earlier this year i purchased a massive copper severed head from the 19th century "spirit of progress" thirty foot gargantuan weathervane (built by sculptor john massey rhind) that sat atop the montgomery ward building, designed in 1898 by the notable architectural firm of schmidt, garden & martin. as the...
as the year comes to a close i look back in amazement at the amount of disruption and damage done by demolitions of late 19th and early 20th century structures in downtown chicago and its surrounding neighborhoods. according to the daily demolition permit notifications i receive, the urban...
for the past ten years, i've invested thousands of dollars in building trade catalogs, with builders' hardware, millwork, architectural house plans, and stained glass window makers comprising the bulk of my research library. in recent years i've eagerly latched onto "google books" as a resource -- as...
despite leaving the jobsite of a mostly non-nondescript building with no "salvageable" artifacts of significance, i still felt the need, or perhaps "duty", to document the building before its remains are trucked off to the dumpsite. i'm especially saddened when i witness the demolition of buildings...
after days of negotiating between multiple parties, the bldg. 51 museum secured an early strongly geometric leaded glass window designed by frank lloyd wright for the queen anne style robert p. parker house completed in 1892. the historically important parker house was one of three "bootleg...
nearly a month ago, i basically dropped what i was doing after notification that the two iconic downtown chicago cedar hotel neon signs were about to be removed and tossed into an awaiting dumpster -- slated to be hauled to the scrapyard and destroyed. the work was...
after the demolition delay hold was lifted for 209 west lake street, i knew that within a week the wreckers would be onsite to rapidly tear apart the former osborne and adams leather company building -- a shame since it was constructed shortly after the great...
long after a heavily modified 1870's-era two-story building was demolished last month, the excavators rolled in to begin laying the foundation for yet another new structure that is devoid of character. sure enough, shortly after the backhoe began digging, pockets of artifacts left long ago by...
with only two days before demolition of an early 20th century two-story brick residence began, we had very limited time to salvage an interior outfitted in pristine golden oak wood millwork on both the first and second floors. from door headers to built-in cabinets, and...
while on a brief weekend vacation to madison some time ago, i was determined to visit the harold c. bradley residence (1909), designed by notable architect louis h. sullivan and his chief draftsman, george grant elmslie. this would be elmslie's last commission with sullivan - shortly...
while scrolling through the daily chicago demolition permits my heart quickly sank when i discovered that the fate of a 19th century italianate style red brick two-story residence had been sealed, with the city signing off on its destruction. the house was constructed sometime between 1879-1885. it...
i normally don't salvage in this area of chicago, but when i received an email notification that a largely unaltered chicago workers cottage was set for demolition, i had to make the journey to see it, tucked away on a block where several working class...
i'm sharing a write-up by lynn becker, a fellow blogger and friend. with my recent salvage activity in the fulton market district, i discovered this post (a few days old) while researching the significance of 311 n. morgan, a building that will soon share the fate...
yesterday i received good news that my "bid" to secure a historically important ornamental cast iron louis sullivan-designed gage building exterior facade stringer was accepted. shortly thereafter, i had a staff member secure the piece and bring it to the studio to photodocument, before making it...
as of late i've been giving my body - especially my back - a break from the latest wave of incredibly draining and time-consuming demolitions and excavations.. these have been bombarding my phone and email inbox on a daily basis. during this less strenuous time, i decided...
the bldg. 51 museum just acquired the historically important and virtually untouched c. 1893 time capsule in the form of a diminutive corrugated copper metal box containing several newspapers, typed letters, a bible and other pertinent artifacts stowed away in the former german zion's evangelical...
after nearly ten years of searching, i've finally acquired an original and very well-maintained softbound dawson brothers catalog, profusely illustrated with their product line from 1887. over the years i've salvaged, from houses all across the city of chicago, a few hundred dawson brothers fireplace...
for years i would drive to work along grand avenue, and i always paid special attention to a heavily modified commercial building, which contained a remarkably intact fret-sawn ornamental pine wood sill or belt course panel that likely would have fallen to pieces if it...
with a little over a week to do some exploratory surgery in a three-story house, built between 1881-1886 on the near west side of chicago, we had ample time to carefully examine any and all extant architectural artifacts original to the house. remarkably, the original carved...
with only two hours left in the work day, i received a call that a house constructed in 1915 was scheduled to be demolished the next day. i had no choice but to drop what i was doing and head to the jobsite. when we pulled...