1811 S. Prairie

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Location: 1811 S. Prairie
Occupants: Joseph Coleman, Miner T. Ames, David Mayer (tenant)
Life Span: 1886-Present
Architect: Cobb & Frost

1811 S. Prairie Ave.

Inter Ocean, December 8, 1887

Coleman—Dec. 7, of paralysis of the heart, at her residence, No. 1811 Prairie avenue, Leonora H., wife of Joseph G. Coleman and daughter of Silas B. Cobb.

Inter Ocean, January 14, 1890

MINER T. AMES.
Miner T. Ames, one of the best known coal men in the city, died at 11 o’clock yesterday morning at bis residence, No. 1811 Prairie avenue. For two years Mr. Ames has been a sufferer from Bright’s disease, and of late ho has been able to visit his office but seldom. While it was known that recovery was practically impossible, death came sooner than was expected, and his many friends will be shocked to hear of it.

Mr. Ames was born in Bicket, Birkshire County, Mass., July 20, 1839. His father, Justin M. Ames, was a farmer, and Minor T. was one of his children. Educated in the district echool of his native town until he was 15 years of age, he started out, in the spring of 1856, to seer his fortune as a traveling salesman. The hard times following the panic of 1857 found Mr. Ames in Ohio and out of employment. November 4, 1857, he started for Akron, Ohio, where he obtained position as brakeman on a railroad, soon after which he was appointed baggagemaster, which position he filled for five years. At the time of his death he was one of the Chicago directors in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Having by frugality and thrift accumulated a little money, he quit the service of the railroad Sept. 1, 1862, and on the 8th of that month reached Chicago, where, after some vicissitudes in his business, he, in 1866, engaged in the coal trade, in which he continued uninterruptedly until his death, when he was sole proprietor of the coal mine and extensive tile factory at Minonk in this State. For years he has been one of the leading coal merchants of this city, and his mine at Minouk is esteemed one of the best properties of the kind in this State.

Mr. Ames’ mother was Miss Annie H. Chaffee, grand-daughter of Colonel Thomas Knowlton, of Revolutionary fame, who was killed at the battle of Harlem Heights April 18, 1866, Mr. Ames was married to Miss Emily Rose, of Columbus, Ohio, of which union three children survive—Knowlton L. soon to graduate at Princeton; Miss Jane Rose Ames, and Miss Harriet Chaffee Ames. His first wife dying in 1877, Mr. Ames was, in 1883, married to Miss Irine Cowen, daughter of Washington Cowen, Esq.. of Ohio, and sister to the Hon. John Cowen, the General Solicitor of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Of this latter union two children survive—Emily Faithfol, now a little over 4 years of age, and Miner T., Jr., now about 2 years old. The five children named with the widow mourn the loss of a genial, provident, and affectionate husband and father.

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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