late 19th century original refinished wrought and cast iron ornamental interior y.w.c.a. hotel building elevator door with emblematic cartouche – winslow brothers foundry, chicago, il.

About This Item

original and largely intact c. 1895 fanciful wrought and cast and wrought iron interior elevator door grille or door executed by the winslow brothers, chicago, il. the sliding door rollers or hangers (manufactured by harris and reed of chicago) are original and fully functional. the ornamental elevator door was discovered intact on the basement level of the non-extant y.w.c.a. hotel. the elevator ironwork was concealed behind a 1950’s building “upgrade” in the form of plaster walls enclosing the original ornamental ironwork, which was used on every floor throughout the building. the sliding elevator door consists of a simple grid, accentuated with a highly ornate centrally located emblematic cartouche with surrounding scrollwork. the seven-story ywca hotel (located at 830 south michigan avenue) was designed by chicago architect john m. van osdel ii, nephew of prominent chicago architect john mills van osdel ii. construction of the property was completed in 1895. the late 19th century hotel is one of the oldest ywca buildings in the country. the ywca originally used to house working women newly arriving in the city. in later years the building was known as the 830 michigan avenue hotel, and eventually the headquarters for johnson publications. the badly dilapidated building has been left abandoned for nearly thirty years. this door was the only one successfully removed intact with grillework, rollers and cartouche. the other doors were either badly damaged or lost during demolition.