Chicago | The Mansion of the Gold Coast

[denveraztec]

Photos from my walk in November from Streeterville to the the mansions in the Gold Coast area – Dearborn, State and Astor streets via Rush:































































































Fur in the hood:



























This just screams Frank Lloyd Wright! However, it was the Albert Madener Residence and was designed by Richard E. Schimdt and Hugh M.G. Garden in 1901. Both attended the Prairie School of Architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright was the chief architect associated with the school, hence the resemblance to his work. There are other homes in the neighborhood that are Sullivan/Wright works, but I didn’t shoot pics if folks were in their yards or watching. I was already in all black and must have looked like a burglar to them scoping out the joint.































This is a cardinal’s residence:























































Garden House, built in 1887





































Time to head back to Streeterville and the condo!







Hope you enjoyed!

Denver Aztec

Other Chicago Threads of Mine:

Michigan Avenue;
Rush Street and The Mansions of State Street;
Millennium and Grant Park, Art Institute to the Field Museum;
Walk from Greektown through the Loop;
If You Don’t Have the Details, Don’t Even Think About Building Here;
The Layers of the Gold Coast

[Kingofthehill]

Chicago is lucky to have such a charming housing stock.

Seriously, some real gems in these photos.

Nice photos...how's the D90 treating you?

[denveraztec]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

Chicago is lucky to have such a charming housing stock.

Seriously, some real gems in these photos.

Nice photos...how's the D90 treating you?

Thank you! I am getting more use to the D90, this was the first time using it in cloudy conditions. Used it today here in Denver since we are having temps in the 60s, weird for January.

Of course I aspire to be as good as you but here are a few from today in Denver:

[spyguy]

Nice job - you got quite a bit of the old and new into this thread.

This was the original Playboy mansion BTW.

[Jibba]

Really great coverage of that area. Sadly, I have yet to see most of what is in these pictures in person--for whatever I just never make my way around that area.

Great pictures.

[OhioGuy]

^^^ I didn't know that was the original Playboy mansion. I know Playboy is from Chicago, but I guess I never thought about it enough to think we'd have the original Playboy mansion.

I love the Gold Coast. One day I'm gonna have enough money to buy one of those homes.

[Rizzo]

Great shots!

[killaviews]

Yes, one day. One day I'll be able to live here. I love Astor Street so much. I just need a couple million.

[harryc]

Great set - one day Pullman will look like this. I have always enjoyed this area just don't get up there that often.

[Sandy]

Beautiful pics and nice area, I wonder if I didn't went there in October 2007... if you could name some streets then I could check on google maps.

[denveraztec]

Thanks for all the comments!

Originally Posted by spyguy

Nice job - you got quite a bit of the old and new into this thread. This was the original Playboy mansion BTW.

I knew there was a reason that area just felt sexy! I could only imagine what the neighbors thought, then again, that kind of money probably wanted to join the party.

Originally Posted by Jibba

Really great coverage of that area. Sadly, I have yet to see most of what is in these pictures in person--for whatever I just never make my way around that area. Great pictures.

I hear this all the time, people that live in Chicago never roam these streets. I always do after eating on Rush, just to walk off dinner. My favorite time of year there is Halloween. Some of those residents get crazy wild with with decorations and the homes really do fit the season. I actually avoid taking shots of some the homes this time around because the Christmas decorations were out of control.

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

^^^ I didn't know that was the original Playboy mansion. I know Playboy is from Chicago, but I guess I never thought about it enough to think we'd have the original Playboy mansion. I love the Gold Coast. One day I'm gonna have enough money to buy one of those homes.

Great goal to have!

Originally Posted by killaviews

Yes, one day. One day I'll be able to live here. I love Astor Street so much. I just need a couple million.

A couple million times 3 or times 6. A few homes for sale had listing prices at 8 million.

Originally Posted by harryc

Great set - one day Pullman will look like this. I have always enjoyed this area just don't get up there that often.

Okay, the next time I am in Chicago, probably Memorial day, we can have a meet and greet at the Big Bowl and then walk over. It was cold out and I didn't get all of the homes I wanted to, so I will be back there, the only problem during the warm months is the tree coverage and being able to see and shoot the entire structures.

Originally Posted by Sandy

Beautiful pics and nice area, I wonder if I didn't went there in October 2007... if you could name some streets then I could check on google maps.

Hi Sandy, you would have known you were there if you were there. Very unique area and incredibly close to downtown, but also kind of hidden. Some of the cross streets for Astor, State and Dearborn are North Ave., Burton Place, East Schiller and East Goethe.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by denveraztec

I could only imagine what the neighbors thought, then again, that kind of money probably wanted to join the party.

Considering the kinds of celebrity guests that stayed there, I can only imagine what those parties must have been like. There was a trapdoor in the living room floor that you could open up to look directly down at the pool below. And on the pool level there was a firemen's pole that took you down to an underwater bar where you could watch the bunnies swim from a glass window.

Another piece of trivia here (sorry ). On the left you captured the base of the Astor Tower Hotel (Betrand Goldberg), where the Beatles stayed in 1966 and held a news conference to explain the "more popular than Jesus" remark.

[Sandy]

I was right, I went there but as I didn't visit Chicago as a chicagoan could, I probably missed interested part of the city so without the exact location of the area I couldn't be sure.

Originally Posted by denveraztec

I hear this all the time, people that live in Chicago never roam these streets. I always do after eating on Rush, just to walk off dinner. My favorite time of year there is Halloween. Some of those residents get crazy wild with with decorations and the homes really do fit the season. I actually avoid taking shots of some the homes this time around because the Christmas decorations were out of control.

I agree, I was there for Halloween, lots of decorations, I point the doors or frontyard, unfortunatly not enough the house itself.

I don't want to pollute your thread, but here's a few pics I took







I appreciated the calm of the streets around there, that's probably why I took this pic...

[tdawg]

Lovely area. I was expecting it to look like the Upper East Side, but because of the building heights and styles, it reminds me very much of Park Slope, Brooklyn.

[olga]

Some really great architecture there! Some of those mansions are amazing. Thanks for the tour!

[WilliamTheArtist]

Beautiful old homes. Nice to see an area where there are so many that are intact like that and well kept. Bet its wonderful to walk down those sidewalks when everything is green.

[Cbautz]

Wow Great photo collection of the old mansions. There some really important homes by priminant architects. Burnham, FLW, Sullivan, Mies, Goldberg among other have impressive works in this neighborhood

[denveraztec]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Considering the kinds of celebrity guests that stayed there, I can only imagine what those parties must have been like. There was a trapdoor in the living room floor that you could open up to look directly down at the pool below. And on the pool level there was a firemen's pole that took you down to an underwater bar where you could watch the bunnies swim from a glass window.

Another piece of trivia here (sorry ). On the left you captured the base of the Astor Tower Hotel (Betrand Goldberg), where the Beatles stayed in 1966 and held a news conference to explain the "more popular than Jesus" remark.

Cool trivia! If these homes could talk I bet there would be novels upon novels of information. Okay, so you will absolutely need to be with me the next time I roam these streets since you seem to know about the homes.

Originally Posted by WilliamTheArtist

Beautiful old homes. Nice to see an area where there are so many that are intact like that and well kept. Bet its wonderful to walk down those sidewalks when everything is green.

It is very cool, but this trip was on purpose to see the homes without the coverage because you can actually see them through the trees. Not as warm and green but when all the leaves are on it is near impossible to shoot photos.

Originally Posted by Sandy

I was right, I went there but as I didn't visit Chicago as a chicagoan could, I probably missed interested part of the city so without the exact location of the area I couldn't be sure.

I agree, I was there for Halloween, lots of decorations, I point the doors or frontyard, unfortunatly not enough the house itself.

I don't want to pollute your thread, but here's a few pics I took

I appreciated the calm of the streets around there, that's probably why I took this pic...

Great shots Sandy and glad you got to see the area during Halloween!

Originally Posted by Cbautz

Wow Great photo collection of the old mansions. There some really important homes by priminant architects. Burnham, FLW, Sullivan, Mies, Goldberg among other have impressive works in this neighborhood

And these are just the architects we know about. I wonder how many of these homes have owners who don't know much about the history of what they live in?

Thank you all for the comments!

[flar]

Some real beauties there-- The mark of a real city when the wealthy live in urban mansions in the townhouse and rowhouse format.

[Swinefeld]

Very impressive. Some handsome properties there.