BLDG51. News and Events |

19 Jul museum-quality susan lawrence dana house (1902-1904) exterior “sumac” cast plaster frieze panel joins eric j. nordstrom collection/bldg. 51 museum

Posted at 18:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

original museum quality 1902 ornamented painted cast plaster "sumac pattern" exterior frieze fragment removed from frank lloyd wright's susan lawrence dana house in 1979 shortly before restoration commenced. the replacement panels consist of a vinyl-coated plywood. the restoration involved the recasting of the original frieze...

19 Jul critical mass of salvaged chicago architectural artifacts on permanent display at st. louis’s city museum

Posted at 15:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

a critical mass of salvaged chicago architectural ornament is on permanent display at city museum, located at 750 north 16th street, st. louis, mo. ...

18 Jul theodore link’s richardsonian romanesque style bedford limestone st. louis union station revisited in 2023

Posted at 14:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

exterior images of theodore link's gargantuan romanesque style union station headhouse (1894), located at 1820 market street, st. louis, mo. the station's distinctive interior and exterior design program was handled by edmund cameron, who worked for h.h. richardson, where he oversaw construction of richardson's glessner house...

17 Jul photographic study of adler and sullivan’s 10-story wainwright building (1891) exterior terra cotta and sandstone ornament

Posted at 15:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

detailed images of adler and sullivan's 10-story wainwright building (1891), located at 709 chestnut street, st. louis, mo. the first two floors are faced with reddish-brown sandstone quarried from michigan. the red slip terra cotta was executed by the winkle terra cotta company, st. louis, mo. ...

16 Jul detailed look at frank lloyd wright’s dana-thomas house (1902) in summer of 2023

Posted at 16:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

exterior photographic survey of frank lloyd wright's susan lawrence dana house (1902), located at 301 e. lawrence avenue, springfield, ills. ...

14 Jul cobb’s richly ornamented red slip terra cotta-clad 17-story chemical building: a decedant of holabird and roche’s tacoma building

Posted at 15:25h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

images of henry ives cobb’s 17-story chemical building (1896), located on the ne corner of 8th and olive streets, st. louis. mo. the building’s annex was designed by st. louis-based firm of mauran, russell, and garden in 1903. ...

09 Jul the house of william d. gates, founder of the american terra cotta and ceramic company

Posted at 16:51h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

exterior and interior images of the william d. gates retirement home (1927), located in crystal lake, ills. gates was the founder and president of the american terra cotta and ceramics company, establishjed in 1887. early 20th century terra cotta and tile fabricated by gates's company located nearby,...

07 Jul detailed exterior survey of william le baron jenney’s 1886 church of the redeemer

Posted at 15:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

exterior images of william le baron jenney’s romanesque style church of the redeemer (1886). the ornamental unglazed terra cotta was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta works, chicago, ills. the richly colored stained glass windows were made by chicago-based mccully and miles. ...

06 Jul a look back at driehaus museum’s “capture louis sullivan: what richard nickel saw” exhibit

Posted at 20:15h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by Eric

the following images were taken shortly before the richard nickel exhibit closed in the spring of 2023. ...

27 Jun a year later: dawn manor has moved on, but w.j. newman’s salvaged chicago ornament is going nowhere

Posted at 17:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

a year later...

26 Jun photographic study of solon spencer beman’s batavian bank building (1888) exterior bedford limestone facade and ornament

Posted at 14:38h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

solon s. spencer's richardsonian romanesque style 4-story bedford limestone bank building (1888) was built for gysbert van steenwyk, a dutch native who settled in la crosse after immigrating to milwaukee. a major remodeling in 1927 moved the entry from the center of the building to the...

24 Jun joseph lyman silsbee’s unity chapel and surrounding graveyard

Posted at 13:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Travel by Eric

joseph lyman Silsbee was commissioned by frank lloyd wright’s uncle, jenkin lloyd jones, to design unity chapel in spring green, wisconsin. wright assisted with the design of the small shingle chapel, completed in 1886. images of the wood-framed shingle style chapel, incised stone gate posts and...

24 Jun largely forgotten 1884 american house hotel in mineapolis’s warehouse district being converted into a boutique hotel

Posted at 01:36h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

photographic survey of the 1884 american house hotel (converted to commutator foundry in 1910), located at 125 1st street north, minneapolis, mn. i've been documenting this building since 1999, when it was mostly abandoned, neglected, and falling to pieces (the worst of it was in...

22 Jun latest important american architectural artifacts and ornament added to bldg. 51 museum in june of 2023

Posted at 15:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in the month of june 2023. captions will be provided when time permits. ...

21 Jun revisiting kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style deere and webber company warehouse in 2023

Posted at 13:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

exterior images of kees and colburn's 9-story deere and webber company warehouse (1910), located at 800 n. washington avenue, minneapolis, mn. the cream-colored speckled finish sullivanesque terra cotta was fabricated by the american terra cotta company, chicago, ills. ...

20 Jun a closer look at george maher’s egyptian revival winona savings bank building (1916)

Posted at 14:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

interior and exterior images of george maher’s egyptian revival winona savings bank building (1916), located at 204 main street, winona, mn. the granite bank building was built between 1914-16 by the haglin-stahr company, located in minneapolis, mn. tiffany executed the maher-designed art glass windows and ornamental...

17 Jun 2023 terra cotta facade restoration in progress on kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style grain exchange building

Posted at 14:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

2023 photographic survey of kees and colburn’s sullivanesque style 10-story grain exchange building, located at 400 s. 4th St, minneapolis, mn. the minneapolis grain exchange building was constructed between 1900 and 1902 by minneapolis architectural firm of kees and colburn. the buff-colored terra cotta ornament was...

16 Jun detailed photographic survey of harvey ellis’s richardsonian romanesque style sandstone pillsbury hall (1887)

Posted at 14:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

photographic survey of harvey ellis's richardsonian romanesque style pillsbury hall (leroy buffington, 1887) located on the university of minnesota's historic campus district. the building’s exterior is comprised of buff-colored sandstone quarried from pine, mn., and a red sandstone found in northwestern minnesota. ...

10 Jun a rare visit to the american terra cotta company’s museum, located in crystal lake, ills.

Posted at 18:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

a little less than a week ago i had the opportunity to visit the american terra cotta company museum - located in crystal lake, ills. i was rather impressed with the exhibits, including the carefully curated selection of terra cotta ornament that the factory produced...

07 Jun much-needed terra cotta restoration of milwaukee’s historically important frederick pabst’s mansion and adjoining world’s fair pavilion underway

Posted at 16:11h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by Eric

the exterior buff-colored ornamental terra cotta ornament on the flemish renaissance revival-styled frederick mansion (george ferry, architect, 1892) is in need of serious repair (see images below). restoration of the adjoining 1893 world's fair pabst beer pavilion (designed by architect otto strack, who also designed...