on the way to inspect two 19th century residences that are facing the backhoe next week, i stumbled across a nearly completed demolition of a two-story brick residence located west of the urban remains warehouse and showroom. after doing a little research, i managed to pinpoint...
despite the brutally cold weather, i began the work week at the "big dig" site with the hopes that we would discover a wood-lined privy towards the back of the two remaining (unexcavated) lots. immediately upon arriving at the site, the backhoe operator called me...
after nearly two years of volunteering my time to photodocument the historic chicago athletic association building (the initial walk through was back in early 2013 when aj capital was closing on the property) during its transformation from a dormant and unoccupied building to its gradual...
with demolitions currently in a holding pattern, i shifted my focus back on the "big dig" site located on the west side of chicago. despite the fact that i have unearthed several artifacts (e.g., bottles and common household fragments) dating from the 1880's to the...
i stumbled across a rather interesting and historically-important artifact the other week in the form of a pocket-sized "souvenir" medal, representing the first anniversary of the disastrous conflagration known simply as the "great chicago fire" of 1871. the unique and diminutive artifact is commonly referred as...
over the christmas holiday we visited family and friends in my hometown of la crosse wisc. during our stay, and like others past, i managed to find time to photograph the ever-changing urban landscape (including an old train yard) in and around the downtown area. quite...
a very deep, brick-lined backyard privy pit was discovered on another job site yesterday where the house on the lot was constructed in the late 1880's according to city records. as of late, the brick-lined holes we have come across where originally used as privy...
beginning last week we were notified of a major excavation where a former parking lot will be redeveloped for condo construction. consisting of several lots, this massive parcel of land once contained multiple brick and wood-framed dwellings, according to sanborn insurance maps dating back to...
there is already abundant and easily accessible background information on the henry b. clarke house (1836), one of chicago's earliest extant residential structures-turned museum, so i will avoid the inclusion of details surrounding the history of the house. instead, i will briefly touch upon some of...
the focal point of wolf point "part two" moves away from the discovery of several mid-19th century pontiled soda and/or mineral water bottles during excavations in the 1980's, which were retrieved from intact wood-lined privy pits built and later filled by individuals that resided near...
extraordinary and very rare early 20th century remarkably intact new york city subway sub-station single panel open front switchboard designed and fabricated by the metropolitan electric mfg. co., new york city, ny. metropolitan was founded in 1892 and went on to manufacture electrical equipment in addition...
i recently acquired a remarkable cobalt blue iron pontil glass soda bottle that was recovered from a wood-lined privy pit dating to the 1850's. interestingly, the bottle is not native to chicago, although other bottles found where identified as chicago-based lomax and competitor hutchinson, who...
very few of the original "sprite" statues adorning midway gardens survived demolition in 1929. the indoor/outdoor entertainment facility was constructed in 1914 with frank lloyd wright as architect. the full-bodied statues were designed and executed by notable industrial designer and sculptor, alfonso iannelli. wright took...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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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...