BLDG51. News and Events |

10 Dec salvaging building materials from an 1870’s chicago two-story worker’s cottage

Posted at 10:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

as a late 1870's two story worker's cottage is rapidly being transformed into a growing pile of splintered old growth wood, i managed to work around the ongoing chaos and extract several intact building components that were used to build this modest 19th century hybrid...

07 Dec incredibly rare and very important patinated copper frank lloyd wright-designed weed holders go to auction

Posted at 17:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AN IMPORTANT AND RARE PAIR OF "WEED" VASES Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD IMPORTANT 20TH CENTURY DESIGN 17 DECEMBER 2014 | 2:00 PM EST NEW YORK FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AN IMPORTANT AND RARE PAIR OF "WEED" VASES patinated copper 29 1/8 in. (74 cm) high circa 1895-1900 executed by James A. Miller and Brother, Chicago PROVENANCE Cathers & Dembrosky, New York Edgar Smith,...

03 Dec a weekend afternoon visit to the “burnham, sullivan & wright” exhibit at architech’s gallery

Posted at 10:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

i feel very fortunate that we had the opportunity last saturday afternoon to attend the last day of architech gallery owner david jameson's "burnham, sullivan & wright" exhibit. almost immediately upon our entry we received a warm greeting and quick overview from david. i happened...

30 Nov a rare glimpse of early odin j. oyen’s drawings before establishing his decorating firm in la crosse, wisc.

Posted at 02:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

as i continue to systematically document an overwhelming amount of drawings, photographs, artifacts and correspondences revolving around notable artisan odin j. oyen, i felt it was important to share multiple drawings i've gathered thus far that not only shed new light on oyen's work during...

28 Nov a day of salvage and urban archaeological excavation at a 19th century chicago two-flat residence

Posted at 18:48h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

early in the afternoon we arrived at the job site during a momentary pause as the wreckers were refueling their backhoe. we took advantage of that time to quickly assess the unusually large, double lot, containing a single victorian era red brick two-flat residence constructed...

24 Nov bldg. 51 ebook (with preview pages) available for purchase now; hard copy version available soon

Posted at 11:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, New Products by Eric

download bldg. 51 ebook - here!...

10 Nov a chicago brick two-flat (1897) and 1880’s wood-frame worker cottage salvage completed

Posted at 15:23h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by Eric

from the very beginning of this salvage, the so-called "coach house" (more often referred to as a carriage house), located on the back lot of the property, was the structure that peeked my interest more than the two flat (1897) facing the street. i felt...

05 Nov montgomery ward & co. “spirit of progress” building weathervane fragment joins the bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 02:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

it's no secret that this gargantuan, riveted joint, wrought bronze metal john massey rhind-designed statue or figural weathervane head fragment was brought to auction by the david v. nelson family, based on all of its recent recognition in local media. however, i was truly surprised and remarkably fortunate...

29 Oct a chicago-based residential and commercial 19th century historic building materials database to become website

Posted at 13:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

acquiring louis sullivan and frank lloyd architectural artifacts to bolster the bldg. 51 museum collection is very important to me, and will continue on (likely with the addition of another artifact catalog in the coming years), but as i'm nearing the ten year anniversary of...

29 Oct bottom of the john kent russell wood-lined privy reached: yields hundreds of artifacts

Posted at 09:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

we arrived early in the morning to begin where we left off a few days before. it was hard not to ruminate intensely about the implications of what we would soon discover in the circular-shaped oversized wood-lined privy during that time away. however, with tools...

23 Oct ongoing excavation efforts at the john kent russell site yields a newly discovered artifact-laden privy

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

while i patiently wait for the city to issue an excavation permit that will uncover any undiscovered buried remnants from the john kent russell house site before the new foundation is poured, which not only effectively ends my frequent visits to the site, but in...

22 Oct rapp and rapp’s oriental theater was one of two focal points during open house chicago

Posted at 00:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

judging from numerous channels of feedback, it's rather obvious that "open house chicago" this year was a smashing success. i'm very pleased that so many residential and commercial structures opened their doors to the public for observation, appreciation and an endless stream of photographic images...

21 Oct more buildings with “sullivanesque” style midland terra cotta are coming down

Posted at 14:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the small, but visually distinctive single story commercial buildings bedecked with bright white glazed terra cotta "sullivanesque" ornament in numerous configurations on their facades are disappearing more and more from the urban landscape in and around the chicago area as the number of demolition permits...

15 Oct the odin j. oyen collection catalog is slowly coming together

Posted at 09:51h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

due to a number of unexpected architectural salvages, preparing the john kent russell house exhibit and overseeing the publication of the bldg. 51 museum catalog, i've finally had a little bit of time to begin working again on the odin j. oyen collection in greater...

14 Oct newly created chicago athletic association building “drooping tip” cast plaster ceiling panels ready for installation

Posted at 23:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

i managed to capture the early stages of fabrication and preparation for installation of the "drooping tip" ceiling panels during my visit last week. production of the intricately detailed and well made faithful reproductions (taken awhile back from a mold of an original surviving panel)...

08 Oct why hasn’t anyone taken a stab at writing about “unearthing chicago?”

Posted at 17:31h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

i discovered the book "unearthing gotham" in 2002, and have read and later reexamined various chapters of this remarkable and highly informative tomb well into 2014 - especially when we began finding ash pits and privies buried beneath the john kent russell house (1855-56). i can't...

06 Oct sunday spent examining 19th century building materials and privy pit finds

Posted at 17:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the greater part of sunday was spent gathering wood samples from building sites and digging privy pits. by the time i gathered all of the materials and brought them back to the shop, i should have went home and rested. instead, i pushed on...

03 Oct excavating the john kent russell site has spawned a new collection consisting of 19th century bottles

Posted at 11:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

after spending weeks sporadically visiting the site where the pre-fire john kent russell frame house once stood, we have collected hundreds of fragments found in privies and ash pits. we have gathered enough material left behind to further understand living conditions of working class families that...

01 Oct recovering the remnants of a post-chicago fire walnut wood staircase with an exceptional octagonal newel post

Posted at 01:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

it appears after repeated (failed) attempts to reach out and connect with the contractor, i'm embarrassingly relegated back to the dumpster behind the commercial building constructed in 1876 (see earlier posts on this building). it's abundantly clear that money and/or avoiding crossing paths with the construction...

30 Sep michael reese hospital reduced to a small collection of fragments

Posted at 15:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

reese was bitter from the beginning. nearly 30 buildings being vacated, or had been abandoned for years. an awful salvage experience were everything that could go wrong, went wrong. my relationship with the wrecker i had worked with for years grew tumultuous. it was hard to...