once the largest home in chicago the palmer mansion once graced the shores of lake michigan
hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring the history of what
was quite possibly the most elegant home to be lost in chicago make sure to hit that subscribe
button so you never miss an episode of this house stick around until the end of the video to learn
more about our new workshop at the time of the mansion's construction potter palmer was already
responsible for much of the development of the gold coast neighborhood after the great chicago
fire of 1871 the buildings on state street were destroyed and palmer was yet again responsible
for its redevelopment construction on the mansion began in 1882 and its exterior work was completed
in 1883 however interior decoration would continue for another two years before the
building was entirely complete henry ives cobb and charles frost were chosen as the architects for
the mansion the interiors were completed under the direction of architect joseph lyman silsby
john newquist who had already worked with palmer on numerous other constructions was chosen as the
contractor in the stair constructor although it was originally budgeted at ninety thousand dollars
after five years of construction the mansion would cost the palmers more than a million dollars
or the modern-day equivalent of over 29 million dollars the architects referred to its
architectural style as early romanesque or norman gothic alternatively the mansion was supposedly
based on a german castle the mansion featured a three-story italian eight central hall under a
glass dome other rooms were finished in a variety of historical styles what the owners called the
indian room an ottoman parlor a renaissance library a spanish music room an english dining
room that could seat 50 and a moorish room the rugs of which were saturated with perfumes a
collection of paintings collected by bertha palmer adorned the mansion's 75-foot long grand ballroom
gabriel ferrier was commissioned to create murals in the freeze that ran above the grand ballroom
topping off the art collection with masterful adornment the mansion's exterior included
many turrets and minarets and on the interior a spiral staircase without a center support rising
80 feet into the central tower two elevators also served the building the palmers constructed their
mansions outside doors specifically without locks and knobs so that the only way to get in was to be
admitted from the inside by servants never lifting a finger for anything including simply opening a
door the palmer mansion was used for many social gatherings including entertaining former us
president ulysses s grant during his visit to the city interceptions during the 1893 world's
columbian exposition for which bertha palmer was a major planner and booster when potter palmer died
in the mansion in 1902 he left his wife with a fortune of 8 million or the modern-day equivalent
of over 275 million dollars after his death bertha palmer continued to reside in the house as well as
in homes she maintained in london and paris until she died at her winter residence in osprey florida
she invested heavily in real estate in florida where she developed farms dairies and cattle
ranches that she administered herself with these great investments in land she parlayed
the fortune into almost double what she had been left and in 1918 bequest in a state of 15 million
dollars or the modern-day equivalent of nearly 500 million dollars to her sons her son sold the
chicago mansion in july 1928 for three million dollars or the modern day equivalent of nearly
50 million dollars to the industrialist vincent hugo bendix who had invented an automobile starter
potter palmer jr and his wife vacated the property in april of 1930 upon moving into the mansion
bendix renamed the property the bendix galleries after adding paintings by rembrandt and howard
chandler christie to bertha palmer's former art collection while residing within the mansion he
modernized the elevator and installed a barber's chair for his own use vincent bendix contemplated
raising the mansion to construct a 50-story hotel on the site at an estimated cost of 25
million dollars however the project was never put into action and the property was sold to potter
palmer's son in 1933 for two million dollars which was the amount of the building's mortgage
the mansion stood vacant for years until it was demolished in 1950 to be replaced by a 22-story
high-rise apartment building housing 740 families the mansion's painting gallery including works by
french painters claude monet pierre agustre noir and edgar degas that were collected by
bertha palmer was transferred to the art institute of chicago and the furniture was sold and so the
short-lived legacy of the palmer mansion had come to an end but something else has just started our
new merchandise shop is now live show your support for this house by donning some of this house local
gear from coffee cups to hoodies there's sure to be something you'll like all profits from the
merch shop will go straight into video production so we can keep bringing you entertaining and
educational videos centered on architecture as always i really hope that you enjoyed this
video please make sure to like comment share and subscribe i'll see you next time on this house