimidating, the practice was actually quite common in the late 19^th century.   In 1891, another house was moved along the 2100 block of Prairie Avenue and the episode created quite a stir amongst the residents at the time.  The long forgotten controversy is recorded for posterity in two articles published in the Chicago Tribune that year.

On September 14, 1891, the Tribune reported the situation in an article entitled “Prairie Avenue Residents Up In Arms – A House-Mover’s Disrespect for Stately Old Elm Trees.”  In this particular situation, Prairie Avenue was merely being used as the route between the original site of the house on Michigan Avenue and its new site at 46^th Street and Indiana Avenue.  The article read:

“A dilapidated wreck of an old frame house completely blockades Prairie avenue, so far as traffic concerned, just south of Twenty-first street.  It has been standing there, covered with dirt and cobwebs, a very beggar of a house among the handsome residences of John B. Sherman, P. D. Armour, Eugene S. Pike, R. W. Roloson, M. M. Rothschild, and Mrs. E. J. Kimball, for the last three days.  It would have been out of this neighborhood long ago, but Mr. Armour, Mr. Pike, et al. will not permit it.  Not that they admire the old hulk, but they do not desire to have the stately old elms in front of their homes ruined.

“It had hardly passed Twenty-first street before a number of branches of the trees in front of Mr. Pike’s residence, No. 2101 Prairie Avenue, were broken off.  It is still jammed hard against the limb of another of Mr. Pike’s trees, where it was stopped by order of the Street Department in response to angry remonstrances of Phillip D. Armour of No. 2115.  Mr. Armour didn’t want to have his trees torn down by the building and he called on Commissioner Aldrich to protest against the further progress of the house in that direction.  Superintendent of Street Obstructions Bell ordered the house-mover to take the house down Twenty-first street to some street where it will cause less trouble.

“The building is owned by Tim Keefe, and was being taken from No. 1833 Michigan avenue by Building Mover William Kruger.  The permit was issued Aug. 15 to expire Aug. 31 and he did not secure its renewal until Sept. 11, a day after the injury to Mr. Pike’s trees was done.  The permit was for a house twenty-two feet wide, but one of the residents of the avenue who went to the trouble of measuring the building found that it is twenty-nine feet four inches wide, while the street is but thirty-two feet from curb to curb.

“’The City of Chicago,’ he declared, ‘had grown so large that we should no longer permit the removal of frame buildings over our streets.’” 

This photograph shows where the house was stopped during its move.  Shown from left to right are the houses of Max Rothschild (2112), Harriet Rees (2110), Mark Kimball (2108), John B. Sherman (2100) and Ebenezer Buckingham (2036).  The image dates to the early 1890s, so may well show the trees after they were damaged by the house move.

Troubles continued for Mr. Keefe, the owner of the house in question, as indicated by a second article entitled “Objects to Official Interference” which appeared six weeks later on October 27, 1891:

“Thomas H. Keefe bought a frame house at No. 1833 Michigan avenue, and hired William Kruger, a house mover, to transfer the building to Forty-sixth street and Indiana avenue.  The Street Department gave permission to move the house along Prairie avenue, but at Twenty-sixth street objections were made, and the building was turned back and sent down a side street.  Since then Keefe says progress has been stopped every few blocks by either the police or other city officers, and the building now blocks traffic on Forty-sixth street within a stone’s throw of its destination.  Yesterday Keefe and Kruger went into the Superior Court and sought to restrain further interference by asking an injunction against J. Frank Aldrich, Hempstead Washburne, Richard W. McClaughry, Nicholas Hunt, James E. Burke, and the city.”

No further information appears in the Tribune about the house, but presumably it was soon after moved the last few feet to its new location on Indiana Avenue, and the matter was finally put to rest.   

Next week:  The first move of the Henry B. Clarke house in 1872

New Brochure Available on Prairie Avenue

The museum has just released a revised version of its popular self-guided walking tour brochure of the Prairie Avenue neighborhood.  The brochure begins with a brief history of the area divided into four distinct time frames.  The first, Beginnings, starts with the Battle of Fort Dearborn in 1812 and continues through to the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.  The second section, Glory Days, chronicles the period beginning immediately after the fire when Prairie Avenue gained distinction as the most prestigious street in the city, and one of the most fashionable in the country.  That section ends in 1904, the year the last new residence was constructed.  Section three, Decline, chronicles the period 1905 to 1965 when the neighborhood saw a rapid transformation from residential to light industry, and highlights the major causes of that decline.  The final section, Rebirth, begins with the rescue of Glessner House in 1966 and continues through to the present day, highlighting the revitalization of the area in the last twenty years.

Twenty-seven sites of architectural and historical interest are featured in the brochure as well, ranging from the surviving mansions to buildings constructed for the printing and automobile industries in the early 20^th century.  (For a PDF of the brochure, visit the Glessner House Museum website and scroll down the left-hand column to the section “Download the Walking Tour of Historic Prairie Avenue.”)  Three Sunday afternoon guided tours of the neighborhood, conducted by museum director Bill Tyre, will take place on July 21, August 18, and September 15, 2013.  Tickets are $15.00 per person for the two-hour tour.  For more information or to make reservations, call 312-326-1480. 

Following are a few of the architectural and historical treasures to be found in the neighborhood and featured in the brochure.

The oldest site in the area, located at Calumet Avenue and 18^th Street, is now known as Battle of Fort Dearborn Park.  On August 15, 1812 during the War of 1812 with Great Britain, the fort was evacuated and the soldiers and civilians began their long trek along the shore of Lake Michigan, heading toward the safety of Fort Wayne in Indiana.  The current park marks the site of a pivotal battle that occurred that day during which more than 75 soldiers, civilians, and Native Americans were killed.  The park, with its interpretive plaque, was formally dedicated on August 15, 2009, the 197^th anniversary of the battle.

The Harriet F. Rees house at 2110 S. Prairie Avenue is one of just seven mansions remaining on Prairie Avenue.  In its heyday, the six-block stretch of Prairie between 16^th Street and Cermak Road (originally 22^nd Street) contained 84 mansions.  Although designated a Chicago landmark in 2012, the future of the Rees house, constructed in 1888 and designed by Cobb & Frost, is uncertain in light of recently announced plans to construct a new stadium for DePaul on the block in which the house stands.

The William W. Kimball house at 1801 S. Prairie Avenue is a strikingly beautiful limestone clad residence built in the Chateauesque style in 1892.  Modeled after a chateau in Brittany, the house was designed by architect Solon S. Beman, best known as the architect for the Town of Pullman (constructed for the Kimball’s neighbor, George M. Pullman a decade before the Kimball house).  Kimball, the founder and president of the Kimball piano and organ company, filled his house with valuable paintings including works by Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Turner that were donated to the Art Institute in 1922.   Film buffs will note that the house served as the setting for the 1996 film “Primal Fear” featuring Richard Gere, Edward Norton, and Laura Linney.

Second Presbyterian Church at 1936 S. Michigan Avenue was originally built in 1874 from designs by architect James Renwick Jr. (who also designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City).  Following a devastating fire in 1900, the interior was completely redesigned and rebuilt by Howard Van Doren Shaw, and today survives as an amazingly intact example of the Arts and Crafts movement.  The church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013, the only church in Chicago to earn that designation.  A celebration of the Landmark status will take place on Thursday June 20, 2013 at 5:30pm, and is open to the public.  Visit www.2ndpresbyterianfriends.org for more information.

The high rise at the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Cermak Road marks the former site of the Lexington Hotel, designed in 1892 by Clinton J. Warren.   Built to house visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition (including President Grover Cleveland, who officially opened the fair), the elegant structure later fell on hard days.  By the 1920s, Al Capone ran his crime operations from a suite of rooms in the hotel.  Many will recall when Geraldo Rivera unsealed Capone’s vault in the basement during a live two-hour TV broadcast on April 21, 1986.  Although the building was designated a Chicago landmark, it was demolished in 1995.

The large loft building at 1727 S. Indiana Avenue was original built in 1905 for the Eastman Kodak Company.  During the 1920s when Indiana Avenue was widened by 35 feet, the west façade of the building was sliced off and a new façade constructed.  The original design of the building survives along 18^th Street, and features a doorway with a bellows camera carved in stone above.  In 1993, the building became the first loft structure in the area to convert to residential use.

Historians might have a hard time finding the former Ginn & Company building (later the Platt Luggage Company), now located at 2203 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.  Originally built in 1907 at 2301 S. Prairie Avenue from plans by Howard Van Doren Shaw, the building was the center of two major preservation battles as nearby McCormick Place continued expanding west.  Eventually, the building was dismantled and the façade was reconstructed on the current site to conceal a power-plant behind.

The elegant Second Empire style building at 1925 S. Michigan Avenue features a beautiful façade executed in white glazed terra cotta.  Designed in 1911 by Christian Eckstorm, it was one of over 100 buildings constructed along Michigan Avenue in the early 1900s to accommodate the growing automobile industry.  In time, this stretch of Michigan became known as Motor Row.  The large plate-glass display windows were originally used for displays of rubber products manufactured by the B. F. Goodrich Company.  Recently restored to its former glory, the building awaits a new occupant.

The newest “historic” site in the area is the former location of the Chess Records Office and Studio, located at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue.  Originally built in 1911 during the growth of Motor Row, it was remodeled in 1957 to house Chess Records, which remained here for a decade, recording some of the era’s most important blues music.  The Rolling Stones paid homage to the building with their “2120 South Michigan Avenue,” recorded here in June 1964.  The site is now open to the public and is operated by the Blues Heaven Foundation. 

NOTE:  The brochure was printed for the museum by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

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.