Once the largest house in Chicago, the Nickerson Mansion was an icon of the American Dream.
Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"!! Today we are exploring the house that first
inspired the movement we now know as Historic Preservation in Chicago, Illinois.
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Just after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the city was rebuilding itself at a staggering
rate.
New industries were ushering in good paying jobs, and at the top of these new industries
were magnates with wealth the city had never seen before.
One such industry leader was Samuel Nickerson who was quick to capitalize on the national
banking industry, buying up more bank stocks than any other individual in the country.
He quickly expanded his banking empire by founding the Union Stockyards National Bank
and the First National Bank of Chicago, eventually venturing into spirits and wartime manufacturing.
With most of his wealth being in stocks and bonds, it is hard to put an exact dollar amount
to his fortune, but one thing is for certain, he was one of, if not the wealthiest person
in Chicago at the time.
Naturally, for a man of such status, he wanted the largest home in the city.
In 1879, he commissioned renowned Chicago architect, Edward J. Burling to design for
him a 24,000 square foot mansion in the Near North Side Neighborhood.
After 4 years of construction, in 1883, the Sandstone clad mansion was finished at a total
cost of 450,000 dollars, or the modern day equivalent of over 13 million dollars.
With the memory of widespread fire still in mind, the house was over engineered to become
one of the first fireproof residences in the county with iron beams supporting brick arches
with partition walls extending into the roof behind the sandstone façade.
No expense was spared on the interior, which boasted 17 distinct types of marble integrated
into columns and tilework.
Entering the home, you would be greeted by a bifurcated staircase set behind a colonnade
with marble newel posts acting as permanent pedestals for urns.
First, guests would be directed to the reception room where esteemed designer August Fiedler
created an ensemble of dark, inlaid wood tiles around the fireplace capped off by a faux
mansard roof at its upper mantle.
The dining room was finished out with half height wood paneling, concealing secret passageways
for servants to slip in and out unnoticed.
The central focus of the room remained a floor to ceiling, built in, curio cabinet for displaying
the Nickerson’s collection of fine china.
We will see more of the first floor in a moment, but for now, lets head up stairs to the second
floor stair landing where we can gaze across the opening to the bedroom.
The bedroom had also been decorated by August Fiedler with hand stenciling to break up the
coffered ceiling above a whimsical floral wallpaper mirroring some of the shapes found
in the iron bedframe cozied up to a fireplace.
In 1900, Samuel retired and sold his home to Lucius George Fisher, another captain of
industry, being the president of the Union Bag and Paper Company.
Fisher loved the house, but wanted to add his own touch.
He hired Prairie School Architect George Washington Maher to balance the existing architecture
of the house with more modern features.
The Art Gallery towards the rear of the house was transformed into a trophy room with updated
bookcases to compliment the existing millwork, creating a new mantle piece for the existing
fireplace.
Additionally, the ceiling was transformed form a simple skylight to boast a stained
glass dome.
Fisher spent the rest of his life cherishing his city mansion until his passing in 1916.
His family put the house up for sale, but after 3 years of sitting on the market, grew
dismayed.
In what is possibly Chicago’s earliest historic preservation effort, 3 influential elites
came together to save the house from demolition.
Cyrus Hall McCormick the second, Julius Rosenwald, and William Wrigley Junior purchased the house
and donated it to the American College of Surgeons.
It was primarily used as office space with very few modifications being made to the existing
architecture.
Then, in 2003, Chicago based business man and philanthropist Richard Driehaus purchased
the Nickerson Mansion with the intent to create a museum.
Over the years, soot had built up on the porous sandstone which had nearly turned the house
black in appearance.
The stone could not be pressure washed, so this unique problem of restoring the façade
required an imaginative solution.
Over in Europe, preservationists were restoring porous statues and cleaning them with lasers,
which appeared to be the best option for cleaning the building, spurring the decision to laser
the entire building from top to bottom, still holding the record for the largest laser cleaning
ever performed in North America.
Fast forward to 2008, the museum opened its doors to the public where guests can enjoy
the meticulously restored architecture of each room with Tiffany Stained Glass throughout.
Instead of housing the family’s original furnishings, though there are some items extant,
the museum shares Driehaus’ private collection of turn of the century decorative arts ranging
from paintings to statues to furnishings.
If you have ever visited, I would love to read about your experience down below in the
comments section.
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