the wrecking machine is immobile for a moment, but research on this cottage remains active, as i repeatedly visit to explore and document the house's framework -- bedecked with pegged and notched sill plates, rough-sawn white pine "sticks," and so on. both the interior and exterior have been altered so...
a compilation of images, brief comments taken from other social media platforms, and previous blog bld. 51 blog posts on louis h. sullivan's henry babson house are presented below. the babson house are richard nickel, john vinci, and david norris salvaged louis h. sullivan's 1908 henry babson...
latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...
located at 1820 w. grand avenue in the west town neighborhood of chicago, urban remains and bldg. 51 have combined forces in the form of showroom and musuem, housing carefully curated displays of historically important architectural and/or building artifacts dating from the late 19th and...
photographic survey (a work in progress) of the romanesque style compton hill standpipe water tower designed by architect harvey ellis in 1898. the compton hill water tower (1898), is the earliest of three extant stand pipe-water towers located in st. louis. the 179-foot water tower was...
the bldg. 51 museum houses a large repository of ornament and artifacts representing some of chicago's finest depression-era "movie palaces" that have succumbed to demolition or short-sighted alterations and/or renovations where ornament was removed or rescued. in addition to the architectural ornament, the museum houses the...
washington porter jr.’s "kiosk sphinx" was a custom-designed private museum built between 1928-1933 at a cost of 350,000 dollars on the rear lot of his parent’s mansion, located at 4043 lake park avenue, chicago, ills. the unusual cast concrete structure with massive steel observation tower...
unfortunately, i didn't have the time to systemically document a post-fire chicago wood-framed cottage located on ohio street (west town neighborhood of chicago) until it was nearly demolished. when i arrived, the facade was left partially intact and the interlocking sills and girts where exposed. sheathing and...
as richard nickel once said, "it's all so god damn hopeless." knisely store and flats (1883): rubin rubel residence (1884): martin barbe residence (1884): samuel stern residence (1885): victoria hotel (1891-2): albert sullivan residence (1891): henry babson house (1908): images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive, tim...
documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament in milwaukee over 4th of july weekend. highlighted structures recorded include northwestern mutual life insurance company building (1886), frederick pabst mansion (1892), milwaukee city hall (1895), and iron block (1860). ...
recently discovered kodachrome slides of adler and sullivan commissions taken by an amateur photographer who documented much of their work between the 1960s and 1980s now digitized (see selection below). the collection includes most of their extant work in the midwest and east coast. the slides...
these seldom seen dated john vinci kodachrome slides offer a rare glimpse at louis h. sullivan's babson house (1908) during its demolition in 1960. the images represent the only visual record of the babson house's untimely demise documented in color. the digitized slides have not...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUly, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...
detailed photographic survey of richardsonian romanesque style brick and terra cotta washington terrace clock tower and gatehouse (1894) designed by harvey ellis for george r. mann. conducted in late june, 2022, st, louis, mo. ...
the following blog entry revolves around richard nickel images documenting the removal of the louis sullivan-designed carved bedford limestone entrance lunette from the albert sullivan house's façade in 1970. the lunette is one of only a few surviving links to sullivan's work on the 1893 chicago world's...
a seldom found, oversized full-figured red slip glaze terra cotta eagle salesman sample and late 19th century stock pattern commerical or residential terra cotta block (see image of winkle factory with workers surrounding finished building ornament) were added to the bldg. 51 musuem archive during...
series of photographs taken during a day of protest against the demolition of adler and sullivan's chicago stock exchange (1894) in 1972. campaign buttons, flyers, brochures, and posters (see below) were handed out by preservationists to draw attention to the building's impending destruction. the images...
virtual gallery of images representing ongoing project photodocumenting architectural ornament designed by louis h. sullivan on the facade of adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell five-story loft building erected in 1881. note: additional images of the ground floor and what was discovered behind multiple damaging alterations will...
i'll be posting any and all my images of every 19th or early 20th century chicago house and/or commercial structure i've documented/salvaged over the past five years. this will be a work in progress, so except the chronology to be scattered. perhaps in time, i...
the following images offer a cursory glance at an ever-growing collection of ephemera, objects, and photographs (largely owned and housed in the bldg. 51 archive) pertaining to chicago architectural preservation, with the earliest material dating back to the inception of chicago preservation movement in the...