21 Oct recently unearthed photographic images of jenney and mundie’s isabella building taken around time of its demolition
newly discovered photographic interior images (taken at time of demolition by dave felling) of jenney and mundie’s gothic style 11-story isabella building (1894-2004), located at 44-48 van buren street (between state and washington) in chicago, il.
the isabella was one of three chicago buildings that used ornamental cast aluminum in the lobby. the upper floors were outfitted with copper-plated cast iron.
the venetian and monadnock were built using the same configuration – aluminum in the lobby level, cast iron on the upper levels.
the ornament in all three buildings was executed by the winslow brothers, chicago, il.
amazingly, original cast aluminum ornament (e.g, newel post, hardware, and elevator cage panels) were still intact at the time of demolition.
