Marshall Apartments
Life Span: 1906-~1974
Location: 23 Lake Shore Drive, 1100 Lake Shore Drive
Architect: Benjamin H. Marshall of Marshall & Fox
Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1906
Apartments for automobiles, with elevators to take the machines up to each floor, is the novel conception of La Verne W. Noyes. The idea is the outgrowth of an automobilist’s enthusiasm, helped along materially by a desire to get even with Benjamin H. Marshall, who is building an apartment building within a’ block of a site that had been designed by Mr. Noyes for a handsome residence.
Mr. Noyes yesterday instructed his architect. Peter J. Weber. to abandon plans for the dwelling, and to prepare drawings for a seven apartment building on his lot, at Elm street and Lake Shore drive, one of the most exclusive residence districts in the city, which will cost In the neighborhood of $250,000.
Each apartment will contain all the equipment of a garage. Huge elevators will take the automobiles and chauffeurs from the street to the various floors, so that there will not be a delay of more than a minute or two from the time the automobilists step from their apartments until they are scorching away on the boulevard.
The garages will be complete in every respect. down to facilities for washing, oiling, and repairing the autos. There also will be separate apartments for the chauffeurs, and closets in which the auto clothes and goggles will be kept.
Noyes Departs for Mexico.
Having made official announcement of his intention. Mr. Noyes departed for a trip through Mexico, leaving behind him joy in the hearts of the automobile fraternity but consternation among residents of the Lake Shore drive.
The Noyes lot has a frontage of 49½ feet on the drive and 152 feet on Elm street. Each apartment will occupy an entire floor and will consist of a library, a drawing room, and a dining room, all overlooking the lake. Entrance will be from Elm street. Mr. Noyes. who now occupies an apartment in the Raymond building, will move into his new at building himself.
The Marshall apartment building, which is to cost $300,000, has been erected to the sixth floor. It will have eight apartments. each consisting of fourteen rooms. There will be laundries on each floor. All the laundry work in the Noyes flats will have to be done in the basement, and it is believed that this will be objected to by the help, but Mr. Noyes thought that disadvantage would be counterbalanced by the garages.
Leased by Prominent People.
The rent of each apartment in the Marshall building is $4,200 a year, and all have been engaged on five year leases. There’s a waiting list of five, and Mr. Marshall is sorry now he didn’t ask $5,000 a year. Among those who have engaged apartments for the first five years are Clarence Wooley, president of the American Radiator company; Joy Morton, Samuel Insull, president of the Chicago Edison company; Honoré Palmer, B. F. Winchell, president of the Rock Island railroad; Cobb, Coleman, Warren Salisbury, and John Dupee. Mr. Noyes went away to Mexico without letting any one know what rent he expected to charge.
Just north of where the automobile apartment building is to be Charles A. Plamondon expected to erect a $30,000 house, but his architect said he thought Mr. Plamondon would abandon his intention now that the flat building has been planned for that.
Inter Ocean, February 11, 1906
The Back Room Garage.1
The latest proposed innovation in apartment life an automobile elevator and a “flat garage” is but another evidence of Chicago progress.
To many the back room garage will probably appeal somewhat in the nature of an absurdity. Just why a gentleman should wish to take his automobile into the house with him will be quite beyond the understanding of those who have had any experience in crossing the street directly in the rear of the active but odoriferous cars.
However, let us not jump hastily to conclusions. The automobile, as should be generally understood by this time, is a cultivated habit. Similarly, the automobile odor. Far from being disagreeable to the possessor of a machine it becomes a pleasant and soothing tonic, the more soothing the larger and more valuable the machine. There was for a long time—especially during the prevalence of the bad smell joke in the comic papers—an impression that the motorist was induced to exceed the speed limits along the boulevards because of a natural desire to leave the odor of his gasoline motors in the rear as far and as quickly as possible. But in this advanced day of motoring some of our very best speeders are willing, with the permission of counsel, to refute and completely disprove that theory.
The auto elevator will undoubtedly prove, a popular and widely copied innovation. It is a further indication of the tendency to utilize motive power freely in the home. For years the dumb-waiter, whenever it has been in running order, has done heroic service, and the freight elevator is known as the expressman’s friend. To these will now be added the auto lift, and following this we will likely have the elevator for the cook and the tradesmen, a smaller elevator for the children, and a special, plush-lined elevator. for father, mother, and the guests.
It is an age of power, and if a cook can be induced to hold her temper and keep the door closed between the kitchen and the garage during the preparation of a meal, the motor car should soon become a household joy.
Inter Ocean, February 1, 1906
Reports that Mrs. Potter Palmer has placed her Lake Shore drive “castle” in the hands of a real estate firm for sale were denied, by Honoré Palmer and other officials of the Potter Palmer estate yesterday. An exclusive apartment house is to be built by the Palmer estate on the site of 23 Lake Shore drive, and it was believed Mrs. Palmer intended to make her future home with Honore Palmer there when in Chicago.
“The story of my sister selling her house is nonsense,” said Adrian C. Honoré. “Mrs Palmer will continue to visit Europe annually, but I believe she will maintain the old family residence as in the past.”
Chicago Tribune, September 1, 1906
In The Society World.
Oct. 1 will mark the opening of most of the apartments in the new building at 23 Lake Shore drive. There are eight of them. and all are taken, the list of tenants being Mr. and Mrs. William J. Chalmers, Mr. and Mrs. Warren M. Salisbury, Mr. and Mrs. Joy Morton, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Insult, Mr. and Mrs. Cobb Coleman, Mr. and Mrs. William G. Beale, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin L. Winch and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frazier.
Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers give up their house at 188 Lincoln Park boulevard to move into their apartment, and Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury leave the Raymond at 234 Lincoln Park boulevard, where they have resided for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Beale will give up their apartment at 10 Astor street, and Mr. and Mrs. Winchell will become residents of the north side for the first time, having resided at the Bryson, on Lake avenue, since they came to Chicago several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb Coleman have resided at the Virginia since last fall, when they gave up their apartment at 145 Lincoln Park boulevard, and Mr. and Mrs. Insull expect to close their house at Kenilworth in order to live in their new apartment.
Mr. and Mrs. Honoré Palmer expected to take the apartment that afterward was rented to Mr. and Mrs. Beale, and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence M. Woolley contemplated taking the apartment now rented to Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers. Each apartment rents for $4,200 a year, and the tenants are required to do all the decorating of the rooms. Should an extra room for a butler be required it may be had for $20 a month extra. All of the apartments are taken on five year leases.
Residents of 1100 Lake Shore Drive
1910
Directory to Apartments of the Better Class Along the North Side of Chicago, 1917
Marshall Apartments.
These beautiful apartments are superbly situated on the Lake Shore Drive at the corner of Cedar Street. They are central to the social activities of the North Side and are within five minutes’ motor ride of the business center. Their exposure is such that every family chamber has full south exposure. while the living room, orangerie and dining room face the cast, with uninterrupted views over park and lake.
These apartments, which are absolutely fire. proof, are notable for the unusual spaciousness of all rooms and corridors, the abundance of closets and wardrobes, and the convenience and completeness of the service quarters.
Attention is drawn to the size and luxurious equipment of the family bathrooms, of which there is one for each chamber. The first family chamber is so arranged that it may be used as a library, morning room or billiard-room; or, if desired by the tenant, it may be arranged for use as a chamber only. Each apartment covers the whole floor, and the public stairs are entirely shut off from the elevator vestibule of each apartment. The rooms are finished variously in English oak, mahogany or enamel, and the flooring is of oak, selected for grain.
Service Quarters:
An inspection of the plan will indicate some of the many carefully through-out devices for perfecting the convenience of apartment living, such as the large capacity refrigerator, cooling room, fruit and wine closets, silver vault, cedar closets, housemais’s pantry, trunk rooms, etc. A completely equipped laundry is provided on each floor. The attractiveness and convenience of the service quarters and the proximity of the building to surface car transportation reduce the servant problem to the minimum.
The management of the building is under the supervision of the owners and is of the highest class. A liveried doorman is in attendance all day, and the elevator attendants are on duty twenty-four hours a day. The elevator lobby is attractive and dignified and together with the public halls and stairs is maintained with the utmost care.
Rentals, $5,000 per annum.
Marshall Apartments
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1910
Chicago Tribune, November 1, 1929
Seven wealthy Chicago families yesterday joined hands and pocketbooks and bought the ten story Marshall apartment building at 1100 Lake Shore drive, where most of them have made their homes for many years. Three of the present residents, Samuel Insull, William J. Chalmers, and Mrs. Warren M. Salisbury, have lived at No. 1100 since the structure was built twenty-two years ago by Architect Benjamin H. Marshall. The other four tenant-owners are Arthur Meeker, Charles B. Pike, William D. McIlivaine, and Herbert E. Schwarz.
This co-operative venture by these seven familles, talked about for some time, was brought to a head by persistent rumors that their homes were to be sold over their heads and the building wrecked to make way for a big hotel. These rumors gradually materialized into active negotiations between Mr. Marshall and the owners of the property adjoining on the north and west. Then the millionaire tenants acted promptly.
Deal Closed Yesterday.
The deal was closed late yesterday afternoon. The price was not disclosed, but it Is understood that the seven families paid Mr. Marshall approximately $600,000 for the property. The building fronts fifty-four feet on Lake Shore drive and 130 feet on Cedar street.
When it was erected back in 1907 it was merely known as No. 23 Lake Shore drive. That was the old street number. It was then called the city’s most exclusive apartment building.The eight original families who each rented one of the building’s suites were: Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Beale, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Chalmers, Mr. and Mrs. Silas Cobb Coleman, Mr. and Mrs. Frank P. Frazier, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Insull, Mr. and Mrs. Joy Morton, Mr. and Mrs. Warren M. Salisbury, and Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Winchell.
The eighth family now residing at No. 1100, that of Mr. and Mrs. James Hopkins, didn’t enter yesterday’s cooperative deal, for they intend moving to a new apartment building next spring. The suite they now occupy will be sold later on by the 1100 Lake Shore Drive Building corporation, which has just been organized.
Never a Vacancy in 22 Years.
Although No. 1100 is more than two decades old, it was so well designed and constructed that it is said to be as livable, both from luxury and comfort standpoints, than some of its towering rivals along Chicago’s lake front boulevards. Every apartment has two fire and burglar proof vaults, and also large trunk rooms with cedar chests. The rooms are large, the ceilings high and the suites have more sunshine than the average city fiat, no matter how high the rental.
Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1972
Vote on Lake Shore Co-op Sale.
By Alvin Nagelberg.
The owners of 1100 Lake Shore Drive Building, one of the first prestigious cooperative buildings on the thorofare, will vote tomorrow on a plan to liquidate the corporation.
It would be the first step In selling the building.
A group, represented by Sudler & Co. has offered $1,125,000 to the eight owners of the red brick building.
Designed by Benjamin Marshall, the eight-story building has the characteristic style of many of the co-ops of the area—rounded corners and large bay windows facing Lake Michigan.
Marshall was the flamboyant architect who designed the Edgewater Beach Hotel and the wall of elegant co-ops lacing the lake at 209, 199, 173, and 999 E. Lake Shore Dr. They usually were huge apartments—one to a floor—with 10 to 15 rooms and wood-burning fireplaces.
Built in 1907, the building was one of the tallest on Lake Shore Drive for many years. Today it is flanked by towering condominiums on either side—1110 and 1040 Lake Shore Dr.
In fact, the developers of 1110 Lake Shore Dr. tried unsuccessfully to buy the 1100 Lake Shore Drive Building to consolidate the sites and build more units.
Several proposals have been made to the owners in recent years, but it is believed that at least six of the eight owners now are in favor of the sale.
The building has housed such illustrious owners as the late Samuel Insull, the utility tycoon. Tbe present owners include Ruth Page Fisher, noted ballerina and dance authority.
Marshall Apartments
Ross & Browne Real Estate Map
1928
NOTES:
1This concept of elevator parking an automobile in one’s apartment has never come to fruition.
Leave a Reply