When we think about chewing gum, wrigleys might come to mind.
But how much do you know about it’s history?
Hi everyone ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the many mansions of William Wrigley Jr, founder of Wrigley’s
Gum.
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house.
In 1861, William Wrigley Jr was born into a modest family in Philadelphia.
At the age of 20 years old, he moved to Chicago with his life savings of $32 or the modern
day equivalent of about 1,000 dollars.
There he opened a store selling “Wrigley’s Scouring Soap.”
With every purchase, he would include a bit of free baking powder.
He found that his customers preferred his baking powder over his soap, so he pivoted
his business to sell just baking powder, including complimentary packages of chewing gum with
each purchase.
Once again, he found that his customers greatly preferred his complimentary product.
He acquired a recipe for chewing gum and took a risk.
Wrigley spent his life savings opening a small manufacturing plant to produce chewing gum.
It was an instant success.
He began making absurd amounts of money has he expanded coast to coast with his chewing
gum.
In 1919 he purchased a controlling interest in the Santa Catalina Island Company, located
on Catalina Island in California.
He planted tens of thousands of trees, flowers, and other plants and got to work developing
the island as a tourist attraction.
Over the next ten years, he built a hotel and a casino on the island.
Meanwhile, He purchased a minority stake in the Chicago Cubs baseball team and over a
few short years became the majority owner of the cubs.
Today, Wrigley Field, where the Chicago cubs play, is still named after William Wrigley
Jr.
Throughout his career, Wrigley built and purchased many beautiful homes and buildings.
In 1911, he purchased his first mansion in Chicago from brewing magnate, Joseph Theurer.
The house was fashioned in the Italian Renaissance revival style boasting 15,000 square feet
across 4 stories.
In 1919, while developing Catalina island, he built his summer cottage on the south east
corner of the island.
He hired the designer of Wrigley Field, architect Zachary Taylor Davis to create his Georgian
colonial revival style mansion.
The house became a tourist attraction for world leaders as the Wrigley would host notable
guests such as US presidents and the Prince of Wales before the great depression.
In 1921, he hired architect Lawrence Stimson to design him a winter home on Pasadena’s
Millionaire’s row.
The house would be named “The Shadows” after an observation was made about the dramatic
shadows the architectural elements would cast on the lawn at both sunrise and sunset.
In 1929, he set out to build a winter cottage in Phoenix, Arizona which would become known
as La Colina Solana.
Though an eclectic mix of styles, the most prominent influence for the 16,000 square
foot house was Spanish Colonial.
With 24 rooms and 12 bathrooms decorated in tile manufactured on Catalina island.
Entering the home, you would be greeted by a floating staircase following the curved
walls with wrought iron railing on once side of the stairs and hand ropes hung on the other
side.
The living room boasted a large stone fireplace with a wood paneled ceiling and blank white
walls, the only color appearing in the form of paintings and textiles.
This same theme would be continued throughout the house with hallways having exposed wood
beams and large windows allowing natural light to flood in.
The house even featured a telephone booth with an ornately carved wood door providing
privacy.
But perhaps the most captivating feature of the home were the mesa views it offered.
Off the back of the house, you could see the downtown phoenix skyline set against the desert
sky.
At the age of 70 years old, Wrigley died in this house in 1932.
The house continues to stand is currently used as an event venue for weddings and other
gatherings.
The shadows in Pasadena continues to be used every year as the Tournament House for the
Tournament of Roses on New years day.
The Summer Cottage on Catalina Island was donated to the University of Southern California
and was utilized as a conference center before being turned into a hotel in 1985.
The Theurrer Wrigley House in Chicago sat abandoned by the family for decades after
wrigley’s passing.
The house was first purchased in the late 1980s and passed hands several times, continuing
to deteriorate with each failed renovation plan.
In 2017, the house was foreclosed on, and in 2018 it was purchased for 4.65 million
dollars to be used as a private residence.
All of wrigley’s homes are still standing to this day, which one is your favorite?
Let me know down in the comments section below.
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