Glessner House Museum To Offer Special Behind-The-Scenes Architecture Tours

As part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Glessner House Museum, located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, will offer a special two-hour tour focusing on architect Henry Hobson Richardson and his design of the house. The tour will take place on Saturday October 3 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are $25 and pre-paid reservations are required to 312-326-1480.

These exclusive tours, offered for the first time, will explore the significant architectural design of the house. Controversial at the time of its completion in 1887, it foreshadowed the development of modern residential architecture, impacting architects such as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Attendees will see portions of the building not included on regular public tours as well as objects rarely shown, including sketches and drawings by Richardson.

The tour will repeat on Saturdays November 21 and December 19.

Interior of the Glessner House parlor

Emily Dickinson Performance at Glessner House Museum March 30, 2014

Betsey Means as Emily Dickinson

Glessner House Museum, located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, will host a performance entitled “I Dwell in Possibility – An Intimate Afternoon with Emily Dickinson” on Sunday March 30, 2014 at 2:00pm.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is regarded as one of the greatest American poets, in spite of living a mostly introverted and reclusive life. She wrote poetry of tremendous power, questioning the nature of immortality and death, and her work has remained in print continuously since her death. The performance is adapted and performed by Betsey Means of WomanLore and is directed by Eileen Vorbach.

Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving work by architect H. H. Richardson in Chicago. Completed in 1887, the museum is recognized nationwide for its groundbreaking architecture as well as its important collection of arts and crafts decorative arts.

Admission is $20 per person. Prepaid reservations are required and may be made by calling 312-326-1480. The museum is easily accessible by taking the #3 or #4 bus on Michigan Avenue to 18th Street, and then walking two blocks east.

Lecture On Glessner Trip To Florida And Cuba 1889

Glessner House Museum, located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, will host a lecture entitled “Glessner Travelogue 1889 – Florida and Cuba” on Thursday March 13, 2014 at 7:00pm.

Exactly 125 years ago, the Glessner family escaped the Chicago winter and embarked on a month long journey to Florida and Cuba. In this lecture by Executive Director and Curator William Tyre, attendees will retrace their steps using Frances Glessner’s detailed and often humorous account of the trip, accompanied by period photographs and illustrations.

This map of Cuba is from 1863.

Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving work by architect H. H. Richardson in Chicago. Completed in 1887, the museum is recognized nationwide for its groundbreaking architecture as well as its important collection of arts and crafts decorative arts.

Admission is $10 per person. Reservations may be made by calling 312-326-1480. The museum is easily accessible by taking the #3 or #4 bus on Michigan Avenue to 18th Street, and then walking two blocks east.

Lecture On Chicago Architect Benjamin Marshall at Glessner House October 22, 2013

Benjamin Marshall

Glessner House Museum, located at 1800 S. Prairie Ave. in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, will host
a lecture entitled “The Architecture of Benjamin Marshall” on Tuesday October 22, 2013 at 7:00pm.

Benjamin Marshall (1874-1940) was a prominent Chicago architect who was greatly inspired by the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. He designed many of Chicago’s best known buildings including the Drake Hotel, Blackstone Hotel and Theatre, the South Shore Country Club, the Edgewater Beach Hotel, and the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook.

Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving work by Richardson in Chicago. Completed in 1887, the museum is recognized nationwide for its groundbreaking architecture as well as its important collection of arts and crafts decorative arts.

Admission is $10 per person. Reservations may be made by calling 312-326-1480. The museum is easily accessible by taking the #3 or #4 bus on Michigan Ave. to 18th Street, and then walking two blocks east.

Lecture On Architect H. H. Richardson To Mark 175th Anniversary Of His Birth

The this portrait of H. H. Richardson hangs in the
National Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum.

Glessner House Museum, located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, will host a lecture entitled “H. H. Richardson and his Chicago Legacy” on Sunday September 29, 2013 at 2:00pm.

Glessner House architect Henry Hobson Richardson, born September 29, 1838 in New Orleans, was one of the most influential architects of his time. Architectural historian John Waters will present a talk on Richardson’s own body of work, and the impact that work had on other architects in Chicago, notably Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Henry Ives Cobb.

Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark and the last surviving work by Richardson in Chicago. Completed in 1887, the museum is recognized nationwide for its groundbreaking architecture as well as its important collection of arts and crafts decorative arts.

Admission is $10 per person. Reservations may be made by calling 312-326-1480. The museum is easily accessible by taking the #3 or #4 bus on Michigan Avenue to 18th Street, and then walking 2 blocks east.

A Walk Through Time on the "Sunny Street of the Sifted Few"

The William W. Kimball House at
1801 S. Prairie Ave., a Chicago landmark
built in 1892, Solon S. Beman, architect.
One of the homes featured on the 2013 tour.

Glessner House Museum, 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago, will present its annual house tour of the Prairie Avenue Historic District entitled “A Walk Through Time” on Sunday June 9, 2013 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.  The tour will feature the interior of six private homes constructed between 1868 and 1894; an 1870 mansion now serving as a boutique hotel; the Glessner and Clarke house museums; and historic Second Presbyterian Church with its large collection of Tiffany windows.  Tickets are $50.00 per person and may be purchased in advance or at the door.  For reservations, please call 312-326-1480, or visit Glessner House Museum Web site for further information.

This very special tour presents attendees with the rare opportunity to see the interiors of several mansions built in the late 19th century on what was then known as the “sunny street of the sifted few.” These homes feature a breath-taking array of beautifully carved wood moldings, leaded glass windows, and fireplaces faced in elaborate tile, mosaic, and marble. For a complete listing of the homes on the tour click here.

Following the tour, participants are invited back to the Glessner House Museum coach house for a reception and silent auction, featuring an array of wonderful items old and new!

Book 2 takes place during
The 1893 World’s Fair.

For a fictional account of what life on Prairie Ave. was like, you might enjoy the “Avenue of Dream” series, which is set on that “sunny street of the sifted few.” The books take place during the years 1892 through 1896, during one of the most exciting eras in Chicago history. Book 1, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning and Books 2, The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow, in the series are available at bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com. Book 3, The Invention of Sarah Cummings, releases this September.

Check out the review of The Pursuit of Lucy Banning in USAToday.