i've been told time and again that my efforts to meticulously document 19th chicago building methods and materials is "pioneering" work that is, or will be appreciated by researchers, historians, architects, homeowners, etc. in the future. however, that might be a polite way of saying it isn't...
with an extended break from the architectural salvage front, urban remains pushed further into the realm of "industrial" late last week by obtaining a nice assortment of industrial furniture from a recently shuttered factory that specialized in the fabrication of aeronautics parts. the gallery below represents...
the other day i was looking over some of the sentimental items in one my storage rooms and i happened across a gargantuan hand-painted pine wood "stick" or gauge that was once affixed to one of three enclosed riveted joint iron reservoirs housed in the tower of...
shortly after the pre-fire german school building salvage concluded last weekend, we shifted gears and revisited "industrial," by exploring factories, machine shops and warehouses in the chicago area this week to replenish and/or build upon our existing supply of furniture and lighting found in that...
the assemblage of wood boards represent a mostly intact mid-19th century early chicago residential "privy vault" pine wood floor that was likely constructed by j.k. russell & company, chicago, il. the defunct outhouse privy hole or "vault" floor was discovered on the john kent russell house...
we just salvaged two heavily ornamented cast iron flanking mullion or pilaster endcaps from a victorian era red brick and limestone three-flat combination commercial/residential building shortly before it was brought down by the wrecking ball. the square-shaped single-sided endcaps or "plate guards" were the two most distinctive components...
the photo gallery below offers a glimpse of some of the newest artifacts recently acquired from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 500 item...
with the exception of the building itself, the only remaining exterior architectural ornament left undisturbed on the historically important augustus bauer-designed german school, a survivor of the great chicago fire, is a simple, yet elegant hand-carved oversized side entrance keystone featuring a a raised and...
for the past two days i've devoted morning, afternoon and evening obsessively thinking about anything and everything pertaining to an augustus bauer-designed building constructed in 1869. the arrival of souvenir hunters, the police, an alderman, and other, largely unhappy individuals coalescing into a rather unnerving and heavily...
a project manager working for chicago-based heneghan wrecking informed me late last week that two adjoining 19th century multi-story brick commercial buildings located along lake street were undergoing demolition in preparation for future development on the site. when i arrived onsite demolition was in progress, with a large...
the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 400 item mark. the ultimate goal since day...
i just finished shooting several recovered artifacts that were used in the construction of a privy vault and cesspool likely constructed between 1855-1865 for chicago carpenter and millwork company owner john kent russell's house (non-extant). the first of the two unusually-shaped privy vaults was discovered in...
while rearranging our large assortment of interior and exterior artifacts salvaged from the historically important daniel h. burnham-designed reliance building last week, we rediscovered crates filled with matching cast iron hinges, escutcheons, doorknobs, office door mail chutes and window sash pulls. the urban remains's website does offer...
first we solidified a deal involving the recent acquisition of a vast array and sizable quantity of industrial stools in both angled and tubular steel form with maple wood and metal seats. a few days later we came across an impressive assortment of old university...
the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 300 item mark. the ultimate goal since day...
since the day i discovered a light blue cobalt glass william h. hutchinson soda or mineral water bottle resting on a thick privy wood floor discovered behind the john kent russell house, i've been buying each and every virtually identical " w.h.h."cobalt bottle as if...
a set of rare and historically important interior darwin d. martin house (1903-1905) wall-mount sconces were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum this week. the strongly geometric designed interior single electric light sconces exhibit a mostly uniform surface patina throughout. it is uncertain whether the white...
a total of 18 matching all original and completely intact american vintage industrial shop stools were acquired earlier this week. the low-lying stools are identical both in seat type (i.e., solid contoured maple wood) and riveted joint angled steel base configuration. the stools were salvaged from...
i've removed several interior ornamented cast iron greek corinthian style capitals (located at the topmost region of load-bearing columns), found on the first floor of many high ceiling 19th century loft style commercial buildings or "blocks" dating between the 1860's and 1880's. the great majority...
urban remains has invested a great of time documenting, researching and salvaging at 500 north milwaukee - the site of approximately eleven distinct buildings constructed primarily during the 19th century. despite each building having its own unique identity in terms of architectural style and former...