Nickerson House facts for kids
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Nickerson, Samuel, House
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Samuel M, Nickerson House
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 Location in Illinois
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| Location | Chicago, IL |
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| Built | 1883 |
| Architect | Burling & Whitehouse; Burling, Edward |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000700 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 7, 1976 |
The Samuel M. Nickerson House is a famous old mansion in Chicago, Illinois. It's located in the Near North Side neighborhood and is considered a Chicago Landmark. The house was designed by Edward J. Burling and built in 1883 for Samuel and Mathilda Nickerson. Samuel M. Nickerson was a very important person in the banking world. People said he owned more national bank stock than anyone else in the United States at one point!
In 1916, a group of wealthy Chicagoans bought the house to save it. They gave it to the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The ACS used the house as their main office. They also built a large hall next to it for meetings. In 1964, the mansion became too small for them, so they started renting it out. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2003, a kind person named Richard Driehaus bought it. Today, it is the Richard H. Driehaus Museum. This museum shows art and design from a time called the Gilded Age and the Art Nouveau movement.
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Amazing Architecture
The Nickerson House was designed by Edward J. Burling, one of Chicago's first important architects. Three different companies helped decorate the inside. These were William August Fiedler, R. W. Bates & Co. from Chicago, and George A. Schastey & Co. from New York.
The house has three floors and is about 24,000 square feet. When it was finished, it was said to be the biggest and most fancy private home in Chicago! Mr. Nickerson spent a huge amount of money, $450,000, to build and decorate his home.
The outside of the mansion looks like an Italian palace, made of limestone and Ohio sandstone. While the outside is fancy, the inside is even more amazing. The house is decorated with 17 different types of marble, which is why it was nicknamed the "Marble Palace." It also has onyx, alabaster, carved wood, and special tiles from companies like Minton Hollins & Co. and J. & J. G. Low Art Tile Works. There are also mosaics and a material called Lincrusta.
Most of the original parts of the building are still there today. It's a great example of the Aesthetic Movement. This was a style where wealthy Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s decorated their homes with many different styles. You can see influences from Japanese, Chinese, English, French, and even ancient Greek designs. The Nickerson House shows how much Victorians loved to display beautiful things.
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Dining Room, 1886.
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Reception Room, 1886.
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Samuel M. Nickerson's Bedroom, 1886.
Built to Resist Fire
Building the Nickerson House started in 1879. This was soon after the terrible 1871 Great Chicago Fire. Because of the fire, Chicago made new rules for building strong, fireproof buildings. The mansion was praised as one of the first truly fireproof homes in the city. Its walls are made of brick, and they go all the way up to the roof. Underneath the fancy floors, there are brick arches supported by strong iron beams. This design helped protect the house from fire.
A Rich History
The house was built for Samuel Mayo Nickerson. He helped start the First National Bank in Chicago. He also had businesses in liquor, wine, and even an explosives company during the Civil War. Samuel Nickerson came from a town called Brewster, Massachusetts. His family was very important in shipping and fishing there. They first settled in that area in 1640. Samuel Nickerson also built another grand house, Fieldstone Hall, in 1890.
Samuel, his wife Mathilda, and their son Roland lived in the house from 1883 to 1900. They held many fancy parties there, like masquerade balls. The mansion was also used to show off the Nickersons' amazing art collection. This collection included American and European paintings, Indian jewelry, and Japanese and Chinese art. In 1900, the Nickerson Collection was given to the Art Institute of Chicago.
After the Great Fire, the Near North Side became a popular area for rich business owners like Nickerson. Many important families, like the McCormicks, lived there. This area was even known as McCormickville. Other famous people who lived nearby during this time included Ransom R. Cable and Lambert Tree.
When Samuel Nickerson retired in 1900, he sold the house to Lucius George Fisher. Fisher was the president of a paper company. He owned the house until he died in 1916. After buying the house, Fisher hired an architect named George Washington Maher. Maher changed Nickerson's art gallery into a room for trophies and rare books. He added a beautiful stained glass dome and new bookshelves.
After Fisher's death in 1916, his family decided to sell the mansion. It stayed on the market for three years without a buyer. A group of important Chicagoans, including Cyrus Hall McCormick II and William Wrigley, Jr., worried the house might be torn down. They raised money to buy the house to save it. In 1919, they gave the house to the American College of Surgeons. From 1919 to 1965, the College used the house for their offices and meetings.
The Museum Today
In 2003, Chicago businessman Richard Driehaus bought the house. He worked to restore it to its original beauty. In 2008, he opened it to the public as the Richard H. Driehaus Museum. The museum shows some of the original furniture from the Nickerson family. It also displays Mr. Driehaus's own collection of art from the late 1800s and early 1900s. This includes statues, paintings, furniture, and beautiful Louis Comfort Tiffany glass.
Bringing it Back to Life
When the restoration started in 2003, the building itself was in good shape. However, it was very dirty. One of the biggest challenges was cleaning the outside. The stone had a thick layer of dirt and pollution. The light gray stone had turned a very dark black.
Normal cleaning methods were not good for the stone. So, they used lasers to clean the outside! This was the first time an entire building in the United States was cleaned this way. This method is often used in Europe to clean sculptures. The restoration of the Nickerson House won an award in 2008 for its excellent preservation work.
See also
In Spanish: Casa de Samuel M. Nickerson para niños
