1900 S. Prairie

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Occupants: Elbridge Keith
Location: 1900 S. Prairie (916 Prairie)
Life Span: 1868-Present
Architect: J. R. Roberts

Edwards’ Directory of the City of Chicago for 1871
Keith Eldridge, millinery goods. r. 916 Prairie av.

Lakeside Annual Directory for the City of Chicago for the Year of 1874
Keith, Elbridge G. (Keith Bros.) r. 916 Prairie

Lakeside Annual Directory for the City of Chicago for the Year of 1876
Keith, Elbridge G. (Keith Bros.) 248 Madison, house 916 Prairie

Lakeside Annual Directory for the City of Chicago for the Year of 1880
Keith, Elbridge (Keith Bros.) 250 Madison, house, 1900 Prairie.

Lakeside Annual Directory for the City of Chicago for the Year of 1884
Keith, Elbridge (Keith, Benham & Dezendorf), 100 Wabash av. and pres. Metropolitan nat. bank, Lasalle nw. cor. Madison, home, 1900 Prairie av.

Inter Ocean, January 2, 1887

Side by side stand the houses of two of the best citizens of which Chicago can boast and they are brothers. Edson is the name of one and Elbridge is the other. The name Keith is synonymous with honesty and integrity, With the growth of this city they have kept pace and are in affluent circumstances. Mr. Elbridge Keith is President of the Metropolitan National Bank and the senior member of the hardware firm of Keith, Benham & Dezendorf, and Congressman in embryo. Mr. Edson Keith is a millionaire, head of a prominent firm, and the first President of the Calumet Club. His residence, although erected over twenty years ago, still ranks among the most ornate and elegant of more recent date.

1900 S. Prairie

Chicago Tribune, January 25, 2021

Gilded Age mansion in the South Loop sells for $2.3 million
A 150-year-old, seven-bedroom mansion built in the South Loop during the Gilded Age sold Thursday for $2.3 million.

One of only a handful of mansions left on South Prairie Avenue, the Elbridge Keith house is named after its first owner. It was used for decades by a publishing company and later held Wilbert and Marilyn Hasbrouck’s architectural bookstore, the Prairie Avenue Bookshop, and their publishing company.

The sellers are Chicago Reader publisher Tracy Baim and her sister, Marcy Baim, who inherited the mansion from their late mother and stepfather, Joy Darrow Pratt and Steven Pratt. The home is filled with family history, Baim said, including her own wedding and her brother’s, as well as their parents’ memorials.

“Our parents were community-minded hosts, trying to help build back the city’s South Loop, which was mainly closed-down factories, abandoned buildings, and empty lots,” Tracy Baim said in an email. “We produced films, wrote books, and cared for people here. We could not have been more lucky to have been in this treasured home.”

Over the years, the family used the home as a gallery and events venue, opening it to architectural tours, gallery shows, hundreds of weddings and community benefits, Baim said.

“It was time for a new owner to take it to the next level, putting resources in to fully restore the Keith House to its glory,” she added.

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The Pratts had owned the mansion since 1978. It is zoned for residential use or light commercial use, so in theory a buyer could convert it to condominiums or make it high-end apartments.

The 10,660-square-foot mansion has seven bathrooms, three fireplaces and apartments on the second and third floors. The property also has a separate coach house.

Neither the listing agents nor those representing the buyers would identify the buyers, and their names do not yet appear in public records. However, listing agent Hadley Rue of Dream Town Realty said the mansion’s buyers would use it as a single-family home.

“What makes this property so unique is the size of the home, and the fact that it’s one of the last remaining Gilded Age mansions, built in 1870 and designed by architect J.R. Roberts,” he said. “(The buyer) is someone who is a history enthusiast that wants to keep a part of Chicago going. How awesome is it to get a piece of property that hasn’t changed hands for 40 years?”

Paul Gorney of eXp Realty, who represented the buyer, told Elite Street the mansion “is one of Chicago’s most historic and grand homes.” He added that the mansion “will be kept as a single-family home.”

The owners tried to sell the mansion for a long time. They first listed it in the early 2010s for several years for $2.9 million before taking it off the market. They relisted it in 2017 for seven months at $3 million before pulling it off the market. They then put it up for sale again in 2019 for $2.8 million and soon reduced the asking price by $100,000. The family cut its price again in August to $2.62 million, and finally in October to $2.6 million.

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