I want to thank you for pulling together so much information on these magnificent manors. I am not an architect by trade, but a great admirer of architecture, especially of mansions. I am saddened by the demise of all these great houses, but to learn about the history of each is a gift.
Badly. He charged them almost the amount of rent to live in his little employee neighborhood, as he paid them in wages. He was so despised his family buried him under a large cement slab for fear his corpse would be dug up and bastardized by the employees he had no respect for. I believe he's buried in Graceland Cemetery Chgo.
Just Subscribed, Just a Huge Thank You for pictures of back in time of Pu;;man House.. Having strong interest, see pictures of abandoned houses & curious on how they look before. Here, sadly house demolished & looked absolutely gorgeous..
My Great-Grandfathers brother, Solon Spencer Beman, designed the Pullman Summer home in "The Thousand Islands" as well as the city of Pullman, Illinois and many significant Chicago landmarks. Solon S. Beman was a friend of Mary Baker Eddy and designed many of her churches and her residences
Thank you for making these videos. The beautiful pictures and excellent narration are so entertaining for someone obsessed with historic real estate, like me.
Years ago I worked for Pullman Bank. They had an extensive collection of Pullman History. The old Pullman Bank is long gone, I think they are owned by Wintrust Bank. I have no idea if the documents would be with Wintrust Bank, or if they donated them to the Library. It was a huge collection.
My parents used to bank at Pullman bank at 111th and King Drive. My dad worked at General Motors EMD at 103rd and Doty in the 1950s. Most GM employees there had accounts at Pullman, Pretty sure Pullman and GM had joint incentives for patrons
I know it was a huge mansion far beyond the financial reach of most people. But still, I imagined the morning sun coming through those tall windows, brightening the rooms while I wander around in a period nightgown, sip coffee and get ready for the day. I loved the mansard roof with the iron railing. I know such beautiful architecture and craftsmanship will never come back, at least in this world. When I go to heaven, I want to live in a house like that, and walk past such beautiful buildings and landscaped grassy lawns and towering old elms. The apartment and office towers of today are too drab and depressing.
An excellent, enjoyable and informative video. I grew up on Chicago’s south side and frequently visited the Pullman community and often had lunch there at The Hotel Florence which had been renovated and reopened as a tourist attraction in the 1970’s and which Pullman had named after his eldest daughter. The one thing I must point out, however, is that George Pullman was such a greedy, ruthless and downright cruel business man and landlord to the Pullman employees he forced to live in his “ perfect community “ that his family had to bury him under several pounds of concrete to prevent angry workers from digging him up and desecrating his corpse. You can verify the accuracy of this fact through Graceland Cemetery in Chicago where he is buried.
I grew up in a place called Michigan City, about 60 miles south of Chicago, where there was a huge factory called Pullman Stanard. I believe they manufactured rail cars at that site also.
In the 1890s Pullman men might make $9.07 for 2 weeks work. Pullman took the $9 in rent and left the large family with $.07 to live on. He had cut wages 30% but not rent because his investers wanted a 6% return on their investment. Sounds quite like 21st century thinking. The Illinois State Supreme Court made the company divest the community. They use to say Otto Van Bismark was a piker comparred to Pullman. Could be why his children left. These beautiful Robber Baron homes were built on the almost slave labor of their company employees.
@@57WillysCJ Old man Pullman was tight as a drum - when he cut wages to the workers he kept his rents at the same price. In his time there were no taverns in Pullman but the well to do might have a drink at the Florence Hotel. Erons later I had a beer there now and then and the bar itself was horse shoe shaped.
@@57WillysCJ You are absolutely right! Well said. It’s so easy to romanticize men like Pullman as “ Titans of Industry who made America”, when in reality they were usually cold blooded Robber Barons with no regard for the men and women whose undervalued labor made them so.
I just happened to stumble across this sight and I'm glad I did. The magnificence of that beautiful mansion lost forever is truly a shame. Nothing today is built to the standards of yesteryear. The quality is gone. In a way this mansion was part of our history and today too many people care nothing for history or they want to change it to suit themselves. Thank you for this wonderful site. I enjoyed this look into yesteryear.
Tragic loss for Chicago, and America. This mansion would have been the ultimate common areas for a residential tower, a city library, a mayors house, private club, so many possibilities. Our disposable culture is still out of control. The standards have slipped , and where are the visionary leaders?
2 things to remember: the mayor 's office already turned down the Palmer mansion as an official residence as too costly to maintain; and this one was in the south side of Chicago that became a rather unsavory part of the city for many years.
They keep destroying the old to make room for the new. Instead of saving historical sites....but when you run your city financially into the ground, perhaps being torn down is better than it rotting away.
What a fascinating mansion!!! Thanks for sharing the interesting history of the Pullman opulent home!!! I love the stories that you share about these amazing homes!!! 👍🙂
Once the money is gone these houses become white elephants. Few people have the cash or means to keep a huge house like this. I'm a distant relative of Arthur Stilwell, the founder of the Kansas City Southern Railroad. He built a huge, grand house like this with his millions. He was wiped out in 1929 during the stock market crash. The house was eventually leveled and an ugly shopping center sits on the site today.
It’s not the same but it looks very similar to my childhood best friends house. It was featured in the film “Backdraft”. If you watch the scene where DeNiro and Baldwin go to the guys house and fight off the attacker and there’s a fire/explosion that lands DeNiro on a fence post or whatever, that’s my friends house. Had spend many nights there. It’s in Hinsdale, Illinois.
💔 your channel often leaves in a state of mild shock. I think of all the artists and craftsmen, trades peoples and incredible, painstaking work. Making sure their work would hold up to the most detailed scrutiny and to have it destroyed. If I could go back in time to have a salvation company that would take apart these beautiful mansions to store and resell the majority of this fine work. Could you imagine the bragging rights of a middle class wife when she points their staircase or even something obscure as rain gutters are salvage from more important homes or buildings. Man’o’man that would have been a business for certain. The glamorous salvage warehouses full of prizes.
Another sad loss of a magnificent example of the Gilded Age. Opulence and elegance Impossible to replace. And as usual, now replaced by something 😒 so mundane. Strange that the Pullman area is still there but his own home is gone 😕. Thanks again for a great post.
This was still a vacant lot when I last visited Chicago (the Glessner mansion is just across the street and is a museum). How about a video on the mansions of Marshall Field Sr and Jr, also on Prairie Ave?
Right across the street from glessner is an old building which the USA WOMEN'S team headquarters on prairie and 18th where was this vacant lot located? On 18th?
@@jeffrey7737 The Glessner and the Pullman mansions were across S 18th Street from each other. Across S. Prairie Ave is the still standing French chateau style Kimball (as in pianos) mansion.
Love the beauty of it all. Being from outside Chicago in a small town. Chicago architecture amazed me. I hate it that all these classic old homes are destroyed! It makes me weep! I love classic architecture. My first home was a rambling Victorian that we lovingly restored just in time. We painted it the classic colors of blue, red and green. Resoddered the twin stain glasses windows. We looked till we found the perfect replicas of old refridgerators and stove. (Not Victorian, but beautiful). The turrets were my favorite places. One was in my sitting room, and above it was my bedroom. It took 18 months to restore. Some maniac had painted the stairs in several coats of white paint!!! Ugh, it took forever to remove it all from the intricate design and we had a gentleman recreate the top Newell post which was missing. It had 4 prominent fireplaces. One in the kitchen which we did make double sided so it opened to the dining room as well. There was one in the parlor area and one in the master bedroom and the last was in our nursery. We restored the floors and for the most part the oak floors were complete although we had to steal some of the atic floor, lol, to replace some damaged areas. It was a labor of love. The divorce of my first marriage caused us to have to liquidate, so my husband could pay me in full. It did make it possible to buy and refurbish my Iowa farm house! However, that Victorian was my favorite home I ever lived in!
For quite a while now that short section of Prairie Avenue has been restored and revamped. It is an attractive block to walk along and photograph. As Prairie Avenue sits now it's just about impossible to imagine Pullman's mansion sitting there. Also, for those who are interested in the decimation of the classic Chicago homes, a must read is "Lost Chicago" by David Lowe
@@jmcg6189 Read that book, J.M. It's been around for quite a while and I dip back into it on occasion. David Lowe is also the author of "Chicago Interiors".
All that beautiful woodwork inside! Did it get rescued from the demolition? All the skill that went into it. I can’t imagine how heartbroken the architects and all those who had part in building it would be…
Thanks Ken. I just stumbled on your videos. I find the stories fascinating. Strange how many of them die before work is finished or spend relatively little time in the houses.
I noticed that the portrait on a stand that appears at 2:10 appears again later in the new library at 3:05 in the new library. I wonder who the man in the portrait is: maybe an ancestor, maybe an admired author? Speaking of authors, Ken, you and your viewers might be interested in the 1949 historical novel "Prairie Avenue" by Arthur Meeker. It's told by a man who is orphaned in childhood and is sent to live with wealthy relatives in Chicago. There is an aunt who is rather mysterious and who might be considered the main character and around whom much of the story revolves. The story goes from the 1880's to 1918, a great read. The fictional characters in the Meeker novel would have known the Pullmans. One of my ancestors was one of the founders of the still functioning Church of the Immaculate Conception on the south side in the 1880's but, my family would likely have been entering the Pullman house from the servants' entrance!
Very elegant Second Empire exterior. A the Salon was superbly refined. The house as a whole was not so over decorated as many of his contemporaries' homes were, and no too large in scale.
Thanks, Ken, what a BEAUTY! Wow, adding an addition for a wedding, that's a first. 3.5 on renovations for a wedding, wow, money must've not been an issue. It's so sad when these get demolished. =(
Just tragic these residences are demolished. The creme de la creme of design and construction was on full display. If people didn't personally devalue property that part of the cities wouldn't become "unsavory"..
So inspiring to see people like you put together a fabulous youtube channel. One day I would love to learn the inside scoop on what it takes to make one happen since I am not tech savvy. Think of the travel and research alone! Kids nowadays don't know how lucky they r to have the world at their fingertips. (Oh dear, I'm becoming an old fogey!)🙂🙂🙂😉🙃 Great narration by the way! You have an asmr voice.
I wonder how often the 200-seat theater was used, and which theatrical productions performed there. It's amazing that even after building this "dream home," Pullman's wife, Hattie, traveled around staying in their various "vacation homes" after his death. Part of me wonders why Pullman didn't build his dream home in his own namesake town of Pullman, Illinois. But I guess that didn't end up being his dream location. One interesting factoid that boggles my mind is the $100,000 "home renovation" done in that day & age for the big wedding. I should like to view the wedding photos from that day if any survive. My chief regret is that I will never get to travel by train in a Pullman car with all the luxuries.
I mean, George Pullman is a pretty evil, horrible person lol. He wanted to live in the posh, ultra-wealthy area of the city at the time. Not way out in the 'country' (at the time) where Pullman (neighborhood/former city) is
@@jmcg6189 You heard correct... Pullman was not a very favorable person from an employee's perspective. He was also a union buster. Labor day was literally invented off of George Pullman but yeah, He's buried under a ton of cement and on top of that is his monument. He/The family was always fearful of graveyard robbery for ransom and because also buried with him is all his fancy expensive pocket watches and other jewelry.
there are a few articles in teh Chicago Daily Tribune which cover the fund raiser performances. His chosen charity was the Pres Hospital located to the north on Indiana Street.
I first heard of a Pullman car while watching The Wild, Wild West as a child. I might be wrong, but I seem to remember a certain type of large suitcase being called a Pullman case (Google says I'm right!). Grannie called it that. I like the Second Empire or Beaux Arts style mansions the best, though a cupola or dome on a Richardson Romanesque is tempting too...if I had to choose, LOL. I do think taxes imposed after the Civil War, and the financial crashes of 1893 and 1929 sounded death-knells for the extravagant mansion. Railroad buffs out there might like to know the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento has a collection of 19 steam locomotives dating back to 1862, and various other cars, though not a Pullman that I can see from their website. I do agree that Pullman's home would have made a wonderful museum or gallery.
The fire in 1871 started on DeKoven St and the wind carried it north and east, burning down the entire downtown and the north side as far as Fullerton, yet very little remains of anything on the south side, which was not affected by the great fire at all.
The "elephant in the room" is the fact that the grandeur of this house represents the suffering of the workers, who made the wealth possible to build such a house.
Hey Ken, I just thought of something for you to research. Why is it that Americans are so keen on demolition of historic structures while others clutures have buildings that are hundreds of years old? Many of which amazingly survived two world wars. I don't know if that fits your theme. If not that's ok. Another fine report.
Thanks for the suggestion! While there are certainly many different reasons why mansions are torn down, the most common theme seems to be affordability. People couldn't afford the taxes, maintenance, staff, etc.
There are thousands (millions?) of old homes still in the U.S. The problem is either the land is worth more than the building or nobody wants to buy them because they are too expensive to update and maintain so they fall into decay and are knocked down.
There was also many changes in Chicago during this time it was the fastest growing city in the world, and areas fell in and out of fashion for the wealthy. Today this area is gentrified, but even 30 years ago was not considered a desired area. His company town, then known as a Pullman, is the Pullman neighborhood in the city and the area is one of the few urban US National Park district areas too.
@@rhuephus well if it was saved and made into a museum of architecture of days gone by. Ha ha what's the difference us taxpayers would be paying for the maintenance and upkeep. Or there could be a fee to enter and tour the home. Just a shame such a magnificent home with all the wood mill work was demolished.
Hearing demolition od beautiful things hurts, man it hurts ..... These things were built to last the test of time ! They are worth so much to the universe and should be preserved .
Americans travel to Europe to admire their architecture and old jewels then still stands proudly across the centuries. Meantime torn real treasures down instead cheaper wood , sheetrock, plastic and cardboard " houses" .
I have watched a series of these videos now, the homes of the robber barons, the most beautiful houses in American history, and most - most - have been torn down, demolished, just shortly after the owner past away. Often replaced by grim tall rises.
It's a shame they tore down the house and the year of 1922 to shame they tore down the house you know when they build houses or Mansions back then they put a lot of good quality into it not the way they build it now
Is it possible for you to do a program on the Eugene McVoy house in Chicago located at 3030 Lakeshore Drive? A dear friend of mine grew up there and she is now long since passed...but I have always heard stories of how grand it was etc...I love your work...
I want to thank you for pulling together so much information on these magnificent manors. I am not an architect by trade, but a great admirer of architecture, especially of mansions.
I am saddened by the demise of all these great houses, but to learn about the history of each is a gift.
Historic architecture needs to be preserved and protected.
Support your local historic society and help preserve your communities history.
Reminds me of the Pullman Mansion in Hillsborough CA. Near SF. I used to go by it all the time as it was being refurbished.
It’s great that their guests were treated so well; I wonder how well they treated the help
Badly. He charged them almost the amount of rent to live in his little employee neighborhood, as he paid them in wages. He was so despised his family buried him under a large cement slab for fear his corpse would be dug up and bastardized by the employees he had no respect for.
I believe he's buried in Graceland Cemetery Chgo.
what was once and is no more, breaks my heart. the architecture the opulence the history.
Thanks for all your efforts researching the history of these beautiful mansions. Really appreciate your attention to detail.
In Italy, we still call regular busses “Pullman” because of the impact their sleeping cars had in Europe.
I did not know that, how fascinating!
well .. I have visited Italy several times, and never saw any buses with sleeping quarters, most were standing room only
Si Estos en Itiano no Alto busca en Cuba Jaja...
All over the world...
@@luigiperrone8169 El Mundo todos
Unbelievable woodwork. You can't imagine the labor that went into something like that. This is before they had power tools everything was done by hand
Just Subscribed, Just a Huge Thank You for pictures of back in time of Pu;;man House.. Having strong interest, see pictures of abandoned houses & curious on how they look before. Here, sadly house demolished & looked absolutely gorgeous..
My Great-Grandfathers brother, Solon Spencer Beman, designed the Pullman Summer home in "The Thousand Islands" as well as the city of Pullman, Illinois and many significant Chicago landmarks. Solon S. Beman was a friend of Mary Baker Eddy and designed many of her churches and her residences
Thank you for making these videos. The beautiful pictures and excellent narration are so entertaining for someone obsessed with historic real estate, like me.
Love this house. Can’t believe they just tear everything down. So sad. Thanks Ken.
The wife of George Pullman made the decision. The children didn't want it.
Years ago I worked for Pullman Bank. They had an extensive collection of Pullman History.
The old Pullman Bank is long gone, I think they are owned by Wintrust Bank. I have no idea if the documents would be with Wintrust Bank, or if they donated them to the Library. It was a huge collection.
My parents used to bank at Pullman bank at 111th and King Drive. My dad worked at General Motors EMD at 103rd and Doty in the 1950s. Most GM employees there had accounts at Pullman, Pretty sure Pullman and GM had joint incentives for patrons
I know it was a huge mansion far beyond the financial reach of most people. But still, I imagined the morning sun coming through those tall windows, brightening the rooms while I wander around in a period nightgown, sip coffee and get ready for the day. I loved the mansard roof with the iron railing. I know such beautiful architecture and craftsmanship will never come back, at least in this world. When I go to heaven, I want to live in a house like that, and walk past such beautiful buildings and landscaped grassy lawns and towering old elms. The apartment and office towers of today are too drab and depressing.
Amen and amen.
An excellent, enjoyable and informative video. I grew up on Chicago’s south side and frequently visited the Pullman community and often had lunch there at The Hotel Florence which had been renovated and reopened as a tourist attraction in the 1970’s and which Pullman had named after his eldest daughter.
The one thing I must point out, however, is that George Pullman was such a greedy, ruthless and downright cruel business man and landlord to the Pullman employees he forced to live in his “ perfect community “ that his family had to bury him under several pounds of concrete to prevent angry workers from digging him up and desecrating his corpse. You can verify the accuracy of this fact through Graceland Cemetery in Chicago where he is buried.
I grew up in a place called Michigan City, about 60 miles south of Chicago, where there was a huge factory called Pullman Stanard. I believe they manufactured rail cars at that site also.
Grew up on 112th and Langley Ave and each and every house was a little different. And yes old man Pullman was tight as a drum. Wished I never moved.
In the 1890s Pullman men might make $9.07 for 2 weeks work. Pullman took the $9 in rent and left the large family with $.07 to live on. He had cut wages 30% but not rent because his investers wanted a 6% return on their investment. Sounds quite like 21st century thinking. The Illinois State Supreme Court made the company divest the community. They use to say Otto Van Bismark was a piker comparred to Pullman. Could be why his children left. These beautiful Robber Baron homes were built on the almost slave labor of their company employees.
@@57WillysCJ Old man Pullman was tight as a drum - when he cut wages to the workers he kept his rents at the same price. In his time there were no taverns in Pullman but the well to do might have a drink at the Florence Hotel. Erons later I had a beer there now and then and the bar itself was horse shoe shaped.
@@57WillysCJ You are absolutely right! Well said. It’s so easy to romanticize men like Pullman as “ Titans of Industry who made America”, when in reality they were usually cold blooded Robber Barons with no regard for the men and women whose undervalued labor made them so.
I just happened to stumble across this sight and I'm glad I did. The magnificence of that beautiful mansion lost forever is truly a shame. Nothing today is built to the standards of yesteryear. The quality is gone. In a way this mansion was part of our history and today too many people care nothing for history or they want to change it to suit themselves. Thank you for this wonderful site. I enjoyed this look into yesteryear.
Tragic loss for Chicago, and America. This mansion would have been the ultimate common areas for a residential tower, a city library, a mayors house, private club, so many possibilities. Our disposable culture is still out of control. The standards have slipped , and where are the visionary leaders?
2 things to remember: the mayor 's office already turned down the Palmer mansion as an official residence as too costly to maintain; and this one was in the south side of Chicago that became a rather unsavory part of the city for many years.
@@LJB103 Oh now you are talking facts and reason. Most posters here are talking emotion and desire. :)
@@653j521 My own desire is for these great old mansions to be still in existence but....
Sometimes the cost is more than the benefit, however. Some places are not safe with asbestos and lead paint that would take too much money to repair.
They keep destroying the old to make room for the new. Instead of saving historical sites....but when you run your city financially into the ground, perhaps being torn down is better than it rotting away.
What a fascinating mansion!!! Thanks for sharing the interesting history of the Pullman opulent home!!! I love the stories that you share about these amazing homes!!! 👍🙂
Thank you for the tour. I just love looking at all these grand old mansions. Have a great day 😀 💝
Thank you! You too!
Once the money is gone these houses become white elephants. Few people have the cash or means to keep a huge house like this. I'm a distant relative of Arthur Stilwell, the founder of the Kansas City Southern Railroad. He built a huge, grand house like this with his millions. He was wiped out in 1929 during the stock market crash. The house was eventually leveled and an ugly shopping center sits on the site today.
Really enjoy the history of building, area and the people of this lavish era. Thank you so much.
It’s not the same but it looks very similar to my childhood best friends house. It was featured in the film “Backdraft”. If you watch the scene where DeNiro and Baldwin go to the guys house and fight off the attacker and there’s a fire/explosion that lands DeNiro on a fence post or whatever, that’s my friends house. Had spend many nights there. It’s in Hinsdale, Illinois.
💔 your channel often leaves in a state of mild shock. I think of all the artists and craftsmen, trades peoples and incredible, painstaking work. Making sure their work would hold up to the most detailed scrutiny and to have it destroyed. If I could go back in time to have a salvation company that would take apart these beautiful mansions to store and resell the majority of this fine work. Could you imagine the bragging rights of a middle class wife when she points their staircase or even something obscure as rain gutters are salvage from more important homes or buildings. Man’o’man that would have been a business for certain. The glamorous salvage warehouses full of prizes.
I love these videos but it’s really sad to see history being torn down
@Life Is Poetic be Stoic how so? Explain your position
@Life Is Poetic be Stoic ummm ok
But isn’t your view racist?
The historical architecture
The beautiful wood carvings on the stairs and paneling satin wall coverings etc.
It’s a lost art
It’s lost history
Another sad loss of a magnificent example of the Gilded Age. Opulence and elegance Impossible to replace. And as usual, now replaced by something 😒 so mundane. Strange that the Pullman area is still there but his own home is gone 😕. Thanks again for a great post.
This was still a vacant lot when I last visited Chicago (the Glessner mansion is just across the street and is a museum). How about a video on the mansions of Marshall Field Sr and Jr, also on Prairie Ave?
Thank you for the suggestions!
Great ideas.
I live the Glessner
*love
Right across the street from glessner is an old building which the USA WOMEN'S team headquarters on prairie and 18th where was this vacant lot located? On 18th?
@@jeffrey7737 The Glessner and the Pullman mansions were across S 18th Street from each other. Across S. Prairie Ave is the still standing French chateau style Kimball (as in pianos) mansion.
Thank you for this video. I enjoyed it very much. All that Mr Pullman worked to build...just.........crumbled. A bit sad, yet, it's a theme in life.
Absolutely fabulous! Very !
I used to live one block away from there. This makes me happy
Awesome 👍 house I would had not have taken it down the house was beautiful 🥰
What a shame the home was not kept by the family or kept as a historical site for the future
The wife of George wanted it razed because the children didn't want it.
Appreciate any Chicago Homes of History. Hope to see more. My city of Orgin
Excellent Presentations here.
Beth
Tennessee, USA
Marvelous home!
Love the beauty of it all. Being from outside Chicago in a small town. Chicago architecture amazed me. I hate it that all these classic old homes are destroyed! It makes me weep! I love classic architecture. My first home was a rambling Victorian that we lovingly restored just in time. We painted it the classic colors of blue, red and green. Resoddered the twin stain glasses windows. We looked till we found the perfect replicas of old refridgerators and stove. (Not Victorian, but beautiful). The turrets were my favorite places. One was in my sitting room, and above it was my bedroom. It took 18 months to restore. Some maniac had painted the stairs in several coats of white paint!!! Ugh, it took forever to remove it all from the intricate design and we had a gentleman recreate the top Newell post which was missing. It had 4 prominent fireplaces. One in the kitchen which we did make double sided so it opened to the dining room as well. There was one in the parlor area and one in the master bedroom and the last was in our nursery. We restored the floors and for the most part the oak floors were complete although we had to steal some of the atic floor, lol, to replace some damaged areas. It was a labor of love. The divorce of my first marriage caused us to have to liquidate, so my husband could pay me in full. It did make it possible to buy and refurbish my Iowa farm house! However, that Victorian was my favorite home I ever lived in!
I love it. So proud to be from this city.
I lived in roseland and worked at the Pullman national bank in high school was a safe and nice neighborhood then now its like a war zone
Ya don't say. It's definitely a different place if you haven't been there in awhile, from Roseland to Calumet City.
For quite a while now that short section of Prairie Avenue has been restored and revamped. It is an attractive block to walk along and photograph.
As Prairie Avenue sits now it's just about impossible to imagine Pullman's mansion sitting there. Also, for those who are interested in the decimation
of the classic Chicago homes, a must read is "Lost Chicago" by David Lowe
I was originally from Evanston and I just recently got this book. Maybe I should get to this book sooner rather than later.
@@jmcg6189 Read that book, J.M. It's been around for quite a while and I dip back into it on occasion. David Lowe is also the
author of "Chicago Interiors".
All that beautiful woodwork inside! Did it get rescued from the demolition? All the skill that went into it. I can’t imagine how heartbroken the architects and all those who had part in building it would be…
Yes, it was asold off.
@@jacqueresch6534 thanks! That is great to know.
Thanks Ken. I just stumbled on your videos. I find the stories fascinating. Strange how many of them die before work is finished or spend relatively little time in the houses.
I enjoy your videos of historic homes. Greetings from 🇨🇦
Great video! I really like the way the black and white photos transition to colorized. 😃
I’m glad you enjoy that, Dalton has been working really hard to colorize some old photos. Cheers!
I noticed that the portrait on a stand that appears at 2:10 appears again later in the new library at 3:05 in the new library. I wonder who the man in the portrait is: maybe an ancestor, maybe an admired author?
Speaking of authors, Ken, you and your viewers might be interested in the 1949 historical novel "Prairie Avenue" by Arthur Meeker. It's told by a man who is orphaned in childhood and is sent to live with wealthy relatives in Chicago. There is an aunt who is rather mysterious and who might be considered the main character and around whom much of the story revolves. The story goes from the 1880's to 1918, a great read. The fictional characters in the Meeker novel would have known the Pullmans.
One of my ancestors was one of the founders of the still functioning Church of the Immaculate Conception on the south side in the 1880's but, my family would likely have been entering the Pullman house from the servants' entrance!
Very elegant Second Empire exterior. A the Salon was superbly refined. The house as a whole was not so over decorated as many of his contemporaries' homes were, and no too large in scale.
Really enjoyed this one. Thanks J
Very cool video. Thanks for making it.
This is a lovely street and beautiful neighborhood. I can see why it was the most expensive street in Chicago!
Sad to see how yet another incredible structure had to bite the dust.
Cool thanxx ✌️😷😎
Amazing, thanks for sharing this information.
Thanks, Ken, what a BEAUTY! Wow, adding an addition for a wedding, that's a first. 3.5 on renovations for a wedding, wow, money must've not been an issue. It's so sad when these get demolished. =(
They could have left it to fall down, but that would have endangered lives.
Thanks for another entertaining history lesson. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful home. Didn’t know about this guy and the Pullman car (knew about the Pullman as in how nice they were, but not how this guy created them).
Just tragic these residences are demolished. The creme de la creme of design and construction was on full display. If people didn't personally devalue property that part of the cities wouldn't become "unsavory"..
So inspiring to see people like you put together a fabulous youtube channel. One day I would love to learn the inside scoop on what it takes to make one happen since I am not tech savvy. Think of the travel and research alone! Kids nowadays don't know how lucky they r to have the world at their fingertips. (Oh dear, I'm becoming an old fogey!)🙂🙂🙂😉🙃 Great narration by the way! You have an asmr voice.
Awesome video Ken.
I wonder how often the 200-seat theater was used, and which theatrical productions performed there. It's amazing that even after building this "dream home," Pullman's wife, Hattie, traveled around staying in their various "vacation homes" after his death. Part of me wonders why Pullman didn't build his dream home in his own namesake town of Pullman, Illinois. But I guess that didn't end up being his dream location. One interesting factoid that boggles my mind is the $100,000 "home renovation" done in that day & age for the big wedding. I should like to view the wedding photos from that day if any survive. My chief regret is that I will never get to travel by train in a Pullman car with all the luxuries.
I mean, George Pullman is a pretty evil, horrible person lol. He wanted to live in the posh, ultra-wealthy area of the city at the time. Not way out in the 'country' (at the time) where Pullman (neighborhood/former city) is
@@acesplit Perhaps so, but I still wish I could have traveled in a Pullman car just once.
He didn't want to live near his employees. I think I heard that he had his coffin interred within a cement box so that his body might rest in peace.
@@jmcg6189 You heard correct...
Pullman was not a very favorable person from an employee's perspective. He was also a union buster. Labor day was literally invented off of George Pullman but yeah, He's buried under a ton of cement and on top of that is his monument. He/The family was always fearful of graveyard robbery for ransom and because also buried with him is all his fancy expensive pocket watches and other jewelry.
there are a few articles in teh Chicago Daily Tribune which cover the fund raiser performances. His chosen charity was the Pres Hospital located to the north on Indiana Street.
I first heard of a Pullman car while watching The Wild, Wild West as a child. I might be wrong, but I seem to remember a certain type of large suitcase being called a Pullman case (Google says I'm right!). Grannie called it that. I like the Second Empire or Beaux Arts style mansions the best, though a cupola or dome on a Richardson Romanesque is tempting too...if I had to choose, LOL. I do think taxes imposed after the Civil War, and the financial crashes of 1893 and 1929 sounded death-knells for the extravagant mansion. Railroad buffs out there might like to know the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento has a collection of 19 steam locomotives dating back to 1862, and various other cars, though not a Pullman that I can see from their website. I do agree that Pullman's home would have made a wonderful museum or gallery.
The fire in 1871 started on DeKoven St and the wind carried it north and east, burning down the entire downtown and the north side as far as Fullerton, yet very little remains of anything on the south side, which was not affected by the great fire at all.
Pullman was a monster. He had his gravesite made in a way he couldn't be dug up because of how poorly he treated his employees.
The "elephant in the room" is the fact that the grandeur of this house represents the suffering of the workers, who made the wealth possible to build such a house.
@@williammcghee863 and Jeff Bezos' hero
Will your gravesite be more accessible to grave diggers?
Beautiful house
Thanks for the information.
Sadly these kind of stories almost always end the same way, "...the house was demolished...."
Very sad it was lost
I like the information you gave us.
Such a shame..Such a beautiful house♡
Superb!
I just love this channel ❤️
One of Marshall Fields houses is in that neighborhood. It’s split into condos but at least it’s still there. It’s also breathtaking.
Yes the houses on that block are like a living museum
Hey Ken, I just thought of something for you to research. Why is it that Americans are so keen on demolition of historic structures while others clutures have buildings that are hundreds of years old? Many of which amazingly survived two world wars. I don't know if that fits your theme. If not that's ok. Another fine report.
Thanks for the suggestion! While there are certainly many different reasons why mansions are torn down, the most common theme seems to be affordability. People couldn't afford the taxes, maintenance, staff, etc.
There are thousands (millions?) of old homes still in the U.S. The problem is either the land is worth more than the building or nobody wants to buy them because they are too expensive to update and maintain so they fall into decay and are knocked down.
ha ha ..you wanna pay for upkeep, maintenance, taxes and utility bills for a 110,000 sq ft, 100 room mansion ????
There was also many changes in Chicago during this time it was the fastest growing city in the world, and areas fell in and out of fashion for the wealthy. Today this area is gentrified, but even 30 years ago was not considered a desired area. His company town, then known as a Pullman, is the Pullman neighborhood in the city and the area is one of the few urban US National Park district areas too.
@@rhuephus well if it was saved and made into a museum of architecture of days gone by. Ha ha what's the difference us taxpayers would be paying for the maintenance and upkeep. Or there could be a fee to enter and tour the home. Just a shame such a magnificent home with all the wood mill work was demolished.
I enjoyed your story. I like to lose myself in the particular "age".
Hearing demolition od beautiful things hurts, man it hurts ..... These things were built to last the test of time ! They are worth so much to the universe and should be preserved .
Again another beautiful home lost and eventually a terrible condo takes it's place for the future
What a shame that it's gone.
Quel magnifiques demeur dommage qu elle n exite plus 😢😢
Americans travel to Europe to admire their architecture and old jewels then still stands proudly across the centuries. Meantime torn real treasures down instead cheaper wood , sheetrock, plastic and cardboard " houses" .
Gorgeous house 😻
It's so sad the destroyed it 😞
Kudos for the colorizing of the photos
Wow that would have been a great museum. Thats like destroying the Biltmore. Dam shame
Magnificent
New sub. You do a fabulous job! 👍👍👍
Sad... only in America do we tear down ancient mansion to build a Circle K or Walmart. Sickening, really...
I’ve always wanted to know about this family’s fortune
I just don’t get it. In Europe, so much was saved. In America, brilliant architecture is destroyed time and time again.
I have watched a series of these videos now, the homes of the robber barons, the most beautiful houses in American history, and most - most - have been torn down, demolished, just shortly after the owner past away. Often replaced by grim tall rises.
Beautiful architecture. Instead of keeping it they tear them down and replace them with ugly buildings.
LOVED IT
Love
That's a real shame, the Pullman house demolished, a tribute to the times. It could have been repurposed
Now must watch more Pullman train videos ha. 🚞
Morrison Hunt knew of I think he did some stuff in dallas texas
I belive know great grandson
It's a shame they tore down the house and the year of 1922 to shame they tore down the house you know when they build houses or Mansions back then they put a lot of good quality into it not the way they build it now
What a shame. It should have been turned into a museum or something…
It's sad that all that amazing and valuable old wood paneling in the house was never recovered and repurposed
I wish you lived in In California so much more Architecture to marvel at.
Except that Chicago is known as he architectural capital of the US. For a reason.
One just hopes that when the home was torn down that some of the beauty from the interior was taken elsewhere and reused.
So sad!
Is it possible for you to do a program on the Eugene McVoy house in Chicago located at 3030 Lakeshore Drive? A dear friend of mine grew up there and she is now long since passed...but I have always heard stories of how grand it was etc...I love your work...
It’s heartbreaking not more of these houses were never saved. What the hell were these people thinking?!?
Great 👍
They should just keep old builds they are beautiful and some last really long especially the ones in the uk and France