Open House Chicago morning

What a perfect fall day we had as we drove into the city Saturday to explore during Open House Chicago. We started in the Near South Side.

Stop No. 1 - the Wheeler Mansion, 2020 S. Calumet - This is the only surviving historic mansion on Calumet Avenue. The Wheeler Mansion was built in 1870 for Calvin T. Wheeler, a banker and member of the Chicago Board of Trade. Over the years, the mansion has been home to a publishing company, a warehouse for the Murphy Butter and Egg Co., and more. The current owner acquired the property in 1997 for $10,000 then spent 18 months restoring the vacant and crumbling building. Wheeler Mansion reopened in 1999 as a boutique hotel with 11 guest rooms and suites. In 1998, it was designated a Chicago Landmark.

I'd love a dining room table this big.

Beautiful stained glass and woodwork.

A sink in one of the guestrooms.

Each guestroom was decorated uniquely. Most weren't my style but this one was ok.

Stop No. 2 - Glessner House, 1800 S. Prairie Ave. - H. H. Richardson's last surviving work in Chicago was commissioned by John and Frances Glessner. The house was saved from demolition in 1966 thanks to efforts that resulted in the creation of both Glessner House and the Chicago Architecture Center.

The house is full of the Glessner family's personsl belongings. It would be fun to go back and take the full tour.

Stop No. 3 - Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 S. Michigan Ave. - This National Historic Landmark has been the church home to many leading citizens of Chicago, including the Pullmans, Blackstones, and Armours. Following a devastating fire in 1900, the congregation hired Howard Van Doren Shaw and Frederic Clay Bartlett to rebuild the interior in the Arts and Crafts style. Stunning memorial windows made by William Morris & Co., Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., Tiffany Studios, McCully & Miles, and Louis J. Millet enhance the Church's interior. Original Bartlett murals, light fixtures and 175 angels grace the space. Restoration work toward the goal of a fully restored interior continues with the recent return of the restored "Jeweled Window" by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1893) and ongoing restoration of important murals by Frederic Clay Bartlett (1901-1903).

The Tiffany window that was recently restored is on the right. Standing 16 feet high and 8 1/2 feet wide, the window is one of nine in the church designed by famed stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany’s firm. It is made of 12,000 pieces of glass, with 1,000 “jewels” consisting of rough-cut chunks of glass designed to capture and refract the light like a diamond. It was donated to the chirch by Marshall Field.

Stunning.

Another beautiful window. This was made by Tiffany Studios in 1903, called the "Peace Window."

Baptismal font.

One of the church's many angels holding up the chandelier.

Stop No. 4 - Pui Tak Building in Chinatown, 2217S. Wentworth - Chinatown's most iconic building is the former home of the On Leong Merchant Association, the group that spearheaded the Chinese community's move from Van Buren and Clark streets to its present location in 1912. The firm of Michaelsen and Rognstad was chosen to design the 1928 building. Red, symbolic of joy, and jade green, symbolic of affluence, are the building's dominant colors. The building was landmarked in 1993 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.

We hadn't planned on stopping in Chinatown but we needed to kill some time before meeting our friends, Tim and Betsy, for lunch. This was a view of the Chinatown "gate" from the building's third floor.

Looking south on Wentworth Ave.