Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood tells its history through its homes, many stately, taking up multiple lots and built in the late 1800s, such as the Thompson House that is the second-priciest residence for sale in the market.
The city’s elite moved north of downtown in the 1880s, where lowly populated land allowed them to erect mansions and develop an exclusive neighborhood consisting of Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne and Georgian Revival homes.
The Thompson House, designed by architecture firm Cobb and Frost, was completed in 1888. Together, partners Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost worked on several homes throughout Chicago, and separately they made plans for Newberry Library and Navy Pier.
The Romanesque Revival home at 915 N. Dearborn St. — listed for $18.5 million — was built for attorney John Howland Thompson. The architectural style uses thick, textural stones reminiscent of Medieval castles, arches and pointed gable roofs. This home uses red sandstone on the exterior and for its detached carriage house.
It’s one of three adjacent single-family homes built during the early days of the Gold Coast that agent Millie Rosenbloom of Baird & Warner sold in 2009. The structures were previously owned by the Scottish Rite, a fraternal organization part of the Freemasons, that used the three homes for office space. Rosenbloom is back 17 years later, looking to sell the Thompson House again after it underwent a major remodel. The house originally hit the market for $21.9 million in 2018 with a different brokerage and hasn't found a buyer yet.
“This is the first resale of those three houses,” said Rosenbloom in an interview. The three homes were in poor condition and previously attached to one another. Each sold to buyers who also invested in revitalizing the historic properties, according to Rosenbloom.
“This house was gutted, so everything in that house is new,” said Rosenbloom. “They dug the basement out and the lower level out. Everything is redesigned.”
The home’s state meant not much could be salvaged. The seller approached the remodel as a restoration, using hand-carved Honduran mahogany trim and Turkish marble for the floors. An Italian Botticino marble fireplace was installed, as was a Swarovski crystal chandelier, and an onyx fireplace from Pakistan to stay appropriate to the 13,400-square-foot home’s character and original opulence.
An in-home spa includes a steam room, sauna, massage room and whirlpool tub, completed with a floral Murano glass mural.
Gutting the home gave the sellers a chance to rework the floor plan from 19th-century needs to modern-day functions. The home includes five bedrooms and six bathrooms, with an additional bedroom and bathroom in the detached carriage house.
The house is across Washington Square Park from the Newberry Library. The park is a landmark itself. It’s Chicago’s oldest small park, formerly known as Bughouse Square, where public speakers would stand on soapboxes to discuss topics such as religion, politics, art and education.
The most expensive home in Chicago is also located in the Gold Coast on Astor Street, a well-known area for the priciest homes. It was named after business magnate John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest Americans, though he never resided there. That home is 25,000 square feet and priced at $21 million. The most expensive Chicago residence sold in the past year was a six-bedroom, 11-bathroom custom home for $15.25 million.