John J. Glessner House

“Throughout his career, Richardson The main hallway was a relaxed reception area which opened on to the formal living areas of the first floor and led, via the main staircase shown here, to the children's bedrooms and guest suites located on the second floor.”

“Mrs. Glessner was responsible for organizing the Monday Morning Reading Class, an association of cultivated Chicago women who met for over thirty years in the Glessner home. Prior to building their famous Prairie Avenue residence, the Glessners occupied two other homes.”

“Bright and spacious, the court was landscaped, the walls faced with pinkish brick and trimmed at the lintels and sills with Joliet limestone. In contrast to the unrelieved surfaces that left the street elevations so severe, Richardson introduced three modified turrets that project into the outdoor space and correspond to the interior location of the dining room and conservatory above, major hallways on the first and second floors, and a circular staircase.”

“What the neighbors did not know was that this house would help reform residential-indeed all-American architecture. With Richardson came the first departure from the accepted styles of design and detail.”

“The Joseph G. Coleman House (designed in 1886 by Cobb and Frost) is an unassuming amalgam of the styles found in both the Glessner and Kimball houses. The Elbridge G. Keith House (1871), although the earliest and least pretentious of the homes left, nevertheless reflects the gentility and dignity of Prairie Avenue's past.”

“The house was built on Prairie Avenue when that Near South Side area was Chicago's most fashionable residential location. Today, with only a few homes left standing around it, Glessner House remains as a testament to an era long since passed. terms as trustee of the Art Institute and the Chicago Orchestral Association, as director of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, and as president of the board of Rush Medical College.”

“By that time, Glessner House was the only one of Richardson's Chicago buildings standing. The other three-the American Express Building (1872-3), the Marshall Field Wholesale Store (1885-7), and the Franklin Mc- Veagh House (1885)-had all been demolished.”

“The district offers a tremendous opportunity to re-create the grandeur of a forgotten era amidst the conditions of contemporary life. Years ago, Mr. Glessner stated in his will that he hoped his home could be used as a learning center and that the family's cherished portrait of Richardson would hang in the library for as long as the house was standing.”

“There is yet another entrance off the courtyard, reached by a series of gently curving stone steps. Inside, Glessner House is thoroughly unpretentious, restrained but warm, easily encouraging expression of the occupants' taste rather than imposing an aesthetic.”

“The walls of the bathrooms, kitchen, and stable are finished with glazed white tile. Throughout the house there are ten fireplaces, some with elaborate painted tiles, some inset with marble.”