this early nondescript cottage located on chestnut resembled somewhat the non-extant john kent russell house, especially in that its age and alterations made it into a richly complex case study, and one that i managed to thoroughly document before and during its demolition. like the russell house, the...
it seems an appropriate follow-up to a recent san francisco visit to write about having dug a cable or street car artifact near illinois and franklin street which will soon enter the bldg. 51 collection. the finding of the railway component coincides, ironically, with having bought...
the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts salvaged and/or acquired and posted in the urban remains massive website catalog (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one...
a three-story early 20th century yellow brick apartment complex, located in the wrigleyville neighborhood of chicago was demolished late last week. thankfully we had a few weeks to prepare and thoroughly salvage architectural elements from the building's interior. the majority of the passage and closet doors...
the painted ladies are a historic attraction in the bay, but i was nonetheless thrilled to peruse for myself the sloping row of colorful queen anne style residences in alamo square park and throughout the city. these victorian and edwardian style houses are generally 2-3 stories, featuring multiple balconies, large...
for several weeks now i've continued to make my way over to the northeast corner of state and huron to monitor the agonizingly slow death of 8 east huron, which remains standing, despite the loss of its "coach house" and adjoining neighbor to the west...
among the rare light fixtures housed in the urban remains collection is an early 1920's "arctype"auditorium spotlight lamp, an original fixture which represents lighting technology developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, which was replaced by the incandescent spotlight. the carbon arc lamp was the first widely-used...
the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts salvaged and/or acquired and posted in the urban remains massive website catalog (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one...
an exceptional and historically important hammered wrought iron railing section, executed by "the tiffany of wrought iron masters" is the latest of the bldg. 51 museum collection's recent acquisitions. the heavily ornamented, strapped and riveted wrought iron artifact was crafted by milwaukee's historic and premier iron worker, cyril...
the extant historically important rookery building (1888), one of burnham & root's top architectural masterpieces, has undergone three major renovations and/or restorations over the last century, whereby several exceptional artifacts were removed and made available through both public and private acquisition. a small assortment of these...
four years ago, curbed chicago listed the church at 1300 north artesian avenue as a "juicy development prospect" awaiting residential conversion. the listing cited its windows and woodwork as appealing features; it has since been drastically reduced in price. the semi-abandoned church still stands, no...
the little cottage "frozen in time" was located just around the corner from the old bottling factory, incidentally, the building where urban remains was first established back in 2006. a spattering of other 19th century residential structures were left standing in and around this industrial...
the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts salvaged and/or acquired and posted in the urban remains massive website catalog (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one...
early in the morning i received notice that a late 19th century two-story graystone was handed a death sentence. after reviewing images of the facade, i was drawn to the matching leaded beveled glass transom windows and roofline ornament consisting of cast iron cresting or...
i'm equally surprised and pleased at the sheer number and vast assortment of significant architectural artifacts acquired and/or rediscovered in storage since the beginning of 2016. whether a single sullivan-designed guaranty building doorknob, or a one-of-a-kind hand-stitched nortown theater organ screen fish embellished with sequins, i've...
on the "deconstructing chicago" front, my interest is in demystifying the incredibly complicated methods and materials used during the span of time from 1840-1880, when evolving technologies, as well as supply and demand for material, continually wavered from one building season to the next. [gallery ids="18676,18677,18675"] the case study...
the following photo gallery offers a glimpse of the most recent artifacts acquired and listed on the urban remains website (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories). this year marks the ten year anniversary of urban remains, and from day one, one of the...
when my salvage team arrived at the church building located at 1639 n. artesian avenue late last week, i wasn't expecting to salvage much of anything. based on preliminary research there wasn't much to expect, with the interior having been altered time and again. aside from...
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on the way to the office this morning i made a stop at the corner of huron and state to document the progression of a demolition, a site at which my repeated requests to salvage ornament ultimately fell on deaf ears. this was due in large part to my lack...