13 Jun

Posted at 16:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

leaded glass windows, interior fixtures, and other furnishings salvaged from the william f. tempel house have joined the bldg. 51 musuem. images include fixtures in situ when the walter burley griffin-designed house was built in 1911, along with barry byrne and alfonso iannelli addition completed...

13 Jun

Posted at 08:59h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

richard nickel images of frank lloyd wright's dr. alison w. harlan house (1892) shortly after tragic fire in 1963 that led to its demolition. thankfully both interior and exterior fret-sawn wood panels were saved, including a restored soffit panel from underside of main balony supported...

08 Jun

Posted at 02:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a collection of seldom seen detailed lithographs or half-tones showcasing the original custom-designed interior ornamental ironwork executed by the winslow brothers for solon s. beman's non-extant 14-story pabst neo-gothic style commercial building (1891) located in milwaukee, wisc. the...

07 Jun

Posted at 09:03h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

sadly, there aren't many original (that i know of) sidewalk "vault lights" (i.e., cast iron hub and glass rondel configuration) left to document in chicago. the donohue building (1883, julius speyer architect) offers one of the best examples - largely intact, multi-panel commercial entrance stoops...

01 Jun

Posted at 04:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

the following images were taken from an exhaustive photographic survey of walter burley griffin's william f. tempel house conducted weeks before it was salvaged by urban remains. the house is currently undergoing demolition to make way for new development. the images provide a visual record...

30 May

Posted at 21:26h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

tugboat operator james higgie's commercial block was destroyed nearly three years ago. a virtual scrapbook, in the form of images and brief captions provided below, ensure the building and its owner aren't forgotten. i spent months documenting its destruction and salvaging some of the terra...

30 May

Posted at 20:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions by

looking over newspapers on the guaranty building, i discovered plans were announced in jan. of 1951 to do away with the original open-cage sullivan-designed elevator enclosures within the guaranty building (adler & sullivan, 1896). the "modernization" would cost 20,000, which included new otis elevator cabs ordered...

29 May

Posted at 00:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

it's always rewarding when you are able to readily demystify antiquated architectural building materials - whether on the jobsite, or discovering manufacturer markings at a later point in time when documenting the extracted components. identifying the maker of key elements (e.g., plumbing, electrical, stonecutter) used during...

23 May

Posted at 14:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

with the power cut and fence erected, walter burley griffin's historically important william f. tempel house (commonly referred to as the "solid rock" house) will be destroyed this week. located in winnetka, ills, the reinforced concrete house was erected in 1911 and later remodeled in...

22 May

Posted at 04:17h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

seldom seen interior images of architects and engineers surveying wiliam le baron jenney's 1885 home insurance building shortly before its demolition in 1931.  the building's interior ornamental ironwork (both wrought and cast and possibly electro-plated) was likely executed by snead & company, louisville, ky. they are...

22 May

Posted at 03:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

terra-cotta, the most enduring of all building materials, has been used to a greater or less extent from a high antiquity in continental europe, and in england terra-cotta trimmings were used in building as early as the fifteenth century. in the united states this material...

18 May

Posted at 08:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

 i've slowly begun the arduous task of organizing all of the data i've amassed from years of identifying and deconstructing or extracting components and systems from chicago worker cottages erected prior to the great chicago fire of 1871. unfortunately, the acquisition of materials, recording of...

17 May

Posted at 05:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

my most recent visit to louis h. sullivan's farmers and merchants union bank focused on documenting the interior, including the richly colored stained glass windows, executed by louis j. millet, the polychromed drinking fountain, designed by sullivan and executed by the american terra cotta company,...

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