| Address | 15-17 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL |
|---|---|
| Built | 1881-82 |
| Architect | Dankmar Adler with Louis H. Sullivan |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark |
| Designation Date | December 18, 1981 (Final) |
| Neighborhood | Loop |
| Type | Office and commercial building |
| Landmark ID | L-123 |
About this name
The City's open-data name is 'Jewelers Building' with a doubled space and no apostrophe. The report's cover reads 'JEWELERS' BUILDING' and the City's own August 2026 name list reads 'Jewelers' Building', so both agree on the apostrophe. NOTE THE OTHER ONE: 35 E. Wacker Drive (L-195) is also called the Jewelers Building, and legitimately -- it was built for the jewelers' trade in 1926. Two Chicago landmarks answer to this name. They are told apart by address: 15-17 S. Wabash for Adler & Sullivan's 1882 loft, 35 E. Wacker for the 1926 tower.
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“While the building Adler and Sullivan designed is not unlike other commercial structures in its spatial organization, its facade is a dramatic departure from others of its type.”
“Louis Sullivan began working as a draftsman with Dankmar Adler in 1879, shortly after Adler had dissolved his partnership with Edward Burling. In that year Adler designed the Central Music Hall, a commission whose success brought in a number of other assignments including the Borden Block which was located at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn streets, and the remodelling of the Grand Opera House.”
“Further, it is the only example of early Adler and Sullivan work remaining in the downtown area since the demolition in the early 1970s of the Rothschild Store (210 West Monroe Street) and the Revell Building (northeast corner of Wabash and Adams streets).”
“An ornamental parapet completes the design. The alley corner is chamfered, or angled back, but this angled portion is identical in design to the narrow bays. The Jewelers' Building is one of four commercial structures commissioned to Adler and Sullivan by Martin Ryerson.”
“As Sprague points out: Most important, however, and the most consistent factor in the Chicago ornament, is the tendency for motifs to grow organically out of one another without abrupt changes of direction.”
“The use of ornament was limited to cast-iron columns on the ground floor, window lintels, and the cornice. The Jewelers' Building (the name having been acquired some time after its completion) is similar in its composition to those loft structures of the 1870s.”
What other designation reports say about this building
“Prominent works by Adler & Sullivan include several individually designated Chicago Landmarks: the (Little) Jewelers' Building (1881, 15-17 S. Wabash Avenue); the Kaufmann Store and Flats (1883, 1887, 2312-2314 N. Lincoln Avenue); the Auditorium Building (1886- 90, 430 S.”