Live and Play Chicago - Fall/Winter 2009

Neighborhood Profile:
The Gold Coast

Chicago’s;famed;Gold;Coast;came;to;be;as;a result of Potter Palmer and his socialite wife, Bertha. The Palmers’ 1882 move from fashionable South Prairie Avenue to a sumptuous Henry Ives Cobb-designed mansion (dubbed “the Castle”) at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive started a trend, and many of Chicago’s prominent families followed. In the meantime, Palmer had acquired much of the land in the neighborhood for speculative development, and then resold it to his friends for a nice profit as values shot up by over 400 percent in less than a decade. Shortly after the turn of the century, the neighborhood’s other major land owner, the Catholic Church, subdivided and sold property on Dearborn, State, and Astor Streets just south of the Cardinal’s mansion.

POTTER PALMER

The initial development in the 1880s included single-family homes with Queen Anne and Romanesque;designs.;Following;the turn of the century, neo-classical;and;Georgian

ABOUT:

Revival;styles;became popular. The majority of the earliest apartment buildings in the;Gold;Coast;were constructed during

Chicago’s building boom in the 1920s, although a couple were built in the late 1800s.

Developing the
Gold Coast was not
the Palmers’ only claim to
fame. They traveled frequently
to Paris, collecting more than
40 paintings by then-unknown
artists like Monet and Renoir.
The works they brought home
now form the core of The
Art Institute of Chi-
cago’s world-famous
Impressionist
collection.

Today,;the;Gold;Coast
offers something for everyone with homes ranging
from beautifully restored period residences to mod-
ern high-rise buildings, and prices from as low as
$116,000 to more than $10 million. The vibrant res-
taurants, trendy boutiques, Saturday morning farm-
ers’ markets, and surplus of essential services make
living in the neighborhood highly convenient. Also
of great value is the close proximity to Chicago’s rec-
reational meccas - the
lakefront, Michigan
Avenue and down-
town, which together
ensure that homes in
the;Gold;Coast;stay
in demand, even in a
changing market.

Astor Street
circa 1910
Photo courtesy The
Chicago Historical Society

SINGLE-FAMILY

LIVE:

The Latin
School of Chicago is
the city’s oldest indepen-
dent school. It was founded
in 1888 to provide students
with a rigorous college prepa-
ratory education in a classical
tradition. Latin serves grades
JK through 12. The Lower
School is conveniently lo-
cated one block north of
this home at 1531 N.
Dearborn.

1438 N. Dearborn Parkway, Gold Coast
$3,250,000

A;classic;example;of;some;of;the;Gold;Coast’s;earliest;homes,;this;handsome;graystone offers a magnificent carved limestone façade with arched windows and an integrated limestone staircase. Original Victorian architectural details have been preserved, including a mammoth carved oak front door, plaster moldings, pier mirrors, a handcrafted staircase and paneling, and a mosaic inlaid floor. The floor plan includes a double parlor living room, a formal dining room, six bedrooms, and three full baths. This home is ideal for a buyer who wants to customize a substantial home on a premier block.

Only;a;couple;of;streets;in;the;Gold;Coast,;including;the;west;side;of;the;1400 block of Dearborn, offer extra deep lots. With a 150-foot-long lot, this property includes a substantial amount of well proportioned living space, plus a large backyard/garden and a two-car garage.