Time hasn’t always been kind to the grand homes of Chicago’s past. Potter Palmer’s Lake Shore Drive “castle” and the Cyrus McCormick mansion on Rush Street bit the dust decades ago. And while others have been converted to museums — the Glessner House and the Nickerson House — many Gilded Age survivors haven’t had as easy a go of it, subdivided into apartments or retrofitted for commercial purposes.
(Michael Giliano/Giliano Group)
The Renaissance Revival home at 3736 South Michigan Avenue, on the market at $1.2 million, has been through some reinventions. But thanks to restoration, it still looks good for its age. Just blocks from two other 19th-century manors — the Swift and the Hoxie — this Bronzeville home was built in 1890 for Adolph J. Lichtstern, a German immigrant who rose from selling newspapers on the street to being a major wheat trader. When he died at 66, he left substantial bequests to the University of Chicago, Jewish Charities of Chicago, and Michael Reese Hospital. In 1926, Northwestern-trained surgeon Ulysses Grant Dailey (the third Black physician to be elected to the American College of Surgeons) set up his own facility in the home, the Dailey Hospital and Sanitarium, which he operated until 1932.
(Michael Giliano/Giliano Group)
While the 11,108-square-foot house still needs some TLC, the bones — including pocket doors, extensive millwork, and 11 fireplaces — are impressive. Spread over three levels and connected by a grand staircase, the home features six bedrooms, six baths, and one heck of a bonus space on the top floor: a former ballroom with views of the city. The ground level comprises two separate living units for rental potential. The property also has a guest house. In all, it could be just what the doctor ordered.
Thomas Connors is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.