1801 S. Prairie

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Occupants: William W. Kimball, Architects’ Club of Chicago
Location: 1801 S. Prairie
Life Span: 1892-Present
Architect: Solon Spencer Beman

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Kimball William W. W. W. Kimball Co. Wabash av sw cor Jackson boul h 1801 Prairie av

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Kimball Evalyne wid Wm W h 1801 Prairie av

William Wallace Kimball’s home was one of the most beautiful houses ever built in Chicago, and even today, is noted for its beautiful carved stonework and stately turrets and dormers. But ever since 1921, when the widowed Evaline Kimball passed away, there have been persistent rumors that the large windows on the north side of the house shake and rattle violently, even when there is no storm or other disturbance outside. No satisfactory cause has ever been found to explain the odd occurrence, but some have suggested that it may be the ghost of Mrs. Kimball.

1801 S. Prairie

Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1881

W. W. Kimball.
The name at the head of this notice is not unknown to the readers of The Tribune. It is an open secret,” as Daddy P. M. G. Howe said of his politics, up at Green Bay, that Mr. Kimball is the head of a music house that jobs more pianos and organs than any house In the country, and, as he in some respects is a public man and subject to fair newspaper criticism. we propose to tell something about him for the benefit of our readers.

The history of this man, whose sales of pianos and organs now extend over half the Union, shows how ordinary and comparatively unimportant happenings often give birth to great enterprises. Somewhere in the fifties a young man “way down in Maine” took Greeley’s advice to go West. Tall and erect as the pines of his native State, full of hope and energy. with the Yankee proclivity to trade, he bought land, came to Chicago in 1856, when he was a young man, and opened a music-store. And this was the beginning of a business career, in the music trade, as remarkable for its success as that of any house in any line in this city. He had had no previous training for this business, but he had a practical educationgood business habits, untiring industry, an indomitable purpose, foresaw the wants and resources of the Great West, was a good judge of men, affable in his manners, and of pleasing address, liberal in spirit and in purse, and had the rare faculty of attaching his employes to himself and making their interests his own. Acting on the true principle—by which fortunes are made—of making money not by large profits from individual sales, but by small profits from a multitude of customers, his great study has been how tow be could sell his goods and make a reasonable profit. And, therefore, he has taken the great public, so to speak, into partnership with him, always regarding their interests, ready and prompt to rectify any mistakes, and anxious to satisfy every customer.

His specialties in pianos are the Hallet & Davis, the Emerson, and the Kimball piano, and the Kimball organ, some 140 of which are made every week of the best material, by the most skillful workmen at his own factory. He has every assurance that his sales ot pianos and organs will greatly increase the coming year.

Chicago Tribune, December 17, 1904

W. W. Kimball, the pioneer piano and organ dealer in Chicago, and one of its wealthiest citizens, died late yesterday afternoon at his residence, 1801 Prairie avenue, after a lingering illness. He was 76 years of age and had been engaged in business in Chicago during more than forty-seven years, establishing in that time one of the largest piano and organ houses in the world.

The funeral arrangements had not been completed last night, but it is expected they will be announced this morning.

Mr. Kimball’s Early Life.
Mr. Kimball was born in Oxford county, Me., in 1828. Moses Kimball, his grandfather, was a soldier of the revolution, while his father, David, served in the war of 1812. The family in America was founded by Richard Kimball, who came from England in 1634 and settled in Massachusetts.

When 18 years old W. W. Kimball, having graduated from the district school, began his business life as clerk in a country store. For a time also he was a school teacher. His ambition was a business career, however, and when 21 years of age he reëntered the mercantile trade.. Before long he became a traveling salesman, his field at first New England, but gradually expanding until it included the middle, western, and southern states.

Begins Business in Chicago.
In 1857 Mr. Kimbell came to Chicago. The business opportunities here impressed him and he decided to make this city his home. That fall he opened a retail piano store and from this small beginning sprang the present business of the company.

Although lumber, hardware, and groceries were more in demand than musical instruments in the early days of Chicago, Mr. Kimball never faltered, but by industry and ability gradually enlarged his business. He was the pioneer, the first successful music dealer In the northwest.

Mr. Kimball soon entered the wholesale trade, and the business grew until 1864, when his headquarters were moved to the Crosby opera house in Washington street. There he remained until the fire of 1871 swept away the business heart of Chicago.

Within forty-eight hours Mr. Kimball had opened offices in his residence, then at 611 Michigan avenue. The basement was used as a s alesroom, the billiard room was the office. while the barn housed the shipping department. These temporary quarters were soon outgrown, however. and the business was transferred to Wabash avenue and Thirteenth street. In the summer of 1873 Mr. Kimball returned to the downtown district, locating at the southeast corner of State and Adams streets.

In 1882 the present W. W. Kimball company was incorporated. Rapid growth followed and, within a few years, the firm removed to State and Jackson streets, going hence in 1891 to the present building in Wabash avenue.

Enters the Manufacturing Field.
With the growth of his retail business, Mr. Kimball turned to manufacturing. In 1881 he built an organ factory on the west side and soon afterwards added a plant for the manufacture of pianos. Today his company is one of the largest in the world.

Although one of its most successful business men. Mr. Kimball never took any part in the political life of Chicago, devoting himself to business and his home. He was ever a firm believer in the future of this city. and to this faith owed much of his business prosperity. He was a member of the Calumet and Washington Park clubs. and of the Illinois and National Manufacturers’ associations.

In 1865 Mr. Kimball married Miss Evalyne M. Cone, daughter of Hubbell B. Cone of Chicago, who survives him. The family residence is at 1801 Prairie avenue.

Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1961

As portals of history, doorways reflect the portrait of man’s culture.

On the Prairie avenue of the ’90s, living was opulent. Belles in bustles and gentlemen in derbies set the mode of the day, and a man’s wealth was gauged by the facade of his home.

Commissions Architect
In concert with his times, W. W. Kimball, late piano and organ manufacturer, commissioned architect S. S. Bern an to design a model of the Chateau de Josselin in Brittany, which was erected on the southeast corner of 18th street and Prairie avenue. (The property overlooked the site where the Fort Dearborn massacre is supposed to have started in 1812.)

No expense was spared in making the new house worthy of its neighbors the homes of the George Pullmans, Marshall Fields, Blackstone the hotelman, and Otis of elevator building fame. Appointments were of the finest from the great double walnut doors, ornamented with wrought iron scrollwork to onyx fireplaces and the organ loft at the top of the grand staircase. Kimball is reported to have spent more than a mil lion dollars on the mansion, which took two years to build 1890-92.

These were the years when the city was agog with plans for the Columbian exposition, when the metropolis was becoming accustomed to its new nickname “the windy city.” The appellation had nothing whatsoever to do with the cooling breezes, which waft over Chicago of a summer’s day.

Caustic Commentary
Indeed it was born of the caustic commentary of Charles A. Dana, who wrote in his New York Sun during the fierce fight in Congress for the exposition site “Don’t pay any attention to the nonsensical claims of that windy city. Their people (Chicagoans) could not hold a World’s Fair, even if they won it.” Because the fair plans were so elaborate, the exposition was not opened until May 1, 1893, but there was a dedication ceremony managed in October 1892, to mark the 400th an niversary of Columbus landing in America.

And in 1892, the Kimball family arrived on Prairie avenue.

Families Leave
Time makes changes, populations shift as well as the economy. With the expansion of the city’s northern sector, the gold coast families deserted Prairie avenue.

Today, the doors of 1801 Prairie avenue are open to business and the Domestic Engineering company, publishers, have become custodian for the 2S room mansion. The entry hall still is paneled in rare woods, and the grand staircase leads to the giant organ—loft but the loft now serves as a cloakroom. Only minimum alterations, however, have been allowed, and the drawing room serves for employe and visitor entertainment and ease.

Dignity intact, the mansion stands a captive Victorian behind its wrought iron fence, the gate of which is locked at the end of each business day.

Richly ornamented doorway to W. W. Kimball mansion, 1801 Prairie av., bespeaks era when belles in bustles and beaux in derbies strolled down tha then gold coast street. Copied after the Chateau de Josselin in Britanny, the house is reported to have cost late piano and organ manufacturer more than one million dollars. Present owner is Domestic Engineering company, publishers.

Chicago Agent, August 17, 2013

With the Sale of 2 Prairie Ave. Mansions, a Residential Revival
By Emily Mack
A pair of Near South Side mansions, located at 1801 and 1811 S. Prairie Ave., have sold for nearly $4 million — and the transaction marks a new period for the historic structures. The 19th-century houses have acted as offices for the U.S. Soccer Federation since 1991. But the new buyers plan to utilize the conjoined properties as a home.

“I can confirm that the buyers’ intention is to return the property back to its original, single-family, residential use and [to restore] the old charm of the mansions,” said Mariam Moeinzadeh, an agent with Compass who represented the buyers. The identity of those buyers remains undisclosed.

The sale, which closed on Aug. 11, is the latest in the mansions’ long, metamorphic timeline. The red stone building (on right of the photo) and the limestone building (seen on the left) were built in 1886 and 1892, respectively, when Prairie Avenue boasted some of the city’s most elite addresses, home to big names like Marshall Field and George Pullman.

The red stone house, also called the Coleman-Ames House, first housed the hardware retailer Joseph Coleman and his family and eventually the coal mine tycoon Miner T. Ames. In 1921, the building became office space for a publishing company and has not been residential since.

Meanwhile, the limestone house, also called the Kimball House, was originally home to the piano manufacturer William Kimball and his wife, Evalyne, After Evalyne’s death in 1921, it was transformed into a boarding house and, three years later, an architects’ club. It has not been residential since 1924.

The houses became a package deal for the first time in 1947 following their purchase by the Domestic Engineering publishing company. They are now physically connected through backyard coach houses.

As of now, it’s unknown whether the new buyers will use the shared 29,000-square-foot property as a single home or two separate entities.

1801 and 1811 S. Prairie Ave.

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