Driehaus & Charnley-Persky House Museums

A mini post about two beautiful historic architectural gems in Chicago that are worth visiting. Both on the National Historic Registry, built around the same time, and both available to visit and tour. The similarities end there as they are very different styles - which is one reason Chicago is such an architecturally significant city.

First the Richard H. Driehaus Museum located at 40 E Erie St, which is just a couple of blocks west of the Starbucks Roastery on Michigan Ave. This home was built in 1883 for Samuel M. Nickerson - a wealthy Chicago banker. The museum is named for Richard Driehaus - a Chicago businessman, philanthropist and art collector. The restored mansion is not a recreation of the Nickerson period - but rather broadly interprets the design, architecture, and decorating tastes of Gilded Age America and the art nouveau era.

The museum displays original furnishings from the Nickerson era along with decorative arts of the late 19th and early 20th century along with works by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The house took 4 years to build and cost $450,000 - a very large amount of money for the time - but that translates to over 10 million in todays costs. And having been there I totally believe it! I called it a mind blowing experience - I can’t ever recall seeing such exquisite attention to detail everywhere you look.

The Driehaus is closed Monday and Tuesday and usually open Wednesday through Sunday from 11-5. The second floor has been restored and is used for special exhibits. Check the website for all the details. I highly recommend paying the extra $5 for the docent led tour. It was excellent. And they have a small but really fantastic gift shop!

Next up the Charnley-Persky House Museum. Located at 1365 N Astor St, just a few blocks north of the Drake Hotel on Michigan Ave and a block west of Lake Shore Dr. This house was built in 1891 and is one of the few surviving buildings designed by two of the most famous architects in the US - Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright💙

Wright was a young man working for Adler and Sullivan but I saw so many of his ideas - quite an endorsement from a revered architect like Sullivan to allow so much input from his employee. This new style embodies the desire of Sullivan and Wright to create an American style of architecture, and was the basis for Wright’s Prairie style.

This museum has more limited hours available for tours so please check the website before heading there. I definitely recommend booking your ticket in advance as you can only see the home on a tour and the groups are fairly small.

The home was built for the Charnley family but was saved and restored by Chicago philanthropist Seymour Persky in 1995. He provided the Society of Architectural Historians with the funds to purchase the house and it is now the international headquarters of that organization. Another important architectural piece of history saved.

That’s it for now! Thanks for letting me share my love of history, architecture and Chicago with you💕