Behind the Scenes
at the Monroe Building
September 20, 2011

Sullivan Society members were given an exclusive tour of the recently restored Monroe Building (1912; Holabird & Roche, arch.) at 104 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago. The tour explored the vaulted Rookwood tile lobby, the office corridors with decorative-wood arched transoms, and the former office space of architect Walter Burley Griffin, which is tucked under the building’s distinctive gabled roof.

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Exploring the Monadnock Building
March 15, 2011

Jason Neises, V.P. of Tour Operations with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, led Louis Sullivan Society members on a tour through one of the Loop’s most unique landmark buildings. The Monadnock Building was constructed in two parts and marked a historic transition in the development of structural methods. The north half (1889-91) is a thick-walled masonry tower, while the south half is a steel-frame structure clad in terra cotta.

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Holiday Party
December 7, 2010

Louis Sullivan Society members enjoyed refreshments and a tour of the Bryan Lathrop House. Purchased by Fortnightly of Chicago in 1922, the Georgian Revival style building was designed in 1891-92 by one of the best-known architects in the country, Charles Follen McKim, of the New York firm of McKim, Mead & White. McKim also designed the Agriculture Building and the New York State Pavilion at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

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Louis Sullivan’s Idea Tour
September 30, 2010

Curator Tim Samuelson gave an exclusive tour of the widely-acclaimed exhibit, “Louis Sullivan’s Idea” to Louis Sullivan Society members. Samuelson, who also is cultural historian for the City of Chicago, brought the fascinating installation of photographs, drawings, documents, and artifacts to vivid life. The exhibit runs through May 2, 2011 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
 

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Chicago Board of Trade Insider’s Tour
March 16, 2010

Landmarks Illinois board member and CME Group-Chicago Board of Trade Building leasing manager Anthony Johnson hosted a tour and reception at the Chicago Board of Trade for Louis Sullivan Society members. The tour included the trading floor, a former broadcasting studio, the 44th floor observatory as well as the building’s many tremendous Art Deco elements. Guests enjoyed refreshments in the huge basement vault.
 

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Holiday Party at Glessner House
December 15, 2009

Louis Sullivan Society members held  a festive gathering at H. H. Richardson’s Glessner House in Chicago’s Prairie Historic District. The house was decorated in the grand Victorian style of a well-to-do family of the 1880s.


 

Fall at Farnsworth
October 25, 2009

Musicians from the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra played on the terrace of the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed Farnsworth House as Louis Sullivan Society members toured the house and grounds of the mid-century modern masterpiece. Architect Dirk Lohan spoke about structure’s past and future stewardship.

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Chicago Conservation Center

March 17, 2009

Louis Sullivan Society members enjoyed a tour of the Chicago Conservation Center, one of the nation’s leading private art restoration and conservation laboratories. Center president and Landmarks Illinois board member Heather Becker guided members through the various restoration departments.

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Prairie Farmer Building 

December 4, 2008

Members were treated to a special behind-the-scenes tour of the historic Prairie Farmer Building, (1926-1928; Mundie & Jensen), in the original studios of WLS radio. This space now houses the extraordinary David R. Phillips Collection of the Chicago Architectural Photographing Company, which includes 100,000 vintage negatives covering early Chicago, its immigrant past, and its architecture.

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The Roger Brown Study Collection,
“Artists’ Museum of Chicago”
September 17, 2008

Site director Lisa Stone welcomed the Louis Sullivan Society to the former Roger Brown house, an 1888 storefront building at 1926 North Halsted Street. The house, which is owned by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was the home of artist Roger Brown from 1974 to 1996. It is one of 30 artists’ spaces in the National Trust’s consortium of “Historic Artist’s Homes and Studios”.

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