The Cable House

I've been spending my time doing two of my favorites things; walking and taking photographs. And of course the best place to do this type of activity is Chicago. For this particular trip I had several specific places in mind to peruse and photograph. But of course that does not mean that I would not stop along the way to shoot some street photography or some architectural photos or even some nature photos. Yes, even downtown Chicago gives rise to nature photography, as long as one keeps ones eyes open. I kept my eyes open!

I've walked around 9-15 miles a day (14-24 km) and have taken several hundred photos and with time hopefully I will share a few here. But for now I want to share a few photos of The Cable House that I stumbled upon by accident.

This house is located caddy corner from The Richard H. Driehaus Museum.

The Richard Driehaus Museum was created by one of Chicago's major philanthropists, fund manager, and businessman named Richard Herman Driehaus. The Driehaus Museum displays decorative arts of the Gilded Age and art nouveau eras in permanent and special exhibitions and is housed in the historic Chicago landmark, the 1887 Samuel M. Nickerson Mansion.

Driehaus restored the sooty black exterior of the mansion to its original buff-colored sandstone facade with a two-inch laser over 18 months—the first building in the United States to be restored with such technology, although the practice has been fairly common in Europe over the past 30 years. In doing so, chemicals were avoided and the intricate details could be cleaned evenly.. The Nickerson Mansion received the Chicago Landmark Awards for Preservation Excellence in 2008 upon completion of the restoration.

The museum is furnished with period furniture and decorative objects from Driehaus' collection to help visitors imagine how the Nickersons would have entertained and lived.(source)

After taking a picture of the outside of the museum, from across the street, and realizing that no matter what I did, short from standing in the middle of the street, I would not be able to get the best perspective of this enormous building ( when you walk a lot, you travel light therefor, no extra wide angle lenses) I turned around and saw this building with its intricate design. Naturally I had to go up close to see what it was.

This was The Cable House designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, built for Ransom R. Cable, the President of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company.

In 1902, the house was purchased by Robert Hall McCormick for his son, Robert Hall McCormick III who was head of the McCormick Estate. He lived there with his family until 1926 when it was sold and became a funeral home.

Presently the house is occupied by the offices of Driehaus Capital Management, which is operated by Chicago financier, preservationist and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus (source).

Do you see the connection between the museum and this house?

While the front side of the building got my attention, it is what I saw on the side courtyard that really gave the WOW factor.

The area is gated with no access so I had to squeeze my camera between the railing to take some of the pictures.

While doing some of the research on this location I found out that Driehaus is also a car fanatic, with as many as 40 in his collection of 1930s, '40s and '50s classics, which he stores at Chicago Vintage Motor Carriage and occasionally rotates/displays one in this courtyard.

This is definitely going to be a location that I will visit again, hopefully this time more prepared and with the right equipment.