L. Hamilton McCormick Mansion, Kungsholm’s Restaurant and Puppet Theater, Lawry’s Restaurant
Life Span: 1895-Present
Location: NE Corner of Ontario and Rush Streets, 631 N Rush
Architect: Cowles & Ohrenstein
Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1895
MODEL HOME FOR THE NORTH SIDE.
Plans for L. Hamilton McCormick’s Residence at Rush and Ontario Streets.
Work has been commenced on the new residence of L. Hamilton McCormick, Rush and Ontario streets.after plans drawn by Cowles & Ohrenstein. An entire block will be occupied by the residences of Mr. McCormick and Mrs. Emmons Blaine, the latter being now completed. Foundations are now in for Mr. McCormick’s building, and the work is being pushed to completion as rapidly as possible. When completed it will be one of the best in that locality. The ground measurements are 43xS0 feet, and the design is in the Italian renaissance. It is to be built of blue Bedford stone to the top of the second story window sills, and of pink Roman brick with terra-cotta trimmings above the second floor. The entire cornice is to be of highly ornamented terra-cotta. The plans are for kitchen, laundry, servants’ dining and sitting rooms, and numerous storerooms in the basement. On the first floor there will be a drawing-room 21×40 feet in size, the dining-room, library, reception room, and a large stair hall. On the second floor there will be the family chambers, a nursery, and children’s bedrooms. There will be bathrooms connected with each bed-chamber. The third floor will be devoted to guest’s rooms, with servant’s rooms in the rear of the house.
The fourth floor is to be all in one room, with trussed roof, leaving the floor clear. It is designed for use as a ballroom and pieture gallery. There is to be a music platform built in the upper floor.
One of the principal features of the house will be a large bathroom on the second floor.
The walls and ceilings will be in tile, and there will be a large solid marble bath, which has been made in Italy according to special plans made by Mr. McCormick.
In the interior finish only mahogany and oak will be used. The floors throughout the house will be of hardwood, with tile floors in the basement and tile floors and walls in the bathrooms. The house will be heated throughout with steam, and especial care has been taken to make the ventilation perfect.
A well-appointed stable is to be built in the rear of the lot, size 45×48 feet, two stories and basement, with boilers located in the basement. It will have room for seven horses and eight carriages, with men’s rooms on the second floor. The barn will be built to correspond in exterior with the nouse.
Chicago Tribune, October 19, 1935
Mrs. L. H. McCormick Will Return Soon.
Mrs. L. Hamilton McCormick probably will be back in Chicago very soon, for she is due to land in New York tomorrow after having spent the summer abroad. She visited her nine brothers and sisters in England, her eldest son, Edward, and his family, who also live in England, and her middle son, Leander, and his wife, who have a schloss in the Austrian Tyrol. Her youngest son, Alister, and his wife, who live in Santa Bar-bara, have been abroad all summer, also.
Mrs. McCormick will find that her handsome old house at 631 Rush street has undergone great changes since she left it, for it is now in the hands of painters and decorators who are getting it ready to be opened as Pierre’s Continental Casino on Nov. 6. The beautiful ballroom on the fourth floor, which was the scene of so many lovely parties during the years the McCormick family lived in the house, will be used as the main dining and dancing room. and various others of the many rooms will be luncheon and cocktail lounges, etc.
Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1935
New Cabaretin an Old Mansion on Rush Street
Continental Casino as De Luxe Cabaret
Pierre Nuyttens opened his new Continental Casino in the former home of the L. Hamilton McCormicks on Rush and Ontario streets last Wednesday. The Manhattans, a group of four versatile young men, sing, play, and clown. Their instrumentation of guitar, string bass, clarinet and muted trumpet is particularly well adapted to the intimate rooms of this once famous residence.
Chicago Tribune, November 4, 1937
A LINE O’ TYPE OR TWO
New to the Line, let the quips fall where they may.
Decorators with buckets of gilt and barrels of the brightest blue paint have invaded the old Leander McCormick mansion at Rush and Ontario streets, and transformed it into a Scandinavian restaurant. It’s really a Swedish restaurant, the Kungsholm, which we shall tell you about today, but the Danish Chramers have their pride. The place is Swedish enough, with a title they tell you is Swedish for King’s Castle, and its smörgasbord, without their saying it’s Swedish.
There were, indeed, a great many wars between the Swedish kings, who wanted to rule the northland, and the Danish kings, who had the same idea. But back in the Viking days, when a Viking expedition was part of every good Norseman’s education, there wasn’t much distinction between the Swedes and the Danes. And further back still, when the Norsemen were peddling furs to the old Romans in the sixth century, and raising fine horses with the profits, they were all just Norsemen. Beowulf, the hero of the old Anglo-Saxon epic, was a Norseman, and no one asked him whether he were a Swede, a Dane, or a Norwegian. They’re a proud people, these Norsemen, with a written history going back to 98 A. D., when they had a navy so strong they knew no one would ever attack them. To show how secure they were, they all went around unarmed, unless they were conducting a war somewhere, checking their weapons with a slave. Their kings were smart: spread the story that they were direct descendants of the old Norse god, Frey, and so had control of the seasons. They could bring spring right in the middle of winter—like that, if they wanted to—but they preferred to run their own business and let Nature run hers. In the old days the Swedes were known as Suiones, and some called the northland Thule. The Norsemen liked their kings handsome, and called one of the handsomest Harold Fairhair.
The Chramers don’t go into all that. They’d rather tell you how the old four-story mansion has been modernized. The great fireplace downstairs and the mahogany surrounding it haven’t been touched; a false wall has been placed in front. The blue paint on the mahogany trimmings is only water color, that can be washed off. Upstairs are private dining rooms and a little hall for Scandinavian meetings. The quaint old high clock in the hall is 200 years old and more, from a little Swedish island where making clocks is all they do.
In other Swedish restaurants they tell you smörgasbord’s pronounced just like it sounds, but the Chramers roll the first R. You shouldn’t heap all your appetizers on a big plate, they say, but should eat them in courses, from small plates, coming back often for another plate. About smörgasbord: Smore, the Chramers say, means butter; gase, cold; and bord, table. Originally butter and some cold meat were placed on a side table at dinner time, and then more things were added as the smörgasbord custom grew. They recommend for dessert their lingon berries, something like cranberries, and imported from Sweden. They won’t hire a waitress who can’t talk Scandinavian to the diners.
Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1947
REBUILDING JOB ON KUNGSHOLM CAFE IS STARTED
Work has been started on remodeling and rebuilding of the four story Kungsholm restaurant at the northeast corner of Rush and Ontario sts., damaged by fire last Feb. 26. Lawrence Monberg of Chicago is architect. A new two story section extending from the present building to the Ontario and Rush sidewalk lines will be of fireproof construction, of steel and concrete interior, and exterior walls of granite, limestone, and brick. It will house sections of the restaurant formerly in the two upper floors which were gutted by fire.
The garage between the Kungsholm main building and the Woman’s Athletic club building will be razed and a new puppet theater seating 250 persons will replace the marionette playhouse formerly on the upper floor of the Kungsholm and destroyed by fire. Fredrik A. Chramer, owner of the Kungsholm, expects to reopen his restaurant about Nov. 1, said Monberg.
Chicago Tribune, August 20, 1950
- Kungsholm’s Restaurant and Puppet Theater
About 1954
Chicago Tribune, April 30, 1971
The puppets’ fate? We’ll have to wait
Puppet Particulars: The miniature opra house, scenery, costumes and puppets at the Kungsholm Restaurant will not be disturbed during the current interior remodeling of the restaurant. That’s the good news from Fred Harvey vice president Paul Taber, who returned to town after last Friday’s column went to press. Taber was initially mystified over the “sudden concern” for the puppet theater. He suggested that “the press has blown this thing completely out of proportion.” (The remodeling of the Fred Harvey leasehold operation is for updating the decor of the dining rooms and the construction of a new one, Shipwreck Kelly’s, on the second floor of the Scandinavian restaurant. It will be the sixth in a national chain of Shipwreck Kelly’s and it will open May 18 with a steak-and-lobster menu and some Polynesian specialties.)
On Wednesday Taber said he had “a pile of mail” on his desk from interested persons “who hadn’t seen a production in years … but sure were planning to.”
Daniel M. MacMaster, president and director of the Museum of Science and Industry, is proposing to take over the little theater and move it and all that goes with it to the museum to preserve the cultural heritage for all Chicagoans. That’s fine with Taber and may be accepted by the real estate trust that owns the building and “all of its furnishings, including the puppets.”
One thing that scems certain, at this point, is that there won’t be another puppet show in the Kungsholm. Dinner patrons got first choice of tickets during the small theater’s heyday but anyone who showed up was accommodated at no charge, Taber said. “But times change, and no one seemed to care about puppets in recent years,” he added. “The theater cost us $6,000 a month, and nobody came to see the damn thing.”
Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1977
The splendor that was Tosca, Madame Butterfly. Faust, and La Traviata lays in tangled, dusty profusion in packing boxes and on work tables in a remote room at the Museum of Science and Industry.
The exquisite faces of courtiers and slaves, of soldiers and kings belong to Chicago’s famed Kungsholm puppets, which for three decades delighted patrons of the Kungsholm Restaurant at 100 E. Ontario with full-scale operatic productions.
The unique puppet opera theater, which lay forgotten and neglected in storage since 1971, has been resurrected, and plans are being made to ensure it some measure of immortality.
The proprietor of the Kungsholm Restaurant was a Danish immigrant, Fredrik Chramer. An opera enthusiast, he wanted to provide musical entertainment for the guests at his smorgas-bord. So in 1937 Chramer brought in Esther and Ernest Wolff, who had developed a puppet opera theater in the 1920s. A miniature proscenium modeled after the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen was the setting for the Wolffs’ 13-inch rod puppets, which performed to Victor, and Columbia recordings of the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Paris Opera.
After a 1947 fire destroyed the little theater and most of the puppets, Chicagoans Nicholas Nelson and Ernest Hill rebuilt it. In its heyday the theater boasted nearly 2,000 puppets and as many costumes. 340 pieces of scenery, and an orchestra pit on a motorized lift carrying 52 orchestra players and the little conductor known as Tosci. The staff included a stage manager, a costumer, two cabinetmakers, and six puppeteers who sat on rolling stools beneath the stage to operate the puppets.
Chramer, the Wolffs, Nelson, and Hill are all dead. But one of the original puppeteers is still around. Chicago set designer William Fosser started with the theater at age 15 and went on to direct it. He recalls the parade of celebrities who made their way to the Kungsholm, among them singers Lauritz Melchior, Jeanette MacDonald, and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. Some of the stars. Fosser said, would sing arias in place of the recorded music during their visits.
After Chramer’s death in 1960, the Kungsholm was taken over by the Fred Harvey restaurant chain, and the puppet theater was operated by them in accordance with Chramer’s will. But things began to go downhill, and in 1971 the Kungsholm was closed and the puppets packed away in an unused portion of the building. Formerly the Leander Hamilton McCormick mansion, the building became the home of Lawry’s The Prime Rib restaurant.
The puppets were discovered recently when Lawry’s began clearing out an upper floor, and it was announced they would be sold at auction. But a Hyde Park attorney and childhood fan of the Kungsholm, Devereaux Bowly, contacted the Museum of Science and Industry and urged it to take in the puppets.
The museum was interested, their owners agreed, and the puppets were delivered. They are undergoing refurbishing. Due apparently to theft in the intervening years, there are only about 250 puppets left, and they are a bedrag. gled lot. Most of the existing sets and scenery are at the Goodman Theater, which has said it will donate whatever the museum needs.
Plans for the puppets are indefinite, according to museum exhibits director Dr. Victor J. Danilov, “until we can assess what needs to be done to them.” The museum has tentatively scheduled a temporary exhibit of them beginning in October.
“During that showing,” Danilov said, “we will explore what can be done to display them as a permanent exhibit. We feel the puppets are an important part of Chicago’s history and have great public appeal, so we want to find a way to present them in a manor befitting the old opera theater.”
Danilov said the museum would like to automate the puppets and add music, sets, and photographs to give the flavor of the original theater. Of course, it would take a great deal of money – exactly how much the museum doesn’t yet know. Such an exhibit would have to be funded by a corporation or foundation, Danilov says.
- Lawry’s Steakhouse
About 1990
Chicago Sun-Times, September 20, 2020
Lawry’s The Prime Rib to close at end of year after 46 years in Chicago
The beloved steakhouse is closing due to a confluence of unfortunate events, including the coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest and an expiring lease.
Lawry’s the Prime Rib will permanently close at the end of 2020 after nearly half a century of serving downtown diners on Ontario Street. Lawry’s Inc CEO Ryan Wilson told the Tribune that the closure is a result of a lease expiration, the pandemic, and recent protests and vandalism downtown. The steakhouse’s neighboring gastropub, SideDoor, will also shutter. More than 100 employees were reportedly informed on Saturday.
Many downtown restaurants have struggled after the pandemic brought about a mass exodus of office workers and visitors in March. Lawry’s tried hard to stay solvent despite its empty dining room, offering dinners and family-style meals for delivery and carryout, as well as cooking kits complete with steaks, seasoning, potatoes, ingredients for its signature “spinning salad bowl,” and instructions. Many may recognize the brand from its spices, salts, and seasonings, which are now sold in grocery stores. The restaurant reopened for dine-in service in early July, serving its signature well marbled slabs of prime rib.
Despite its efforts, hospitality workers who have made a living at historically high-volume downtown steakhouses now face a bleak employment landscape as tourists, conference-goers, and power lunchers stay away.
Ownership has also worked to capitalize on the restaurant’s historic location inside the McCormick Mansion, built in 1889, by hosting mansion tours. Originally home to writer, inventor, and phrenologist L. Hamilton McCormick and his wife Constance, the space housed several restaurants over the years, according to the Lawry’s website. These include the Kungsholm, a fancy Scandinavian establishment with a “lavish” smorgasbord and puppet theater from well-known local restaurateur Fredrik A. Chramer in 1937, and a short-lived establishment called Shipwreck Kelly’s in the early 1970s. Lawry’s took over the lease in 1972 and opened the Chicago location two years later.
In comments to the Sun-Times and other media sources, Wilson has referred to the closure as hitting “the pause button.” He wants to remain optimistic and leave room for the possibility of bringing Lawry’s back to the Chicago area, but didn’t provide specifics. He does, however, promise safe events over the coming weeks and months leading up to the closure on December 31, including Christmas decor and carolers in costume.
Lawry’s is part of a chain of steakhouses founded in 1938 in Beverly Hills. The company operates additional locations in Dallas and Las Vegas, as well as Jakarta, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Eater Chicago, May 15, 2025
A $50 Million Magic Venue Will Replace Lawry’s The Prime Rib on The Mag Mile
The Hand & The Eye will feature a restaurant and bartenders who double as magicians.
Ashok Selvam is the regional editor for Eater Midwest and in charge of coverage in Chicago, Detroit, and the Twin Cities. He’s a native Chicagoan and has been with Eater since 2014.
The pandemic helped make crowds in Downtown Chicago disappear, and that led to the closure of one of the city’s more venerable restaurants, Lawry’s The Prime Rib. Lawry’s spent nearly half a century inside the 136-year-old McCormick Mansion. Now, five years later, boosted by tourism and the return of office workers, Downtown Chicago may be ripe for a renaissance, which sets the stage for the announcement of a new tenant who’s investing $50 million into the historic building off the Mag Mile.
A new magic venue, described as America’s largest, will occupy the 36,000-square-foot space at Ontario and Rush. The Hand & The Eye should open next year at 100 E. Ontario Street. Chicago has a history with magic, as celebrated by the illusionists at Chicago Magic Lounge in Andersonville and other performers across the city. The Hand & The Eye will house a restaurant and a few bars. Bartenders have a history with magic, so look out for some tricks from the folks mixing up drinks behind the stick.
Levy Restaurants, whose holdings include River Roast and Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, will handle the menu. Levy CEO Andy Lansing told the Tribune that there will be a nostalgic component, comparing the offerings to the Pump Room during its heyday.
Lansing is said to be a magic collector, which speaks to the venue’s place as a passion project. Glen Tullman, a health care entrepreneur who served as CEO at Allscripts and founded Livongo Health, put the project together, feeling this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Tullman told the Tribune there will be a dress code. In LA, the Magic Castle, sports coats are required in the evening. The California venue, which went through a reckoning in 2020, opened in 1963 and can seat about 150 while taking up about 24,000 square feet. The Hand & The Eye will be larger and will offer memberships. The Rockwell Group, which has designed venues like Miru, Nobu, and Tao Chicago, is working on The Hand & The Eye.
There will be seven different performance spaces, giving visitors a mix of experiences and showcasing close-up and medium-range magic. Daytime shows would be more family-friendly. Ownership is hoping the space will become a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from across the country.
The Hand & The Eye, 100 E. Ontario Street, planned for a spring 2026 opening
- L. Hamilton McCormick Mansion
NE Corner Rush and Ontario
Sanborn Fire Map
1906
Lawry’s Prime Rib was the Best.
Not sure why they closed.