The Villa Turicum Blog

Fifi and Fowler

2012-01-16T13:23:00.002-06:00

Mr. & Mrs. Fowler McCormick in 1935

I love this short bio & quote of Edith from a Time magazine blurb dated January 15, 1931 concerning the marriage of her son Fowler to the (hours earlier) divorced Mrs. Anne Urquhart Potter ("Fifi") Stillman:

Edith Rockefeller-McCormick, mother of the groom, an extraordinary lady who eats from gold plates and indulges a fancy for advanced psychology and a faith in the real estate operations of two friends, Krenn & Dato. From her castle-home on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, she sent word through her secretary that "she had nothing to say."

Edith in 1921

Perhaps Edith's reticence is understandable when considering a comment Fifi made to the invited press at an oceanfront get-together in East Hampton, NY, post nuptials:

"Perhaps I have a vulgar taste. I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of reporters, riding along with me on trains, telling me about their own troubles after their long stories had been filed. I like beautiful jewelry. I love beautiful clothes, stockings that cost lots of money. I'm going to like working with my husband."

Fifi and Fowler in Milwaukee during 1925, where they would often meet while he was learning the ropes at International Harvester as a laborer.

Then again, it could stem from how it all began. Fowler and Fifi's son "Bud" Stillman were roommates at Princeton. For about eight years Fowler and Fifi denied that there was anything more to their relationship than just being good friends. Fowler called her his "closest friend and adviser." Fifi was once quoted as saying, "I am too old and he is too young for a love affair. We are just friends, Fowler and my son are the finest pals in the world." At the time of the marriage Fowler was 32, and Fifi 51.

A Tale of Two Drawing Rooms

2011-12-17T07:13:00.001-06:00

Given the fact that Villa Turicum was never inhabited, there are hardly any photographs of it's interiors. In fact, if it were not for the The Architectural Record (March,1912) and the American Landscape Architect (June, 1930) articles, next to nothing would exist. My guess is that the image of the drawing room below was taken in conjunction with the 1934 auction and one of it's affiliated catalogs.

(I am fortunate enough to own one of the catalogs, The Collection of Mrs. Rockefeller McCormick, produced by American Art Association & Anderson Galleries Inc. of New York city.) The photo taken below is part of The Architectural Record article:

Each was taken from the same perspective, which is facing East. The doorway at the end of the room leads to the library. In the photo above, we have a vista all the way to the windows of the adjoining library that face Lake Michigan. The windows to the right face the south garden, and the three archways on the left are the advance to the Pompeian room.

Bear in mind, I know this house like the back of my hand. I've spent many late nights pouring over photos and comparing them to the blueprints. The photos above give us an infrequent glimpse of the house that was never a home.

Clearly the first photo is "staged" for auction; all of the carpets, tapestries, and some of the furniture have been removed. The second photo is more indicative of how Villa Turicum existed for nearly two decades; at the ready, everything in order waiting for the chatelaine who barely, if ever, materialized.

Estates Under Fire

2011-11-22T06:33:00.004-06:00

During it's existence, Villa Turicum had more than a few unique interlopers; there were burglars in 1931, the vandalous Boy Scouts of 1950 - but perhaps the most surprising of them were the shells that were fired from nearby Fort Sheridan in 1922.

Edith's estate was not alone in sharing the path of bombardment from the one-pounders. Cyrus McCormick's "Walden" across Westleigh Rd. was involved, as were the connected Francis Farwell and John Villiers Farwell estates ("Edgewood" and "Ardleigh") on Stone Gate Rd. to the north.

When Fort Sheridan's Brigadier General Van Horn Moseley (who was Commandant) was asked to comment about the incident, he bellowed, "I have suppressed the name of the Second Lieutenant who directed the 'bombardment,' as I do not want anybody to know that such a blunderbuss is on the muster roll of the army."

A now dormant practice station at Fort Sheridan today

The irony of it all was the Fort Sheridan had been created and constructed to protect the well-to-do of the North Shore, not attack them. After the Haymarket Riot of 1886, the Commercial Club of Chicago (long concerned about security) arranged for the donation of 600 plus acres (immediately south of Villa Turicum) to be donated to the Federal Government for a military garrison. The plan was grand, and the firm of Holabird and Roche was hired to design Fort Sheridan - with Ossian C. Simonds contracted to serve as the landscape architect.

Regardless, in October of 1922 the shells flew north. (An investigation was conducted to determine whether the incident was accidental or intentional - practice was normally conducted over Lake Michigan.) The flower-beds and lawns of Villa Turicum and Walden sustained minor damage, while the one of the Farwell mansions was hit. Four shells hit the structure, one penetrating the roof, another going through the wall of a bedroom and two more through the basement.

What must the servants have thought? None of the collective McCormicks were in residence, nor were the Francis Farwells. It was reported, "The Farwell mansion was unoccupied, except for two servants, whose screams vied in loudness with the whistling whine of the shells. A few seconds later the Farwell gardener nearly fainted when he saw a fountain of loam spurt upward in front of him."

Ardleigh, the estate of John V. and Ellen Farwell in 1905 (Ellen Drummond Farwell inset)

Ellen Drummond Farwell (the wife of John Villiers Farwell) was not so lucky. On their adjoining estate one can only imagine her astonishment (perhaps amazement) during her morning walk in the garden when a shell flew overhead and buried itself into her lawn.

Edith's Silver Dressing Mirror

2011-11-16T06:57:00.002-06:00

This extraordinary silver mirror is still in existence today; it is but one of the thousands of items that were part of Edith's extensive collection of fine art and antiques that went on auction Tuesday through Saturday in January of 1934. Edith's collection included French and English silver, porcelain, rare books, precious tapestries, rugs and Oriental art. The mahogany backing is inscribed "E.R. McC March 1911."

"Crafted by Charles Brown, for Richards and Brown of London, the mirror is completely adorned with a wealth of classical motifs and mythological marine creatures, a statuette of Venus emerging from a scallop shell in the arched pediment." I think anyone would agree that the artistry and detail are stunning.

The hallmark reads "London, 1875."

Width: 22 1/4 Inches - Height:30 Inches

The 1934 auction was a travesty. In the 1920's Edith's estate was valued at $40 million dollars. $40 million 1920's dollars. Well into the Great Depression and after Edith's death, Villa Turicum alone (which cost millions to build in 1912) sold for $51,524. The $3 million dollar estimate for the 146 lot auction brought in $57,565. (Incidentally, Edith's daughter Muriel, who attended the auction to re-purchase many family items had her $20,000. block bid refused.)

And Edith's mirror? It is currently on the market for $78,850.

Auction Day, 1934

2011-10-18T06:36:00.006-05:00

Quite a few times I have written about the auction that occurred on January 20th, 1934. Almost immediately after Edith's death in August of 1932 her belongings were inventoried and catalogued. Given the scope of this task, it took a year and a half to organize what would become the auction of the decade. There were of course two of these affairs that occurred in Chicago; the first taking place at her beloved 1000 Lake Shore Dr. mansion downtown, and the second at her equally treasured Villa Turicum in Lake Forest. (A third and smaller auction was held in New York)

The appraisers set the value of the Villa Turicum contents at $3,000,000. When the gavel fell for the last time that Saturday afternoon, the auction total for her Lake Forest estate amounted to just over $25,000. When all was said and done, the total for these three auctions was little more than $400,000 - which was determined to equal 2¢ on the dollar as compared the original purchase price on rare books, furniture, jewelry and works of art.

Auction day at Villa Turicum, 1934

None-the-less, this was an event. The Villa Turicum auction alone drew just under 4,000 individuals (18,000 had previewed in the days prior) who jammed the great drawing room and the halls and stairways of the mansion to observe the sale and (for a few) actually bid on items. Of note in this array were Edith's daughter Muriel McCormick and her husband Elisha Dyer Hubbard. A representative from the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. was also present, as his government was in the process of reopening and refurbishing the Ambassador's residence.

To many, Muriel's most curious purchase that day was her childhood suite of furniture from one on the bedrooms on the second floor for $25. (The furniture in all of Villa Turicum's bedrooms was identical; only the walls were painted different colors.) She also purchased the jewelry box that had remained on top of Edith's bureau for nearly two decades.

The proceeds of all of these auctions were used in settling claims against Edith's estate, of which Chicago Title & Trust was executor. The process of disbursements and settling the estate in whole would continue for another twenty years, while the mansion would continue to sleep.

A buyer for Villa Turicum itself would not occur until 1942 when Richard B. Hart, president of Hart, Shaw & Co., (acting for the estate) would purchase it for $75,000 at a tax foreclosure sale in Waukegan. This sale would be followed by another in 1947, when a Chicago syndicate (which included Solomon Axelrod as it's representative) would purchase 198 acres for $77,000 and a $160,000 tax lien. (This would be minus 100 acres to the south, which was had already been conveyed to the city of Lake Forest by Richard Hart to settle earlier back taxes - and remains today a public park.) Alexrod's syndicate would be but one of many ideas that would be proposed and fail until the wrecking ball would make a final decision in 1956.

The Shell Girl

2011-09-15T19:27:00.006-05:00

Once in while when time permits I like to do a little sleuthing and see what objects that were once a part of Villa Turicum still exist. Often my quest is futile, (mind you, I don't give up easily) but every so often I can locate a fragment. I was pleased to have that be the case earlier this week when it came to a piece created by Janet Scudder.

Janet Scudder, c. 1920

An American sculptress (1869-1940) who primarily lived in France, Janet Scudder's most recognized bronze is perhaps "Frog Fountain," which puposely brought her back to New York in the early 1900's to attract the commisions of wealthy Americans who were constructing large estates.

Of course one of these Americans was John D. Rockefeller, who commisioned work for his Pocantico Hills estate. Knowing this, and being somewhat familiar with Scudder's background (she was from Indiana and had worked in Chicago as a woodcarver before joining Lorado Taft's White Rabbits) I was sure that Edith must have been acquainted with Janet's work.

Shell Girl [sculpture] Shell fountain; Lake Forest, Ill., Estate of Mrs. Harold McCormick. (photographed by De Witt Ward) American Sculpture Photograph Study Collection, Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum

She was, and in 1910 "Shell Girl" was created and installed at Villa Turicum. Janet Scudder would leave the United States in 1913 to purchase a house outside of Paris where she would spend the rest of her life. It would be interesting to know if Edith or she had any contact, as Edith would be living in Europe (Zurich) herself until 1921 - and both remained expatriates during the First World War. One can only wonder, as these were two extremely individualistic and forthright women. Now that I think about it, perhaps for that very reason it was never the case.

(To find Shell Girl on the Villa Turicum grounds, CLICK HERE)

The Dismissal

2011-09-03T07:03:00.015-05:00

In her time, Mary Garden was a force to contend with, but that force certainly met it's match when it came to Edith Rockefeller McCormick; especially when the issue at hand concerned Edith's beloved Civic Opera in Chicago and "Salome.".

In 1922 Mary Garden, as director of the Chicago Opera Co. decided to take a second crack at the Richard Strauss piece, which had been banished from the Chicago opera stage 11 years prior. The furor and protest over the operatic version of Oscar Wilde's play, - with it's infamous "Dance of the Seven Veils" and the final scene where Salome declares her love to the severed head of John the Baptist - was simply too much for Chicago audiences.

In 1910, it lasted for only three performances. This time around, Mary declared, "Times have changed and the more liberal spirit of today will justify the performance." The first two performances were of course sold out as the critics held it to be, "unclean," "obscene" "immoral," "vulgar" and "an exhibition of a girl demented by passion." There would not be a third.

What Mary hadn't taken into consideration was reputation. This was Edith Rockefeller McCormick's Civic Opera after all, (she underwrote all losses) and any blemish to the company's reputation simply would not be allowed. Prior to the third performance, Miss Garden was invited to tea at 1000 Lake Shore Dr. were she was informed that upon viewing the first performance, Edith decided to give it a second chance and went to the opera again. It would proceed no further.

When the press inquired as to why the opera was cancelled, Mary replied, "Chicago doesn't like it, so we won't give it. New York? Oh we may give it there." This was certainly more aspirational than 1910's banishment, which saw the Chicago company travel to Milwaukee.

Special Note: This post owes it's conception to my Lake Forest Bob & Carol, Ed & Alice gang. (Bob Craig, Carol Jones, Ed Stevenson and Alice Moulton-Ely) In discussing J.Ogden Armour the other evening, the purported affair between Armour and Mary Garden was recalled. I wouldn't expect Edith to have any patience with regard to that; Edith's own husband (Harold) had left her only the year prior for Ganna Walska. At this point I am certain she had had her fill of divas.

In Memoriam

2011-08-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

I drew my first breath and I became. I will breathe my last and I will be.

EDITH ROCKEFELLER McCORMICK
August 31, 1872
August 25, 1932

The Emperor's Rug

2011-08-18T06:53:00.010-05:00

"One should," Mrs.Rockefeller McCormick said, "call them Persian carpets, but I call them rugs, as a carpet to me has meant, since childhood, a floor covering which is tacked down under the baseboards." (I have chosen to title this post according to Edith's designation, although the piece now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the title, "The Emperor's Carpet.")

In 1931 Edith Rockefeller McCormick added "The Emperor's Rug" to her already extensive collection. The rug, (a royal Persian) was once the property of Peter the Great, who in turn presented it to Leopold I of Austria. Edith had read about the rug previously, and when it became available at auction, she was the successful bidder.

At the time, people were fascinated (as they would be now) that she paid $165,000 for it. To her, it represented an addition to her famous collection; one of the rarest of Persians that had once belonged to a Shah, a Czar and and Emperor. This makes perfect sense to me because it supplemented one of Edith's three personal callings; student of psychology, real estate mogul and collector.

She regarded psychology (which she had studied and practiced extensively in Europe and America) to be her profession; her operations in real estate were her business, and her activities as a collector were her hobby. These three things were of course in addition to being an opera patron, philanthropist , and social arbiter.

It needn't have cost $165,000, but the bidding was heated, she had a rival, and she was determined to get it. What many people didn't realize at the time was who that rival might be; her own brother, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

(The rug would remain a part of Edith's estate until 1938, when an offer of $90,000 would be made. The offer - but not the identity of the bidder - would be disclosed by executors of the McCormick estate in a report to the Probate Court. The Metropolitan Museum of Art would acquire the rug in 1943, where it remains today [although not on display] as "The Emperor's Carpet.")

Mrs. McCormick Pays Her Bills

2011-08-15T09:18:00.003-05:00

In ten days it will be the 79th anniversary of Edith Rockefeller McCormick's death. In the days prior to August 25th, I would like to dispel some on the rumors and fallacies concerning her life.

One story that constantly makes the rounds is that Edith was destitute at the time of her death. In the weeks preceding her death, Edwin Krenn tried to dispell the rumors by saying, " It is ridiculous to say Mrs. McCormick is broke. When a person is broke he can't pay his bills. Mrs. McCormick is still paying hers, and will continue to do so." When Edith moved to the Drake Hotel in July of 1932 this only increased the speculation.

First and foremost, Edith was sick. It wouldn't and couldn't be reported at the time, but she was dying of cancer. The severity of her condition was being kept from her, but as the summer of 1932 progressed she had other issues on her mind; first and foremost the investors, small homeowners and renters connected with the Edith Rockefeller McCormick Trust.

Clockwise from the top left; Edith Rockefeller McCormick, Muriel McCormick Hubbard, Harold F. McCormick and Mathilde McCormick Oser.
Edith sold $18,000,000 worth of securities (which she had used as collateral) in order to retire $11,000,000 in note obligations connected to her real estate empire. In doing so, she protected the small property owners and tenants who were having trouble trouble in meeting their obligations. Furthermore, when they could not pay the full amount of their installments, the payment would be reduced in order to prevent forfeiture (of all that they had paid in), or an eviction due to non payment of rent.

Edith also felt it inappropriate that with so many in hardship, she should continue to live in splendor at 1000 Lake Shore Drive. It was economy all the way around, and she moved to the Drake Hotel - only after she insuring that her staff were placed and employed with others if they were not a part of her reduced household. (This applied to Villa Turicum as well, which now operated with the Dunfords as caretakers and a small maintenance crew.) To quote Krenn again, "She was willing to make sacrifices when there is so much human misery and suffering in order that no one would think she was flaunting her wealth in the face of such suffering."

Pretty stunning stuff, but I would expect no less from this extraordinary individualistic woman. Had she lived I have no doubt that her greatly diminished fortune would have recovered substantially. When it comes to the term broke I hardly think it applies, because Edith was rich in the legacy of her giving.

Mathilde and Chadwick

2011-08-12T09:52:00.013-05:00

Edith Rockefeller McCormick's youngest daughter Mathilde had a very short life, which can perhaps account for why she started many things early. An international fuss was made about her marriage to Max Oser in 1923; Mathilde was 17 years old (they had waited), and Max 45. The marriage was a quiet one that played out in Switzerland and (according to the 1930 census) Montecito California. Regardless of the prattle Mathilde stuck to it - in the process having two children, Anita and Peter Max Oser.

Mathilde and Max visit John D. Rockefeller in the 1930's with their children.

In 1940 Mathilde purchased a home on 35 acres in Palos Verde California. Her children were enrolled in the Chadwick School, and perhaps Mathilde wanted a local residence in order to be close to them? The house was one of the original homes of The Palos Verdes Project, built as a “spec” house in 1927 by R.R.Sutherland. Mathilde embarked on a seven year project to renovate and restore the 10,000 square foot house and it's outbuildings.

Mathilde's Palos Verde home in 1927. (Architect: Kirtland Kelsey Cutter [1860-1939])

Unfortunately, on May 18th of 1947 Mathilde McCormick Oser died (at the age of 41) a few days after surgery. (Her husband Max had died at age 65 in 1942) Anita and Peter were both students at Pomona college at that point, and since they had graduated from the Chadwick School earlier, they gave the home to Commander and Mrs. Chadwick. The Chadwicks would live there for the rest of their lives. (Mrs. Chadwick died in 1984, having been predeceased by her husband.)

The house today.(A good article with pictures can be seen here.)

As all things do, life continued to move forward. Anita would be married that fall to Linus Pauling Jr., the son of the noted Dr. Linus Pauling who at the time was chairman of the chemistry division at California Institute of Technology. Her brother Peter Max Oser would die young himself, at the age of 43 in Switzerland in 1970. Anita would have an extraordinary life, which ended in Paris three years ago at the age of 84.

Many people are familiar with the Chadwick School as it is featured momentarily in the film Mommie Dearest as the episodic alma mater of Christina Crawford. As it was, at one time the lower level of Mathilde's Palos Verde home was used as a dormitory for the students; one of whom was Christina Crawford.

A Fashionable Likeness

2011-08-05T07:12:00.017-05:00

Friedrich August von Kaulbach (2 June 1850,– 26 July 1920) was once one of the best known portrait painters in Germany. He was the grand-nephew of Wilhelm von Laulbach (an historical painter) and the son of Friedrich Kaulbach, Sr., both of whom were painters of renown as well. Our Friedrich began painting as a boy, and it wasn't long before he quickly established a reputation for himself.

In 1908 he painted a full length portrait of Edith Rockefeller McCormick. Von Kaulbach adored detail, and as you can see from the picture below, all of the fineries of Edith's gown and feather boa are noted with great skill. Typical of a von Kaulbach portrait, the first thing that attracts our attention is the pose; after that our eyes glide from one detail to another, and only finally do we stop at Edith's face.

The signed (click to enlarge) print that you see above is an image I received courtesy of my pal Bart (of SG Grand) only this morning. My first impression? I was of course thrilled, but in all honesty I kept staring at it and thinking, "Mon dieu, it looks like she's had a nose job!" Don't get me wrong, I adore the print; it is a typical pose for the time and the contrast of black and white lends interest to the detail of Edith's boa and gown. But the face is so uniquely different!

Bear in mind, this is quite typical of Friedrich von Kaulbach. Before his success as a portrait painter, he had already tested his versatility with caricatures, genre painting, costume pictures, landscapes and even designs for posters and advertisements. Thus, we see an image in which both the painter's technique and the sitter herself remind us of somebody else.

Regardless, I am (as always) fascinated, and I find myself having fun bouncing back and forth between the portrait shown about and this one from a decade later. It also falls me by that there is now a consistent question; what has become of these full length portraits of Edith? I am aware that certain family members have had to send them to auction over the years, but it is there that the trail runs cold. I would hope that they remain safe and enjoyed, but it certainly would be a pleasure to see one on exhibition sometime soon.

The Telegraph-Herald

2011-08-04T08:25:00.009-05:00

I've been reading a lot of old clippings lately, and this one from from the (Dubuque) Telegraph-Herald in August of 1922 made me smile:

"For the first time in nine years, Villa Turiucm, the country home of Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick will be thrown open to society on Sept. 1.

The villa had been closed to society ever since the hasty and unexpected departure of Mrs. McCormick for Europe nine years ago to engage in the study of psycho-analysis. Her departure at that time automatically cancelled more than 3,000 (??) invitations to a reception that was to have been one of Chicago's most brilliant social affairs.

The occasion the the opening of Villa Turicum, as announced today by Mrs. McCormick, will be a bridge party for the benefit of the Girl Scouts.

Speculation as to whether or not Mrs. McCormick is seeking to re-establish her social leadership in Chicago was rife in society circles today."

Jeepers, three thousand. Really? I think that perhaps our excited society columnist is referring to the event for 200 that yes, Edith unexpectedly cancelled without explanation. Of course we''ll never know the true reason for that, because Edith was quite adept in utilizing Disraili's "Never complain and never explain."

This once again illustrates to me the power of how simply just one exaggeration or error can cement itself into everyday consciousness and recollection; thus becoming what many believe to be truth or fact. (Don't even get me started on the infamous scarlet fever story, which did not occur!)

I've noticed quite a few of these slight inaccuracies or flow blown exaggerations as I re-read the clippings. I shall keep you posted with the more interesting of the lot.

Lunch at the Casino

2011-07-25T06:04:00.008-05:00

The Casino club today.

When Chicago's elegant Casino club opened on December 12th of 1914, it was reported: "There were present eleven Blairs, eleven McCormicks, seven Cudahys, six Armours, five Carpenters, five Palmers..." One McCormick missing from this event was Edith Rockefeller McCormick, as she had left the United States on April 1st, 1913 for her eight year sojourn in Europe. When she would return in the fall of 1921, the Casino would already have had a short history of it's own.

Three unidentifed women in front of the first Casino, 1925.

The idea for a dining and dancing club originated with Lucy McCormick Blair, but it would be Mrs. Joseph Coleman and most specifically Rue Winterbotham (Mrs. John A. Carpenter) who would make it a reality. The first club would open at 167 East Delaware on land leased from the Palmer family. Architects Arthur Heun and Ernest Walker were engaged to create the pale pink stucco structure with Spanish Italianate influences, with Rue Winterbotham supervising the interior design.

The second Casino club in the 1928.

Twelve years later the lease would be lost as the Palmers would sell the land on which it was located. The Casino would move to it's current address at 195 East Delaware, and with this go-round the architect would be Walter Frazier. He would design the current building, a low black-green structure that would have a distinctive look (even modern) that would eventually have to share the block with it's now infamous neighbor to the west; the John Hancock Center. In a fitting sendoff, during the summer of 1928 - shortly before the new Casino was to open - the pink version would burn.

Edith would enjoy both manifestations of the Casino. With Edwin Krenn at her side (or not) she would frequently be seen having luncheon or afternoon tea there. She was of course a part of the then limited membership of some 400 families and individuals who experienced Rue Winterbotham's Empire decor of slate-black walls, various greens, terra cottas and gold offset by satin sofas and raspberry-red window treatments. I imagine that what we take today for classic was to Edith terribly modern at the time.

William Douglas and Mrs. A. Watson Armour III at a "400" Party at the Casino Club in Chicago, December 10, 1948.

Whatever your taste, the Casino has stood the test of time. It has been the site of innumerable entertainments held in private dining rooms and in the ballroom; special occasions such as wedding receptions and debuts, and of course the day-to-day lunching and dining with family and friends. Most considered the club a second home, and in line with that the best food and chefs would be imported from around the world.

The Casino ballroom today.

Special Note: With regard to the neighboring John Hancock Center, please take note of the word Center. In the mid 1960's the original plans called for two towers to be built. The second tower would have been East of the first, on the land at 195 East Delaware Place occupied by the Casino Club. Doris Winterbotham was now the President of the club, and when the the developers sent a letter about the second tower to her she simply dropped it into her desk drawer and ignored it. The developers didn't dare question or even try to persuade her, and so the development went forward with only one tower. The letter would be found years later in Winterbotham's papers after she died.

Edith's Museum, Redux

2011-07-16T07:23:00.004-05:00

It's always interesting to see how one little idea or story unfolds over time. This is certainly the case with regard to the subject of Edith Rockefeller McCormick's proposed museum. In a post last December I touched on the matter, and the subject has presented itself again as I am almost finished reading Keith Morgan's Charles Platt: The Artist as Architect.

Following are two images of a proposal Charles Platt made for Edith's 1000 Lake Shore Drive property.

The Bellevue Place elevation.

The Oak Street elevation.
The reason Platt created these renderings for Edith was that she intended to rebuild 1000 Lake Shore with the building eventually being turned over to Chicago as a mayoral mansion anc civic museum upon her death. The reason why these plans never progressed is easy to guess; Platt started to put the project together in 1928, and we all know what happened the following year.

An Enduring Adornment

2011-07-12T06:30:00.013-05:00

I found a tremendous surprise in my inbox late yesterday afternoon; an email from a Villa Turicum follower who has the fountain from the south garden promenade. I was absolutely gushing because it is always a boost to find out that someone has preserved and enjoyed some element of Villa Turicum.

After leaving Villa Turicum, the fountain resided nearby at the home of my correspondent's grandfather (in Lake Forest) for over thirty years. From there the fountain traveled to Denver, where the grandfather's son had it installed, until it was passed on to the third generation and journeyed to Oklahoma, where it now stands.

Below is a photo (1929) of the south garden promenade of Villa Turicum from a previous post in which you see the fountain in it's basin:

That photo is interesting to contrast against another photo (1918) - taken from the opposite direction - toward the tea house and without the bronze element:

As you can see, although the basin (which still exists on the original property) is consistent, the delightful bronze element (which now resides in Oklahoma) was added at a later date. Regardless, it was a terrific to find out that it has entertained and impressed many in the years since it left Villa Turicum. Once again, thank you Robert for sharing this with us.

A Walk in the Rain

2011-07-07T06:07:00.000-05:00

For quite some time I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of a book that was first published in 1930; "Au Service D'Une Milliardaire Américaine, Lettre Ouverte À Mme Edith Rockefeller. Souvenirs De Son Chauffeur." (The English version was published in 1932: "Seven Years' Service with Mrs Edith Rockefeller: Memoirs of her Chauffeur.")

Émile L. Ammann wrote his 220 page tell all after serving Edith during her years in Europe. Copies of the book exist in a few libraries, and while it is not tremendously difficult to find, it has proved a challenge for me in obtaining my own copy. I've been able to read a few excerpts, and there is one in particular that I find fascinating and quite telling as the the character and will of Edith.

In 1915, Émile took leave from the Swiss Army (which was neutral during WWI) and became Edith's chauffeur in Zurich. Evidently Edith was quite demanding of her chauffeur; in the course of two years Émile wore out a Renault, a Fiat, a Lorraine, a Rolls Royce and a Delage.

Edith taking a stroll in Chicago; August, 1922.

As I've mentioned previously, Edith was both a patient and the protegee of Carl Jung during this time. Émile Ammann would drive her every morning to Kusnacht (a suburb of Zurich) for her time with Dr. Jung, and following that appointment she would usually walk back to her hotel. (With Émile following her in the auto at a leisurely 4 mph.) Once day stands out from the others, when her walk was interrupted by a rainstorm. Ammann writes:

"She turned around, looked angrily at me and placed her finger on her lips. That was my signal that she did not want a ride...Slowly the cloudburst became more and more intense. The gutters swelled to brooks and lakes...I could see her hat melting down. how the light, drenched dress clung to her like a bathing suit...! How Madame began to shiver and shake, but with what imperturbability she strode through puddles...!"

Edith, (not one to make excuses) offered this as her reasoning: "Today I forgot my umbrella, which I usually never leave behind. Logic told me that the most important thing was to walk back to the hotel. That I ended up in a cloudburst is regrettable. But you are not supposed to...you may not change your habits. What could have been the deeper motive for my forgetting?"

The Pike Estate

2011-06-25T07:13:00.006-05:00

The garden facade of the Pike Estate c. 1917.
If I had to choose a second to Villa Turicum, my response would be the Lake Forest residence that David Adler designed for Charles Burrall and Frances Alger Pike in 1917. (Hands down and without question - the great thing is that this house still exists. ) No sooner had Villa Turicum (commissioned in 1908) been finished then the Pike house had begun, and I have no doubt that Charles Platt's influence at the time (and his execution in plan and design for Villa Turicum) had an impact on David Adler.

Villa Turicum c. 1929.
The similarities are immediate when comparing the two; both houses were to be located on Lake Michigan and built in the Italian style that was popular at the time. However, whereas Villa Turicum was on an axis with it's entrance facing west (toward a spectacular 70 foot greensward) David Adler's structure for Mr. & Mrs. Pike would be reversed; it's flat-hip roof facing the lake and it's loggia and courtyard elements on the east (opposite) side which borders North Lake Road. (I have heard it mentioned that this was due in part to the Pikes wishing to arrive primarily via water.)

Villa Turicum from the air c. 1921.
I have ridden or driven past the Pike house for many years. Although it is on a much smaller scale and of course a completely different house designed by another notable architect, it still never fails to make me think of Villa Turicum. In fact, I often wonder if perhaps one reason that it survives and Villa Turicum does not is that it is so much more manageable in scale.

The entrance loggia and courtyard of the Pike Estate c. 1970.
I am always intrigued as well, because I know that behind the wall that fronts Lake Road is one of the most beautiful courtyards created by David Adler; edged by an entrance loggia on the north side and considered one of his most successful outdoor spaces. The interior is noted to be simple and concise, with a fifty foot Gallery that looks out on the courtyard and rooms that display the symmetry that Adler was renowned for and integrate the courtyard to the interior space.

The lawn of the Pike Estate, leading to Lake Michigan.
Whereas Villa Turicum had it's massive greensward at the front, the Pike house has an extensive sunken lawn that extends to the lake. Walled and well manicured, it is outlined with interlocking yews trimmed and tailored to form a square edged pattern along the length of the lawn. (There are steps which lead to an upper garden lawn and it's balustrades as well.) At the end of the lawn is Lake Michigan, and I've read that the path to the beach once led to a small flower garden that dotted the water's edge.

The Pike Estate today.
As of this writing, it is my understanding that the Pike estate is still for sale. It has been on the market for quite some time, but I am optimistic that when it does find an owner they will delight in the wonders surrounding them.

The Smithsonian

2011-06-18T15:06:00.007-05:00

Today I received notice that a link to Villa Turicum would be included in information about archival material housed at the Smithsonian Institution. The material is in the Archives of American Gardens collection and pertains to Charles A. Platt. This is indeed a great honor to have the website included as a reference. (You may access the location by clicking on the title of this post.)

Opera Goers

2011-06-16T06:34:00.003-05:00

Edith Rockefeller McCormick and Edwin Krenn c. 1931-32.

The above press photo is poignant indeed, as it shows Edith in one of her last public appearances before she died. In the summer of 1932, one month before she would succumb to cancer the speculation about her diminished fortune continued. The following was released on July 28th:

"IN HER EFFORT TO STEM THE FALL OF HER GREAT FORTUNE, MRS. EDITH ROCKEFELLER MCCORMICK WAS ILL IN CHICAGO JULY 20, BUT HER BUSINESS ADVISOR DECRIED REPORTS THAT SHE WAS BROKE. MRS. MCCORMICK IS SHOWN HERE WITH HER BUSINESS ADVISOR, EDWIN KRENN, IN A PICTURE TAKEN LAST WINTER WHEN THEY ATTENDED THE OPERA. IT IS HER LATEST PHOTOGRAPH. KRENN IS AN ASSOCIATE OF MRS. MCCORMICK IN HER WIDESPREAD REAL ESTATE OPERATIONS IN CHICAGO. MRS. MCCORMICK RECENTLY CLOSED HER MICHIGAN BOULEVARD MANSION AND TOOK A SMALL APARTMENT IN A HOTEL."

Edith would die one month later on August 25th. I've written a bit about Edwin Krenn previously, and in that post I touch on the state of Edith's affairs and fortune, which would not be settled for the better part of twenty years. Villa Turicum, sitting in pristine condition would agonize itself as a result of these circumstances.

Villa Turiucum - The Wright Way (Revisited)

2011-06-04T06:21:00.009-05:00

In an earlier post I introduced one of Frank Lloyd Wright's rejected renderings of Villa Turicum. A few people have asked me why and how these plans still exist. By 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright felt he was at an impasse. Although he had become one of the best known architects in Chicago and his Prairie Houses had been recognized by pioneering clients to be the height of modern, his failure to attract commercial clients for large office projects led him to a career dead end. Perhaps, the final insult was that his design for Harold McCormick's palatial Lake Forest home was rejected in favor of an Italian "palazzo" by Charles Platt. Edith Rockefeller McCormick had decided that Wright's breathtaking chain of Prairie pavilions atop a Lake Michigan bluff was just too unconventional for someone in her social orbit.

House for Harold McCormick (aerial view) Plate LVIII

What did he do? He moved to Europe. A few months earlier, Ernst Wasmuth, the Berlin publisher of expensive art books invited Wright to produce a monograph of his best buildings. Wright's mid-life crisis had led him away from his wife and six children into the arms of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the wife of an earlier Oak Park client. A trip to Europe would afford him an escape from small town gossip. Wright left for Berlin (with Cheney) so that he could attend to the publication of the monograph, which would be titled: Ausgeführte Bauten und Entwürfe von Frank Lloyd Wright. (Translated, Studies and Executed Buildings... would be further Americanized into the Wasmuth Portfolio.)

Villa Turicum indeed plays a role in what happened further; when Wright returned to America in 1911, he expected to be hailed as the modern architect who had the Europeans at his feet. He couldn't have found a more inhospitable place to restart his career. Oak Park, sickened by the position in which he left his wife and children, turned away en masse. Chicago was no longer fertile ground for a modernist. Classicism was now the leading language and Wright's brand of architecture (not to mention his brand of morals) was not the choice of the new elite building their homes and offices.

Perhaps Wright had been away too long? It is here that I am reminded of T.S. Eliot; "In my end is my beginning."

Actus Reus

2011-06-01T07:37:00.007-05:00

Last night as I was preparing to turn in, I checked my email and discovered this touching note: "I wanted to thank you for the website. My dad used to take me past the outbuildings and I always wondered what the house was like. We did not have the courage to walk around. I wish we had. I have a picture that I am sending. It is really a very sad picture, but I guess it is history." Attached was the following:

My heart sank of course, as we see Villa Turicum in it's last days. My heartache was replaced by contempt, as I realized how much this photo reminds me of the destruction of World War II. Here we have a structure being deliberately torn down (in 1956) while in Europe during the same era historic structures were being rebuilt brick by brick. (Villa Valmarana , the Würzburg Residence and countless cities and towns come to mind.) It is certainly disconcerting that in one part of the world every effort was being made to preserve and rebuild history, while in another it was being torn down?

This is an irreversible turn of events of course, but I reminded my correspondent that at least we can keep in mind what once was a fantastic, magical place. Sad as it may be to view such a terrible event, there are still memories that abound concerning Villa Turicum. I thanked her for her words, as every recollection is indeed a treasure.

Wishful Thinking

2011-05-29T21:11:00.011-05:00

Long before there was the paparazzi; there was the press, and the press of yesteryear could be just as bold, persistent and greedy for a story as their current incarnation. I love this photo that I recently acquired not so much for the photo itself, but for the slight paradox that exists in it's creation.

This is a press release photo; a great example of the "cut & paste" work that was often done in order to put out an image with a story. It just so happens that my press photo arrived with the "story" still attached to the back:

HAROLD PAYS COURT TO HIS FIRST WIFE

Chicago, Ill. --Social leaders were aflutter over "romantic gestures" which indicated to them that Harold F. McCormick, the "harvester king", again is paying court to his first wife, Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick. McCormick obtained a divorce only last month from Ganna Walska, Polish beauty whom he married in Paris in 1922. He aided her gallantly in her many attempts to become an opera star, but her voice found little favor. They had been separated for the last three years. McCormick is shown above with his first wife, Mrs. E.R. McCormick.

The photo is stamped November 28, 1931 - and the press was once again (as many did) interpreting actions as they would like them to be rather than as they were; Edith was battling cancer and would be dead in nine months. Harold would be by her side until the very end, and that my friends, is gallant indeed.

Villa Turicum - The Wright Way

2011-05-26T17:39:00.021-05:00

"Sommer-Wohnsitz für Herrn Harold McCormick, Lake Forest, Illinois -- Ansicht vom Michigan-See / Frank Lloyd Wright." (Summer residence for Mr. Harold McCormick, Lake Forest, Illinois - view from Lake Michigan / Frank Lloyd Wright.) -1910

I encourage you to click on the above image in order to get some extraordinary detail. What you are looking at is Frank Lloyd Wright's 1910 rendering for Villa Turicum that was rejected in favor of a plan created by Charles Platt.

Many are familiar with this tale; of how Wright, disgusted with the loss of the commission fled for Europe while Charles Platt executed his plan in the Italian style - which was very much in vogue at the time. This is best put forth within the Villa Turicum website:

"In 1907 Harold McCormick bought a 260 acre site, including a 70-foot bluff on Lake Michigan in Lake Forest, IL. McCormick hired an architect named Frank Lloyd Wright (b. 1867) to make a design, which was done. However, Wright was dismissed when McCormick’s wife, Edith Rockefeller McCormick (the daughter of John D.) decided to move in a different direction and create an Italian style villa, the supreme style of the higher echelons of society."

Few have been able to see Wrights actual plan, which I am most happy to present here this evening as I recently acquired my own copy. I certainly introduces a lot of questions, the primary one being; had the McCormick's accepted Wright's plan over Platt's, would the fate of Villa Turicum been altered? One can only wonder.

Million Dollar Baby

2011-05-17T09:40:00.008-05:00

I've decided to let the cat out of the bag. Above is a photo of Muriel McCormick taken in 1922. Since I am adding it to the Villa Turicum website, I decided I should post it here as well.

"MURIEL MCCORMICK RECEIVES MILLION DOLLAR FILM OFFER
MISS MURIEL MCCORMICK, GRAND DAUGHTER OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER AND MEMBER OF THE PROMINENT CHICAGO FAMILY, HAS RECEIVED AN OFFER TO POSE IN THE MOVIES AT A CONTRACTED SALARY OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS. MISS MCCORMICK, WHOSE FATHER RECENTLY MARRIED GANNA WALSKA IN PARIS, IS KNOWN TO BE AN AMATEUR ACTRESS OF VAUNTED ABILITY, AND THE OFFER OF A PROFESSIONAL CAREER IS SAID TO BEEN MADE BY WILLIAM L. SHERILL, REPRESENTING NEW YORK FILM INTERESTS. THE SCREEN NAME OF "NAVANNA MI COR" HAS BEEN SUGGESTED FOR HER, SHOULD SHE DECIDE TO ACCEPT THE OFFER."

For the record; she didn't.

Edith in 1921

2011-05-10T07:05:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased and restored this photo of Edith which appeared on the scene as a press photo in the fall of 1921. She had only just returned from her years of study in Europe, and would be divorced from Harold by the end of December.

The back of the photo has text that reads as follows:

THE NEWS PAPERS ARE FILLED WITH THE REPORTS OF THE SEPARATION OF MR AND MRS HAROLD FOWLER MCCORMICK, OF CHICAGO. MR MCCORMICK IS HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, AND A PILLAR OF THE CHICAGO OPERA ASSOCIATION.

MRS. MCCORMICK, WHO WAS EDITH ROCKEFELLER, A DAUGHTER OF THE STANDARD OIL KING, IS REPORTED AS MUCH INTERESTED IN SOME OF THE MORE MODERN PHASES OF PSYCHOLOGY.

THEIR ELDEST DAUGHTER MURIEL, HAS ANNOUNCED HER INTENTION OF GOING ON THE STAGE IN GERMANY.

THEIR SON, FOWLER, A STUDENT AT PRINCETON, IS REPORTED TO BE THE FIANCE OF ANNE STILLMAN.

Villa Turicum - Then & Now Redux

2011-05-09T14:27:00.012-05:00

Probably the most oft question I'm asked is what remains of Villa Turicum and if someone can visit it (or what remains) today. In a a previous post I tried to address that, but I thought it would be a nice refresher to post some pictures to illustrate what is and what once was:

Villa Turicum in it's first decade.

Villa Turicum today.

(Click to enlarge)

Update 9:38 p.m.: Please take a moment to read the comment submitted by Arthur H. Miller; Archivist and Librarian for Special Collections, Donnelley and Lee Library at Lake Forest College.

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-08T06:38:00.024-05:00

For Edith, Muriel and Mathilde

The Pernet-Ducher rose was Edith Rockefeller McCormicks' favorite flower. It has it's origins in Lyon France, where the house of Pernet existed for generations.

It was Joseph Pernet (born in 1859, the son of a breeder) who had the passion for horticulture within his blood. It was he who took the name `Pernet-Ducher' upon his marriage to Marie Ducher, also the child of of rose-breeders, in 1882; and a veritable rose breeding dynasty was begun.

Joseph felt that the roses grown around 1880-1885 lacked élan in their coloring. Additionally, the search for a "yellow rose" had become something of a "Holy Grail" for rose breeders. Impressed by the color of the Austrian Briar, he set about introducing (transferring) it into his garden roses. That was the origin of the magnificent strain of roses which has made his glory and which, as a just homage to his skill as creator, bears the name, Pernetiana.

He would win the Gold Medal (symbol of the finest rose in Europe) in the Concours international de roses nouvelles de Bagatelle thirteen times, from 1907 to 1925. It is in these results that we can credit almost all yellow-rose breeds today.

Joseph, the "Wizard of Lyon" Pernet-Duchet would die in 1928. His life, like Edith's, would be touched by tragedy when he too would lose two children. (Both sons would be killed in World War I.) With this loss the Pernet-Duchet dynasty would have no heirs, although their memory lives on in the exuberant roses that their heart-broken father dedicated to them: Souvenir de Claudius Pernet, and Souvenir de Georges Pernet.

I've always wondered if Edith knew background of the Pernet-Duchet family. Regardless, the legacy continues with the flowers, as these roses are still commercially available today. It's a fitting tribute, one that I think merits re-telling as we all give acknowledgment to our mothers today.

Stonebridge

2011-05-03T07:10:00.003-05:00

And so it goes. Again. It was with great interest that I read this article in Gazebo News on Sunday indicating the Lake Bluff's Stonebridge has a new owner in SunCal; taking over from Stonebridge Lake Bluff, LLC. This is indeed interesting when one takes a look at a typical SunCal development:

An aerial view of a SunCal project; Meadowlark Estates in San Marcos, CA

But I digress. Stonebridge was built in 1916 for William V. Kelley at 136 Green Bay Road (W. side of Green Bay Rd. at Witchwood) in Lake Bluff. The architect was Howard Van Doren Shaw, with Jens Jensen on board as the landscape architect.

The Western exposure of Stonebridge circa 1920

Once upon a time, the country estates built along Green Bay Road in Lake Bluff were a continuation of the Green Bay Road Estates that flank Green Bay Road in Lake Forest. These extended north from Westleigh Road (and Villa Turicum) to the boundary of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff.

The entrance loggia in 1920

William V. Kelley originally owned a vast tract of land that extended north to property owned by the estate of Leander McCormick. It extended west to Knollwood Farm, south to the estate of Darius Miller in Lake Forest and east to and partially across Green Bay Road. Originally 130 acres, Stonebridge as it stands now is approximately 47 acres.

An aerial view of Stonebridge, with the quadrangle of the estate house and it's 1955 additions visible south of Witchwood Lane. (The estate of William's son; Phelps Kelly is also visible south of the property.)

Stonebridge has seen many incarnations. It was the Harrison Conference Center until 2006. Previously, it was owned by the Servite Order of the Catholic Church. (A fairly large dormitory space and chapel were added to the main house in 1955.) I've read Rick Lesser's article which states that the manor house and the gate house have sat without heat in the winter, nor air conditioning in the summer for many years now; with the property being in foreclosure. This will ring all too familiar to my Villa Turicum followers, no?

The estate house at Stonebridge

I do embrace change. It opens new doors and ushers in new possibilities. But I must confess apprehension as I continue to hear almost identical arguments, stories and poorly executed plans that also occurred with regard to Villa Turicum fifty years ago. Have we learned nothing? Or have we simply forgotten?

The entrance to Stonebridge at 136 Green Bay Road

When I look at SunCal's resume of work, not to mention a history financial woes I have to say I am stunned and distressed for the fate of Stonebridge. I read that perhaps the gate house is beyond repair and I hear about grand plans that never materialize - as an historic and architecturally relevant address falls into ruin. I can only hope that in this instance the fate will be different than that of Villa Turicum.

Cover Girl

2011-04-28T13:02:00.027-05:00

Every once in awhile while researching a project, I'll be fortunate to have a grande découverte (big find) land my lap. This morning just such a thing occurred. I was pouring through the archives looking for a picture of Edith Rockefeller McCormick's mother; Laura Celestia ("Cettie") Spelman. With Mother's Day approaching I thought it would be fun to post a picture of the woman who created the woman who initiated Villa Turicum.

This alone presented it's own challenge, because despite the fact that Edith's mother was married to a tremendously famous man (John D.), Laura Spelman Rockefeller has very little written about her. Combine that with a period (1839-1915) in which photographs were not common (with precious few surviving) and a time when the social mores were prohibitive - well, you had better be prepared to buckle down for a long hunt. Regardless of that, after frisking the National Archives, I discovered a photo of Laura Spelman Rockefeller that was taken late in her life:

Laura Spelman & John D. Rockefeller circa 1905-10

What I didn't expect to happen was that the result of this search led me to another location (and about 451 files) which took me to yet another spot and then landed me in unfamiliar territory. It was here that I discovered; The Picture. And here it is:

Mrs. Harold McCormick

This I hadn't prepared for, and I realized a few seconds after my discovery that I had my grande découverte. An unpublished photo of "Mrs. Harold McCormick" taken sometime around 1900-10. Once I regained my wits (and breath) I acknowledged that I now have a match for what I have always envisioned as the cover for Edith's biography. Now it simply has to be written.

The Italian Style

2011-04-22T13:04:00.023-05:00

Villa Turicum, circa 1920

I've often heard the question posed as to why in 1908 Frank Llloyd Wright lost the commission for Villa Turicum to Charles Platt. The answer is simple; Edith Rockefeller McCormick was partial to Italian design.

On the front page of the Villa Turicum website I've quoted Harold McCormick's letter to Charles Platt in 1908: “Mrs. McC inclines to being partial to Italian style. Very glad you’re coming.” Wright had executed a plan for the estate not long after Harold and Edith had acquired the property in 1907, but was dismissed in favor of Platt.

Charles Adams Platt

I think it is easy to understand Edith's predilection for Italian design when we remember a few key things that had taken place in the previous years. The movement toward classicism and historicism had been taking shape for over a decade; first with the World's Columbian Exposition (huge public impact) in 1892-93, and second the publication of two important American books: Platt's own 1894 Italian Gardens and Edith Wharton's 1904 Italian Villas and Their Gardens.

Edith's preference certainly was swayed by something, as one architect of a certain style was dropped in favor of another. Although the "American Renaissance" movement (which crystallized at the World's Columbian Exposition) had a tremendous impact on taste, I think Edith's was shaped primarily from the impact of the books. Regardless, when Charles Platt won this rich commission from Frank Lloyd Wright, we could say that it sounded the death knell for (or at least signaled the eclipse of) the Prairie School .

Frank Lloyd Wright, circa 1906

Frank Wright would leave his family in Oak Park and head off to Europe with the wife of a client, leaving the field wide open to Beaux-Arts-trained architects like Platt and the even more prominent (in Lake Forest) Howard Van Doren Shaw.

The Fence

2011-04-10T07:20:00.020-05:00

This photo taken by Mildred Mead in 1952 is quite telling; with the Drake Hotel visible in the background. It is a poignant reminder of Edith's last days spent there before her death twenty years earlier.

Not long after my previous post, I received a comment from my friend Catherine on Facebook that reminded me of a story concerning the wrought iron fence surrounding 1000 Lake Shore Drive. In 1953, as the house itself was entering the final stages of demolition, a buyer was sought for the hand wrought ornamental fence surrounding the property.

The main gates themselves had their own story, in that they were originally a part of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. The German Kaiser presented them as a gift to his legation at the Fair, and they were used as part of the German pavilion. After the Fair, the magnificent gates were purchased by Gen. Joseph Torrence, who owned 1000 Lake Shore at the time.

Edith's beloved home is visible in the background of this photo.

To Torrence's specifications, Winslow Brothers (an artistic iron works company) created the additional fence and service gates that would compliment the impressive main entrance of 1000 Lake Shore. When Edith and Harold McCormick purchased the property in 1897 as their first home in Chicago, all was in place. (The house was designed by Solon S. Bemen and built in 1883 by Nathaniel Jones, a commission merchant.)

I have no idea what became of the Columbian Exposition gates, nor do I have any information as to the results of the search "for the highest bidder" with regard to the fence and service gates. I can tell you that the Winslow Bros. commission cost $50,000 not long after 1893, and that sixty years later it was estimated that duplicating such a fence (of this caliber) would require $150,000. An attorney who was a member of the syndicate that owned 1000 Lake Shore at the time of it's destruction considered it to be "quite a bargain" with the highest bid coming in at $4,700.

Making way for a penthouse view. What happened?

All of this was taking place because, in 1953 the fence was deemed unsuitable and "not congruous with the modern 22 story 4 1/2 million dollar apartment building and 2 1/2 million dollar business building to be constructed on the entire block frontage of Oak St. and Bellevue Pl." Those of us who are long time Chicagoans know the history of what was to replace Edith's home.

The corner of Bellevue Place and Lake Shore Drive; now and in 1953.

Much has been said (and written) about what took place of Edith's estate at 1000 Lake Shore Drive. I am not in the real estate profession, nor inclined to write about Chicago's current architecture scenario, as there are many other websites and blogs that do an excellent job of covering that. I can however give you my own impressions.

In 1987 I leased my first downtown apartment on Scott Street, only five streets north of where Edith once lived. I adored walking out at any hour, crossing Stone St. and then turning to look right down Lake Shore Drive at the vista it afforded toward the Drake. I loved the bright pink neon of it's sign at night. I also walked that stretch of LSD every day to work if the weather permitted.

I vividly recall my first impressions of the building that replaced the Edith Rockefeller McCormick mansion. By 1987 it was already quite out of date and certainly out of character with it's noble surroundings. I also felt sorry for anyone who had to live in it (or neighboring 1000 Lake Shore Plaza) when they had such swank neighbors as One Mag Mile or the the Carlyle at 1040 N. Lake Shore.

In a word, I found the (circa 1954) 1000 North Lake Shore Drive ghastly. That of course is just my opinion. But I must mention that every day I walked past, I would always comment to myself how peculiar I found it that the sister (circa 1960's) 1000 Lake Shore Plaza had incorporated a few wrought iron elements (since removed with the closing of Nantucket Cove and a re-hab) into the ground floor structure. A tribute to the past?

The Last Days of 1000 Lake Shore Drive

2011-04-05T13:21:00.049-05:00

The secondary gates and iron fence of 1000 Lake Shore Drive would be created by Winslow Brothers (an artistic iron works company) in addition to the main gates, which were originally a part of the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893.

I find it telling that the demise of Edith's two residences should fall so close to one another. It was definitely a sign of the times; post World War II ushered in an era that didn't favor large homes or estates (taxes were prohibitive), and everyone wanted something new anyway. Historic preservation was in it's infancy in the United States, and these two iconic estates were but part of thousands that would not escape demolition.

1000 Lake Shore Drive in 1952

Perhaps had they somehow held on into the late 1970's (and most definitely the 1980's) we would see an all together different landscape in Chicago and on the North Shore. These pictures were taken at the end of 1952 prior to 1000 Lake Shore falling victim to the wrecking ball. Villa Turicum would hold on for just a few more years, until it would suffer the same fate in 1956-57.

Photographer Mildred Meade took this photo while standing in the Oak Street/Lake Shore Dr. intersection in December of 1952. According to The Submerged and Shore Lands Legislative Investigating Committee of 1911, "The residence of Harold McCormick occupies the territory bounded on the east by the Lake Shore Drive, 20 feet west of the Lake Shore drive on Oak st. and 100 feet west from the Lake Shore drive on Bellevue Place."

The Southern face of 1000 Lake Shore Drive. The residence was designed by Solon Spencer Beman, and built in the 1880s by Nathaniel S. Jones, a successful grain merchant. It is quite evident in this photo that the structure remains sound.

This photo was taken from the Drake Hotel across the street. I am guessing that Mildred Meade was given access to an area of the Hotel that would give her this vantage point, as she is obviously on the second or third floor.

The Bellevue Place exterior of the mansion.

Once again, the Southern exterior of the mansion and the neglected grounds. Here is an earlier post in which you can view the estate in it's prime. (CLICK HERE)

A Plumb Rolls Royce

2011-02-10T06:33:00.003-06:00

Not long ago a visitor to Villa Turicum asked me about a photo taken of Edith in 1927. She is shown exiting an automobile with Edwin Krenn to her left. The automobile was at the heart of the question, and my correspondent wanted to know if I had any documentation on the car.

I replied that I only knew that the photo was taken in 1927 and that the car was probably a Rolls Royce, as Edith owned two of them at the time of her death in 1932. I know this because I have the inventory taken by Chicago Title and Trust the fall of that year, two months after Edith died.

Inventories taken at the time of someone's death are macabre to begin with, but with Edith being such an avid collector it also provides interesting insight. This list gave the appraised "present value" of the items inventoried, and in the case of the autos it states: "In the garage are two Rolls Royce automobiles, one at $2,500; the other, nearly new, $3,500." This illustrates how extraordinarily screwed up things were at the time, as $3,500 in today's dollars would amount to $55,000. (I googled the price of a 2010 Phantom and it was $380,000)

I was delighted to receive these photos a day or so later:

The top two photos are identified as a 1927 Rolls Royce Phantom (the car in my photo) and the photo shown above is a 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom II. These are likely very close in style and year to the models that Edith owned. I especially like the bottom photo, as it's color reminds me of the renowned plumb colored Rolls Royce that Edith once owned; with it's "two men on the box," each of whom wore her plum colored livery. It is also fun because the 1927 Phantom is in the background.

The 1932 inventory in and of itself is fascinating in that it illustrates just how not broke Edith was at the time of her death. Yes, 1000 Lake Shore Drive was heavily mortgaged (as was an adjacent property at 118-120 East Oak) but none of the diamonds, emeralds, pearls, antique tapestries, furniture and furs listed in her personal property had been encumbered.

Furthermore, when it came to Villa Turicum, the mansion itself was unencumbered by debt. A bank did hold a $250,000 mortgage on property adjacent to Villa Turicum, but the 44 room villa itself with the costly pieces of marble adorning the grounds and the rare Gobelin tapestries, oils and furniture in it's rooms was free and clear. So, despite the enormous shrinkage of her fortune, our lady was far from bankrupt.

Divorce - Edith Style

2011-02-08T06:07:00.020-06:00

Despite the fact that Valentine's Day is around the corner, I thought I would take a moment to write a bit about Edith Rockefeller McCormick's divorce from Harold. Harold McCormick was a man whom at the time everybody loved, but despite his good nature and sportsmanlike demeanor, he would behave most uncharacteristically. Decisions and fate would have a direct result on his wife and children, and play distinctly into the long term fate of Villa Turicum.

Prior to Edith's return to the United States in 1921 she was well aware of Harold's infatuation with the larger than life Ganna Walska, and in the previous year she started to make the preparations for her homecoming. She would send Muriel (then 17) back to the U.S. with Harold in the fall, followed a few months later by 15 year old Mathilde. Regardless of the pressure from everyone advising her to leave, Edith remained in Zurich well into 1921 and it is here that things probably took their final irreparable turn.

"The moon is my faithful friend, my inspirer" - Ganna Walska

By the time she sailed in September of 1921 it was glaringly obvious that Harold wanted a divorce. As mentioned, everyone close to Edith had practically begged (or ordered if you consider her father) for her to return to the United States for years, and now suddenly everyone was telling her the opposite; that perhaps it would be better for her to remain in Switzerland until matters cleared up. She of course ignored them and made her final trip back.

Edith's traveling companion was a much younger man, in the form of Edwin Krenn, and this did not bode well with anyone in the family. They were not lovers, (as implied by friends and the press) as it was certain that Krenn was gay. Rather, with her troubled marriage Edith chose to travel with him on her arm, (Harold almost certainly aware of Krenn's preferences) and bargained that this scandal would provide even more fuel to the flames and a glorious distraction. What most didn't realize was that Edith's primary reason for returning was to reunite with Harold.

When she finally arrived home in Chicago it was now painfully apparent that Harold would insist on a divorce. In her inimitable way Edith of course refused to acknowledge it; refusing to hire a lawyer, and going on about her day to day business of settling back in. She had (in Krenn) a new project, and she needed to acquaint her protégé with America and set about getting him established.

The more Edith ignored Harold's insistence on a divorce, the more Harold became retaliatory. This finally was to reach an apex when he informed everyone that should she not grant a divorce on the grounds of desertion, he would sue on the grounds of adultery. Edith's smokescreen in the form of Krenn was to backfire in her face. It is highly doubtful that any allegation could have been proven true, but Harold was so desperate to marry Ganna Walska that, for a time, he almost became a different person. He also made it clear that he did not want to give Edith anything; no alimony, no personal property, and certainly none of the houses. Edith, feeling " just that the most natural and heartful thing is for Harold and I to be together" dug in. It was too late.

Finally realizing that it was all for naught, Edith conceded to allow her family and the Rockefeller advisers take over. Chicago consul was hired, and with lightening speed the divorce was granted by December of that same year. During the negotiations the family and the lawyers became fearful of notoriety from contested litigation. Harold had hired Clarance Darrow and George A. Cooke (former Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court) and thus Harold was given everything he wanted. This meant large sums of money from Edith, the result of her having to purchase 1000 Lake Shore Drive and Villa Turicum. Harold was free and Edith would be able to save face; playing the aggrieved party and suing Harold for desertion.

Harold Fowler McCormick

I'm sure that in later years (and perhaps before his divorce from Ganna a decade later) Harold must have looked back on his behavior during this time and regretted some of his actions. His manner of conducting himself had been completely uncharacteristic; this was a fellow that everyone loved, the peacemaker and someone who just wanted everyone to get along. He had acted hastily and deeply hurt Edith and the children in the process. Some said he was drunk with passion, and in later years he would somewhat redeem himself by proving to be a consistent friend to Edith. Still, the damage was done and Harold would further sully his reputation by purportedly undergoing a procedure that was a craze at the time; having his glands replaced with those of a monkey ( or that of a lavishly compensated college student) and suffering pitiless publicity as a result. (The by-product of this would be his resignation from International Harvester. )

After the divorce an amazing thing happened; something that I find enchanting. Chicagoans rallied behind Edith, championing their eccentric heiress with love and devotion of their own. They delighted in her antics and dramatic behavior, and benefited from her carefully chosen civic contributions in the process. In this atmosphere, (with her ever present Krenn in tow) she flourished on her own by practicing Jungian analysis and giving lectures.

Edith Rockefeller McCormick

Behind the iron gates of 1000 Lake Shore Drive, Edith held court with the most fashionable of people. When she would leave, it would invariably be with Edwin Krenn, and on the most glamorous of nights (let us now think Valentine's Day) Edith would be wreathed in her jewels and wrapped in her ermine cape of 275 skins from Ishima as they stepped into her plumb colored Rolls Royce. Ever the enigma and doing as she pleased, it was during this time that she canceled an event for 200 at the last minute. "Were you taken ill?" she was asked. "No." "Then perhaps some member of the family was indisposed?" "No."

During these long winter evenings I can imagine Edith and Edwin Krenn talking until all hours, most likely discussing Jung's philosophy, money to be made in real-estate, and assuredly gossiping. He was her confidant after all; making the the short trip from the Drake every day, ignoring the ever increasing traffic of Lake Shore Drive with fresh flowers in hand. She would have a good run for a decade, before the Great Depression and illness would interfere.

Be Prepared!

2011-01-18T08:15:00.009-06:00

Not long ago (in a previous post) I referenced what I term "the boy scout massacre" which, taken at face value implies that said Boy Scouts had been decimated - when in reality it was they who did the annihilating. Villa Turicum was not prepared. A rather ironic twist, no?

I recently pulled out an old clipping I have from May of 1951 to grudgingly revisit the scene of the crime on May 20, 1950, when one hundred and fifty Scouts had their vandalistic foray and waged their mock war on the Villa Turicum. Yes, you just read that correctly. One Hundred and Fifty. Boy Scouts.

So what happened? On that spring day in 1950, the Scouts were on a day's outing (Do a Good Turn Daily!) when it was decided to stage a battle at Villa Turicum; as reported, "breaking windows, knocking heavy urns and statues from pedestals, chopping ornamental doors with their scout hatches, and carrying out numerous other attacks."

When the then Lake Forest Chief of Police Frank Tiffany was contacted, he stated that, "no arrests were made because an attorney, acting for parents who wanted to hush up the affair, promised to take care of the matter."

I have to say it amazes me to this day that I hear so little about this event. Given that the median age of a Boy Scout is 8-14, that would leave quite a few of our veterans still about. Remember, there were 150 of them!

(I should make it clear here that the suit filed in Federal Court was not against the Boy Scouts. Liberty National Bank of Chicago, who was the trustee for the Villa Turicum syndicate filed suit against the insurance companies on their failure to pay on policy provisions that applied to losses incurred by "riot, civil commotion, vandalism, or malicious mischief." )

Bear in mind, this is not the only incident to occur at Villa Turicum, so I'd like to swing the spotlight off of the Scouts and turn it to an incident that occurred twenty years earlier, which (although bizarre) has a certain romance to it.

Police were called to the house in May of 1931 because it was discovered in between watchmen shifts that the house had been ransacked. Jack Dunford, Villa Turicum's long time superintendent reported the burglary to police immediately.

Our venerable Chief of Police Frank Tiffany was also involved in this event. This time the chief was puzzled because Villa Turicum, containing it's already priceless collection of tapestries, paintings, objects d'art and a sizable amount of jewelry (Edith was still alive) had been ransacked yet nothing was missing.

It was possible, Chief Tiffany suggested, that the looters were scared away before they could take anything. Yet that doesn't explain why they were able to spend a great deal of time (between 5:30-7:00 p.m.) methodically searching every room. Another theory presented was that they were searching for valuable papers and letters.

Given that this occurred on May 9th of 1931, (nearly twenty years to the day) could this perhaps have involved some of the parents of our Scouts?! One can only wonder.

Edithton Beach

2011-01-17T06:29:00.004-06:00

When it comes to grand plans and even grander undoings, Edithton Beach was Edith Rockefeller McCormick's Waterloo. Villa Turicum by default suffered as well due to the circumstances.

In a previous post, I mentioned the inimitable Edwin Krenn (of Krenn & Dato) and one of his projects. In 1923, Edith (never modest about her aspirations) embarked on a plan with her European partners to create a resort/colony for the wealthy. A national contest was held to select a permanent name her community. The ideas poured in because there was to be a prize of $1,500 for the selected name. The submissions included such names as "Eden Pier" and "Ediths-dream", but Elmer Huge in La Porte Indiana won the prize for his concept: "Edithton Beach"

This venture was part of the Rockefeller McCormick Trust; the backbone of Krenn & Dato that realized many of her real estate dreams.

This time about 1,500 acres were involved, with Edwin Krenn at the design helm. This was to be a community of millionaires; complete with a golf course, luxury marina, exclusive schools with playgrounds and of course the Tudor style homes themselves. It was to be located on the Illinois Wisconsin border, bisected by a rail line and fronting Lake Michigan. (Years ago when I first read about this I raised an eyebrow, but more about that later.)

Work on Edithton began post haste, and in designing the community Krenn ransacked the styles of such places as Palm Beach and Atlantic City. It is here that I would like to cite a cheeky article that recently was brought to my attention; written by the inconspicuous Diane Giles of the Kenosha News, who claims that if it weren't for the Great Depression, Pleasant Prairie would have (horrors!) a community of millionaires at it's doorstep:

With her divorce settlement and some of Daddy’s money (at one point he had given her $40 million) she began buying up property in Pleasant Prairie. When she was finished, she and her investors owned a large tract between today’s Southport Park and the state line — about 3.5 miles of lakeshore.

Edithton Beach extended to Sheridan Road in places and farther west, past the 2200 block of 104th Street.

One source stated that a big arch was erected over Sheridan Road at the point where a side road led to the east into the heart of the new development: The arch was built to advertise the project.

The plans were indeed grandiose. Edithton Beach was to have a swank downtown area with buildings half-timbered in the old English Tudor style.

Edith spent big bucks — more than $4 million — on the groundwork of her fashionable city, building a harbor for the yachts that were sure to sail in and an 18-hole golf course with a lakefront clubhouse. The infrastructure for streets was begun.

Here is a photo of the Pleasant Prairie -Edithton Beach area taken in 1946, courtesy of historicaerials.com:

The road that you see horizontally across the bottom is current-day 116th Street, which is the North Border to the Chiwaukee Prairie Nature Preserve. Bear in mind, I said 1946. This is the earliest period that we can view from the air what was to constitute a large portion of Edithton Beach proper.

In the 1920's the work commenced, but unfortunately Edith was unable to supervise any of the construction herself, nor even visit the Krenn & Dato offices due to her agoraphobia. As the year 1927 came and went, Krenn & Dato continued to borrow heavily, wading deeper and deeper into debt. This of course sent the Rockefeller McCormick Trust, it's holdings, Edith, and the (reported by many at the time) lovers Edwin Krenn & Edward Dato lurching toward the disaster which would occur in 1929. After the crash Edith was left with a huge portfolio of unsold real estate, tenants who could not pay, and enormous debts.

At this point our map brings us up to date, because in 1946 a fellow named Joseph Shaffron purchased much of the beleaguered property (in 1936 what constitutes a lot of Pleasant Prairie was sold for back taxes) and renamed the Edithton Beach portion, with it's unfinished roads leading to nowhere, after his daughter. We can now locate it via it's current name, Carol Beach:

As we can see in comparing the previous photo to the above, not much has happened in the 79 years since Edith's death in August of 1932. What did happen is that in 1946 Mr. Shaffron announced that under the new name of Carol Beach Estates the property would be developed in sections. The project was expected to take (once again!) several years to complete.

An advertisement that appeared in the Chicago Tribune in September of 1946

Once the first phase of Carol Beach was completed, more expensive homes were planned on the Eastern (more desirable) sections of property. Still, not much of anything happened. This begs one to wonder what would have happened if the Great Depression hadn't occurred, or if Edith had lived and her father John D. Rockefeller would have chosen to bail the project out in some fashion.

My guess is; you could have built it, but the millionaires would not have flocked. The area is certainly lovely, and that is evidenced today by the Chiwaukee Preserve. It is perhaps there that we find a silver lining to this entire little drama. If the project had indeed progressed as planned, it is almost certain that the vast portions of what turned out to be undeveloped land would never have been available for preservation.

Baur au Lac, 1917

2011-01-07T22:38:00.014-06:00

Following are some pictures that I will be adding to the Villa Turicum website this weekend. They were taken in Edith's suite at the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich, 1917. There's a poignancy to these photos for me, as this first photograph is the last portrait to be taken of the McCormick family.

Seated: Muriel and Edith. Standing: Mathilde, Fowler, and Harold Fowler McCormick.

Edith flanked by her daughters Mathilde, (left) and Muriel (right).

Edith Rockefeller McCormick would arrive at the Baur au Lac in 1913 and remain there until she returned to the United States in 1921.

The Baur au Lac today.

Stunning, Isn't It?

2011-01-04T19:01:00.025-06:00

This is Villa Turicum today. (I encourage you to click on the photo above to get the full effect.) Last night I received an email from a graduate student of architecture at Notre Dame requesting info on what exists of Villa Turicum today. He is studying the work of Charles Platt and wondered if any of what remains of Villa Turicum is accessible.

I'm not sure if our student read my previous post or not, but regardless of that I would like to help him in his research. In addition to Villa Turicum he also inquired if I knew of, or had, any information pertaining to Platt's Sylvania or Timberline; specifically asking if I knew the condition of them today. I don't, but if anyone does please email me and I will forward the information.

Getting back to Villa Turicum, I think the following photo better explains my quiet diplomacy in previous posts (and email inquires) that no, you really can't visit what remains of Villa Turicum:

The homes on Circle Lane sell on average for over 4 million dollars. Ten years ago I inquired about the empty lot that lies between the tea house (it's tiled roof barely seen at left; not the structure with a swimming in front of it) and the former Debruin property (at right) with the terraces and cascades to the lake. The lot can not be built upon as it is deemed unsuitable for construction due to the erosion that has occurred. Ten years ago the price was just over two million dollars.

The Mystery of Edwin D. Krenn, Part II

2011-01-04T14:26:00.011-06:00

Edwin Dismas Krenn that is. I neglected to mention in my last post that he never left the United States after arriving with Edith in 1921. He also joined the citizenry; below is the record of his naturalization on 10 February, 1927:

It is here as well that I would like to include an excerpt from an article written about Edith just three weeks before her death in 1932. Our Edwin is featured prominently, and it is also insightful with regard to his connection to Edith's affairs at the time:

"To say that Mrs. McCormick is broke is absurd," protested a plumpish, rosy-cheeked' little man who is seen with Mrs. McCormick almost every day. "When one is broke one cannot meet one's obligations. Mrs. McCormick can meet hers."

It was Mrs. McCormick's obligations which led her into her stringency. They began to arise in 1921 when she and the plumpish little man began doing business. He is Edwin D. Krenn, reputedly 37 years old, a Swiss architect. He and his future patroness met while they were studying at Dr. Jung's clinic of psychology in Zurich in 1913. He was with Mrs. McCormick when she returned to the U. S. in 1921. That year he formed the real estate firm of Krenn & Dato, in which Mrs. McCormick is thought to have invested $13,000,000. Although at one time it employed hundreds of salesmen, to whom Mrs. McCormick on occasion gave "pep talks," it has not been strikingly successful.

In 1923 she formed a trust bearing her name to consolidate, operate and develop some of her real estate properties which as late as 1931 were valued at $12,000,000. They consisted chiefly of office buildings in the business district, subdivisions at Highland Park Highlands, Edithton (named for her) Beach and a section near Evanston. In 1929 the Trust needed new working capital, had to pay off bank loans. Mrs. McCormick endorsed an $11,000,000 bond issue which was further secured by $18,000,000 worth of securities, chiefly in Standard Oil of New Jersey. When 15,000 tenants found themselves unable to pay rent she was unwilling to evict them. The Trust's income and securities both began to fall. The securities were sold to pay the bond issue. Bank loans were called. Mrs. McCormick met her obligations but in doing so had to place a $220,000 mortgage on her Lake Forest home and a $557,500 mortgage on the mansion at No. 1000 Lake Shore Drive which was a wedding present from her father. Now, on sunny days, she sometimes leaves the Drake to cross the Drive and enter the garden of her closed home. She must often muse over the scenes behind the foreboding Romanesque walls of grey stone when she was Chicago's No. 1 Hostess, serving meals off gold plates, discussing her favorite subjects of art, astrology, numerology, "synthetic psychology." Mrs. McCormick is not left lonely in her adversity. Mr. Krenn is as constant a companion as ever although until Mrs. McCormick recovers her health they will not be seen as of old in the neighborhood cinema, where they sat always in the back row, or at the theatre, chatting in German. Mrs. McCormick's brother, John D. Jr., recently rushed to Chicago to advise her, the first time he had seen her since she returned to the U. S. in 1921 with Mr. Krenn. Although Brother John is not thought to have aided his sister to a great extent, the reconciliation is said to be such that soon she may pay a visit to the Rockefeller Patriarch at Pocantico Hills. Chicago imagines that when she does, Mr. Krenn will not accompany her. For much as the Rockefellers respect his untiring devotion, and his confidence that she "will again be the richest woman in Chicago," they have had small respect for the business advice he gave the Dowager at the Drake.

The Mystery of Edwin D. Krenn

2011-01-04T06:03:00.041-06:00

Last night I started thinking about Edith's inamorato Edwin Krenn, and this morning I decided it would be fun to write a bit about him.

Edwin Krenn at the funeral of Edith Rockefeller McCormick, August 27th, 1932.

Bear in mind, Edwin is indeed a bit of a mystery. Little has been written of him because he was simply an ordinary man who moved to the United States in 1921, the reasons for which at the time were unknown. But this ordinary man arrived in the company of an extraordinary woman; Edith Rockefeller McCormick. That fact alone warrants a little digging.

When Edith returned from her extended stay in Switzerland (and her studies with Carl Jung) she brought with her another Jung devotee in the dapper form of Edwin Krenn. This started the tongues of the American press wagging immediately. He claimed to be an architect by profession; however I think the term of the day, boulevardier might be more appropriate. Today I think that Edwin would be what is now termed (and a favorite Palm Beach phrase of mine) a "walker".

Edwin arrived on September 27, 1921 aboard the S.S. George Washington which had departed Cherbourg on the 19th. The manifest provides us with the basics of the man; he was Austrian in nationality, an architect, spoke German, English, French & Italian and had recently been residing in Zurich, Switzerland. His destination was Chicago, and his age was thirty years and four months. Unknown (or probably known for that matter) to the crew and agents was that he was accompanying one of the wealthiest women on earth.

The situation upon the return of Edith and the arrival of Edwin was not helped by the fact that Edith soon divorced Harold. Edwin became her constant companion, and they would be seen about town together quite often. Edith loved to go to the movies, and in later years she always had Edwin in tow when she visited her favorite; the little Village Theatre on Clark St. via chauffeur driven limousine for a 10 cent show. (I myself remember the Village for being the only theatre I could find playing the movie Scandal in 1989; which featured a then unknown Bridget Fonda. It was in my neighborhood, so I walked as opposed to being driven.) Sadly, the Village is gone now too.

Edith exiting her automobile in 1927 attended by Edwin D. Krenn and Frances Jewett Jahuson.

Edwin D. Krenn immediately was set up in real estate with a partner; Edward A. Dato, by Edith (or more accurately the Edith Rockefeller McCormick Trust) and the firm of Krenn & Dato was born. These gentlemen, and the real estate ventures associated with both would ultimately become Edith's financial undoing. Of course this all came to light after her death in 1932; for when she died she left only portions of her estate to her children: In her will she left Muriel four-twelfths, Mathilde two-twelfths, and Fowler only one-twelfth. The remainder she left to our Edwin Krenn, but this would be disputed later.

There is still a building of note in Chicago that was the creation of Edith's trust and the Krenn & Dato enterprise. It stands today as 3300 North Lake Shore Drive. Back then it was know as the Sheridan-Aldine Apartments:

3300 Lake Shore Drive today.

The Sheridan-Aldine Apartments was/is a 17-story Italian Renaissance-inspired structure that was erected after the land was purchased in 1925. Edwin Krenn headed the trust’s property development section, and also performed occasional design work. Krenn & Dato, another arm of the trust, provided the $1.2 million mortgage and handled rentals and sales. Like many other development operations, this all collapsed in the 1930s. The building's website has a nice little section devoted to this history.

Edwin Krenn had his most publicity after Edith's death. As mentioned above, he stood to inherit the majority of her estate. This alone would put him under a shade of limelight that, as Audry Hepburn once said, "...can ruin a girl's complexion." In one of Edith's obituaries it is written, "Upon him she had depended entirely in her fading years. She forced him upon Chicago society, planned with him a $45,000,000 empire of realty. Last year she had to sell $18,000,000 in securities to protect her small householders. The faithful Krenn threw in his all—$1,260,000. Her brother John was said to have guaranteed her $1,000 a day for life, but neither he nor his father could swallow Krenn." And so it goes. The man didn't stand a chance against John D. Rockefeller.

At this point one half of the Krenn & Dato team chose to speak up; none other than Edward Dato himself. He clacked to the press: "Krenn and I went to school together in Zurich. His family liked him to associate with me. . . . Then I came to this country. I worked for the International Harvester Co. as a consulting engineer. One day in the papers I read of Mrs. McCormick's divorce. The papers mentioned Krenn. I think: That is my schoolmate. I will look him up. . . . Mrs. McCormick wanted to put her money into civic projects which would be great things for the community. Of course it was against my wishes that I was drawn into it. We formed a trust, the three of us. Mrs. McCormick and Krenn said to me: 'Here is $5,000,000 to start with.' Krenn carried on the social end of it. I carried on the practical end."

And practical he was. Edwin I mean. Shortly before Edith's death Edwin Krenn sold his five-twelfs share of Edith's estate and his interest in Krenn & Dato to Edward Dato with the assurance of $2,000 a month for life. This was allegedly for the "good of the firm" Dato continued clacking to the press, and here I must quote again: "That is a delicate matter. Krenn was not friendly with the Rockefeller or the McCormick families. It was for the good of the firm. I will attend to the business. I am a fighter. I like to be in the thick of things. I like to take a chance. I like to make decisions. Maybe I am like Mussolini. . ."

Edwin D. Krenn & Edward Dato were to have their day in court with Edith's family and lose. Krenn & Dato (the firm) would go the way of Mussolini's head. Our Edwin would die many years later, (the recipient of a very nice settlement from the Rockefellers and McCormicks) on October 19th, 1965. As the mystery unfolds I will continue to update here.

Edith's Museum

2010-12-30T19:13:00.060-06:00

Edith Rockefeller McCormick had many plans throughout her life; and because some of those plans came to fruition, we can thank her for the existence of Brookfield Zoo (she donated the land) and James Joyce's (she was his patroness) Ulysses. Some of her other plans, like the ill fated Edithon Beach project and other real estate ventures became her financial undoing. Others simply never materialized because of her untimely death.

Edith had plans for a museum. As a lifetime collector of all things beautiful and rare she intended to leave something behind for her beloved city of Chicago. She collected right up until her illness prevented it; collecting despite the fact that she had been curtailed by the Great Depression, collecting despite the restraints imposed on her by the family. She still collected.

For many years prior to her death she told the few who were close to her of plans to erect a museum on her 1000 Lake Shore Drive property and it's adjoining parcels facing Bellevue and Oak. Whether or not she intended to raze the Lake Shore mansion itself one can only contemplate, and besides, it happened anyway. Regardless, the priceless collection of furniture, tapestries, jewels, books and artwork were intended to have a permanent home.

I'd like to think that Villa Turicum somehow factored into this idea. I know that Edith entertained many ideas for the estate thorough-out the years; among them a research institute devoted to the Jungian theories and thought that she studied for so many years in Switzerland, and a retreat for artists and writers along the lines of Yaddo. I myself could envision her making Villa Turicum an extension of the downtown museum; something on the North Shore that would today rival the Getty in California

One thing her museum would have had for certain (and that she brought to Chicago) is a personal collection of jewelry unsurpassed. It would of course be anchored by the famous Catherine the Great emeralds (later purchased by Barbara Hutton) that she wore to her beloved opera and on a few formal occasions. She paid $1,500,000 for the gems, including the 80% duty after finding them for sale in 1923.

Barbara Hutton in Paris (1958) wearing the prodigious necklace and earrings that once belonged to Catherine the Great.

Edith truly cherished her jewels, and she had many. She also had favorites, and I love the story about her highly regarded pearl necklace. The strand consisted of 23 perfect pearls, and hardly a day went by when she would not be seen without them, taking tea or having luncheon at the Casino club. She had the necklace made from the famous Leeds and Theirs strands, the largest pearls being 3/4 of and inch and the smallest no less than 1/2 an inch. All of the gems were perfectly matched, and at the time it was considered one of the finest strands of pearls in the world.

Another of her personal favorites was the square cut diamond and pearl ring that her daughter Muriel was to re-purchase at the 1934 auction following her death. Edith wore it constantly on the third finger of her right hand, and I'm pleased to know that such a treasured item stayed in the family. The diamond necklace and breastplate mentioned in an earlier post would not be so lucky.

The diamond studded necklace and breastplate that sold at the 1934 auction in New York for $15,000

Edith's musuem(s) could have been extraordinary. Imagine entering the Pompeian room (given that name because of the four columns inside it from that era - reportedly costing $40,000 apiece at the time) at Villa Turicum and seeing the great carved judge's bench and gilt bishop's throne (both from the Italian renaissance) finally displayed outside of their crates.

The Pompeian Room in 1914

Even better would be the now 700 year old Emperor's carpet which had once belonged to Peter the Great. This was the last of her magnificent treasures to be acquired. She purchased it (for $120,000) after seeing it pictured in a magazine; enlisting an agent to track it down, (he found it in London) and have it brought to her 1000 Lake Shore Drive home. It was shown for a short time in the Northeast drawing room until it was sent away to be stored at the Art Institute.

In contrast to all of this I should leave you with a story of Edith's conservatism as well. In April (just four months before her death) she fell in love with a hat that she saw in a Michigan Avenue shop. Edith had set her personal ceiling at $25.00 for any piece of millinery, and when she was informed that the hat was $38.00 she refused to buy it. Later on one of her maids found the same hat in a different shop, purchased it, and our collector was once again the victor.

I have no doubt as to Edith's intentions as I found documentation last night that states when Edith revised her 1924 will she intended to leave 1000 Lake Shore to the Art Institute of Chicago as a permanent home for her collection.I only wish she could have been the victor against her illness, because the plan would have succeeded.

Turicum Today

2010-12-28T06:23:00.005-06:00

A lot of people write and ask me what remains of Villa Turicum at the present time. Even more ask if they can go to see it. In a nutshell; no, not really.

When Robert Kendler bought the estate in 1956 he subsequently divided it into parcels. (More on that later, as many promises were made at the time.) Granted, in 1956 the house was a ruin and embroiled with the Village of Lake Forest in a debate to have it torn down. As you can see, during that time Mr. Kendler proposed saving the house and grounds:

Sadly that was not to happen; at the time the above article was published, a wrecking crew was already tearing the tiles off of the roof of the house. After all was said and done the house was indeed torn down. Fortunately many elements remained; most notably the cascade to the lake, the tea-house and music pavilion, and the lily pond. All of these were incorporated into private property, the most notable being the now former Debruin parcel and the Debruins themselves; who saved, restored and enhanced the gardens and remaining elements.

So. Since all that remains is for the most part on private property, one isn't often given the chance to see what remains. Fortunately we now live in an age with the technology to see it; gardens and such, via satellite. Bing recently updated their images and I couldn't help but share them here:

This photo is exciting because we can actually see so many of the remaining elements of the estate, and where Villa Turicum proper once sat. In the upper left, you will notice the area of red brick. This was the fountain court to the first terrace on the East (lake) side of the villa itself. As your eyes move to the right you will notice the series of terraces that descend to the lake. This is the first contemporary photo that I have seen where one can actually envision quite well where the former swimming pool sat at the edge of the lake.

In the following photo, we have the same view from the opposite direction, now facing South:

For those of you not familiar with the landscape, here is the 1912 General Plan from the Blueprints section of the Villa Turicum website. I've rotated it so that you can get the same perspective:

This last photo is also interesting, because you can see the tea house and music pavilion. The red tile roof of the tea house is visible to the left, with a swimming pool now in front of it. This photo alone illustrates what I try to explain to people when they ask how the old elements of Villa Turicum have been blended with the new.

The Servants Speak

2010-12-27T20:06:00.009-06:00

As we draw ever so closer to the 77th anniversary of what I refer to as "Edith's Auction," I find myself bringing out many of the old articles and photos that I've collected over the years. This is the first of two Chicago Tribune articles that are favorites and that I will post over the next two days. I feel are both surprising yet revealing of this stunning, enigmatic woman. They also clear up many of the rumors and myths surrounding Villa Turicum. What Edith Rockefeller McCormick herself said about Villa Turicum; "the beauty spot of the world," is word enough.

(This first article is titled "Servants Recall Grand Manner of Edith M'Cormick" by Virginia Gardner. It appeared in the Tribune on August 28th, 1932)

BROTHER, SISTER, RELATIVES AND FRIENDS AT EDITH M'CORMICK SERVICES

SERVANTS RECALL GRAND MANNER OF EDITH M'CORMICK

Praise Her as Perfect Mistress.

Following the funeral service in the gray stone mansion at 1000 Lake Shore drive yesterday, which for so many years has dominated the social scene in Chicago a group of old servants of the late Edith Rockefeller McCormick gathered in the first floor kitchen and reminisced.

Absently the stared into the somber dining room with its massive carved sideboard, now bare of silver, its paneled walls and heavy mantelpiece reaching to the ceiling, the room in which they had served so many meals in strict formality, now empty except for the draperies of silken damask at the windows.

Formality Approaches Ritual.

For awhile they sat silently. Then a laconic remark drew forth another, and little by little, as the persons who contributed to the smooth regulation of that household exchanged comments, a picture of the life led by its occupant was pieced together - a life bounded by formality approaching ritual, staid, dictated completely by a mid-Victorian code of manners and conventions.

A former footman, strange and unimpressive without his uniform of plum colored breeches and white stockings, glances out of a window on a garden where on spring afternoons his mistress methodically drank her tea, attended by as much ceremony as an empress ever commanded, and often watched by urchins peering through the wrought iron fence.

"She was easy to work for, never complained, never asked us to do anything extra," he said. "She never spoke to us. We never spoke to her. She never heard us if we did. Baxter (Fred Baxter, Mrs. McCormick's head butler ever since her return from Switzerland in 1921) gave us all our orders."

Never Any Disturbance.

"She knew how to run an establishment. Formal. That's what I like. No disturbances at all. Everything was just so. Everything had its proper time. At such and such a time we knew she's take a walk. One certain man always went with her. And so it went with everything."

(One of my favorite photos of Edith on one of her infamous walks)

For ten years "Capt." Edward McNamera went with Mrs. McCormick on this daily walk. She never left the house on foot that he did not follow, a few feet behind her. He was there in the kitchen yesterday, modestly smiling his gold-toothed smile as his former confreres showed deference to him.

Mrs. McCormick never addressed her chauffeurs as a rule, according to "the Captain." When she went for a ride, she communicated with her secretary, who in turn gave directions to the steward, who telephoned them to the garage. The destination was always given in these instructions, and it was only when Mrs. McCormick changed her mind that she spoke to the chauffeur through the speaking tube.

"Captain" Is Retired Now

It was "the Captain," a retired policeman, who for ten years sat on the cement driveway at the Bellevue place entrance in a rocking chair when he was not walking sedately behind his mistress. He left her employ a year ago, he said, and is now retired. Joseph McLaughlin took his place. He, too, was at the funeral.

Tom Denham, the butler who was retained at the house when Mrs. McCormick moved to the Drake hotel, was in charge yesterday.

Albert Sparks, one of the men employed in the house until Mrs. McCormick's removal to the hotel, said Mrs. McCormick's meals, even those for two persons only, were never served informally. Four men were required to serve the simplest luncheon for two.

She had breakfast on a tray in her room. Edwin Krenn invariably was her guest at luncheon and at dinner, and often at tea in the garden. Never, however, was there any suggestion of informality between the two, the servants agreed. One man, usually Baxter, hovered over the table, to which they sat down with definite punctuality. Three others assisted in the pantry. Downstairs, Mrs. Ethel Robert, Mrs. McCormick's head cook for the last ten years, presided in the kitchen over two sub-cooks.

The steward printed the menus in French on his typewriter. One of the little group described how Baxter planned the meals. "He did not." said Mrs. Robert. "I planned them. Always."

"What difference?" said the former in an aside. "I knew what we were going to have from one week to the next. Every Monday we had filet mignon with fresh mushrooms. Always, always - filet mignon and mushrooms on a Monday."

Mrs. McCormick kept regular hours and was never out later than 11 o'clock except on opera nights, the men agreed. Two of the footmen always waited to receive her. One opened the door. The other received her in the reception hall.

The "captain" recalled with a smile the days when careless lavishness prevailed in the kitchen. "Sometimes a hungry tramp from West of Clark street would come and ask for a handout," he said. "We would show him the food that was thrown out and often he would find a roast duck that had hardly been touched or a baked ham there."

All of the old servants referred to Mrs. McCormick as "she."

Nothing Served Twice.

"She would never have anything served twice." said Sparks. "If a roast turkey were prepared for her dinner only a piece of the breast might be eaten, but she would never have it the next day or any day in any form."

The ordinary staff consisted of one secretary, one personal maid, a butler, three footmen, three cooks, three chauffeurs, one houseman, a gardener, and, as it was explained, "a char lady." Among others who attended the funeral were Marie Pheffel, the Swedish personal maid; Miss Gertrude Bellenthal, secretary; Otto Swanson, for six years a houseman who quit and made a trip to Sweden three years ago, and John Dunford, superintendent of Villa Turicum, Mrs. McCormick's Lake Forest estate, and his wife and son John Jr.

At Villa Turicum, the house remains as it was when Mrs. McCormick last visited it two years ago last July, according to Dunford. All the furniture is in place and the grounds appear well kept, despite the fact that 12 of the 17 employees were dismissed last Jan. 1.

Never Criticized Work.

"I worked for Mrs. McCormick for 27 years," said Dunford. "She was a wonderful woman. In all those years she never criticized my work nor had anything but praise for me." Dunford said he worked for Marshall Field until his death 26 years ago, when he went to work for Harold McCormick. When Villa Turicum was built 23 years ago he went there. His son now has worked there 18 years, and is the foreman. The only employees remaining after last January were gardener No. 1, John Plantin, for 10 years an employee of Mrs. McCormick; Albert Rippon, gardener No. 2, and Adolph Zenotte, a watchman for the last 11 years.

"Mrs. McCormick has not slept at Villa Turicum nor eaten a meal there since she returned from Switzerland," Dunford said. "My wife and I did live there, but we moved to our own place. So this 75 room house has not been occupied overnight in all that time. Mrs. McCormick used to come out several times a week and stay an hour or two. She said it was the beauty spot of the world. Only twice was Mr. Krenn with her."

"She liked to come out just to look around. It seemed to give her great pleasure. This year, for the first time, we planted nothing new. But the old flowers are still blooming, and some are alongside her coffin."

The Census of 1920

2010-12-27T13:54:00.008-06:00

I was wrong! I completely forgot about Harold, who had returned to the United States prior to Edith, although due to their seperation he was not to be living at 1000 Lake Shore anymore. According to the passenger list for the Aquitainia dated October 29th, 1920, Harold indeed now lived at 50 East Huron:

Regardless, for the Census they were all counted and recorded as living at 1000 Lake Shore. At this point in time Harold and Edith were 48 years old, and the children were respectively; Fowler; 21, Muriel; 18, and Mathilde; 15. (All of the children were being educated in Europe, with the exception of Fowler who had been attending Princeton.)

Aside from the five McCormick family members, the live-in household included: Hulda Carlson; (cook) 38, Dagmar Westling; (housemaid) 24, Annie M E Odelius; (housemaid) 35, Antone F Falanelli; (houseman) 30, Maria Anderson; (chambermaid) 24, John M Ryland; (butler) 31, and Lynn H Hull; (chauffeur) 35, who lived above the garage with his family. ( Clara B. Hull; 36, Neal K. Hull; 14, & Dorothy I. Hull; 12 )

The Census of 1930

2010-12-27T06:11:00.013-06:00

As a benefit to my volunteer work, I have access to various genealogical records and documents. Following is a copy of the 1930 Federal Census from the National Archives. It provides some interesting insight into life at 1000 Lake Shore Drive at the time:

(click on the image to enlarge)

The household members include: Edith R Mccormick; (Owner, occupation - none) 57, Gertrude Hellenthal; (lodger; stenographer) 36, Eric Petterson; (servant; chauffeur) 35, Holger Hesselmark; (servant; chauffeur) 28, Lenny Huttman; (servant; chauffeur) 25, Hedwig Hultmann; (lodger; pocketbook maker) 26, Marie Pfaeffle; (servant) 52, Delia Carter; (servant; cook) 40, Helga Fornander; (servant) 40, Delia K Geary; (servant) 23, Sarah Carvey; (servant) 27, Katherine Carvey; (servant) 32.

The value of Edith's home is noted as $1,000,000 in contrast to Cyrus Wilder's (a neighbor on Bellevue Place) at $35,000. In today's dollars this means that Edith's home would be worth $12,727,927, and the Wilder home $445,447 according to the Consumer Price Index. (As I live five streets North of Bellevue I can tell you that $445,000 will get you about 1700 square feet of condo space.)

The fact that Edith's servants are primarily from Sweden and Ireland doesn't surprise me, given the times and Chicago's large Irish and Scandinavian populations. I did happen to notice however that the three chauffeurs; Eric, Holger and Lenny had 'lodger' penciled in over 'servant'. Perhaps this gave them more equal footing with Gertrude and Hedwig, who were primarily listed as 'lodgers'?

Edith missed the 1920 Census as she was living in Europe; she would not return to the United States until September of 1921, after an eight year absence. I would like to see the contrast between 1920 and 1930; given that the Great Depression was now afoot, and Edith was economizing due to mounting debts and family pressure to cut her spending. What I can tell you is that in 1910 (after having been married to Harold for five years) the household consisted of twenty-one individuals; (which included the McCormick family of five) consisting of cooks, a laundress, chauffeurs (one private with a wife and child) and coachman, butlers, the governess, the secretary, and maids of various category.

Art: First & Last

2010-12-26T18:27:00.025-06:00

Today I dug up the old Time magazine article concerning the American Art Association-Anderson Galleries auction that took place in 1934. For quite some time I've had some photos of pieces from the historic Bonaparte-McCormick gilded-silver dinner service. Quite a bit of it has been showing up at auction lately, and I thought the pictures would make a nice visual for this fascinating article:

Unlike the slick, undignified bargaining in London's Sotheby's and Paris's Hotel Drouot, art auctions in Manhattan's American Art Association-Anderson Galleries are conducted with éclat. Dealers and bidders sit in a sombre Italianate hall as big as a small theatre while the auctioneer intones numbers from his pulpit. Across a shrewdly lit, velvet-hung stage Negro attendants parade the objects to be sold. If the objects or their owners are of sufficient importance, the sale becomes a major date in the Manhattan social calendar.

That it was on both counts for five days last week. Fully 2,000 people at a time crowded the gallery. So many socialites jammed the front rows that one eager bidder at the rear of the hall had to perch on the back of a chair with a pair of binoculars and signal his bids as he got the range. On sale were the furniture, jewelry, silverware and clothing of the late Edith Rockefeller McCormick, eccentric daughter of pious John Davison Rockefeller.

The life & times of Edith Rockefeller McCormick are Chicago history. Most colorful of the Rockefeller children, her wedding to Harvester Scion Harold McCormick in 1895 was only surpassed in national interest by the marriage of Consuelo Vanderbilt to the Duke of Marlborough the same year. In Chicago she succeeded Mrs. Potter Palmer as social arbiter, gave vast and lavish parties, backed the Chicago opera for years before Insull. She used to buy dresses six at a time, all the same model. She thought nothing of spending $25,000 for roses to bower her ballroom. Suffering from a nervous disorder in 1912, she met Psychiatrist Carl Jung in Manhattan, followed him with her family to Zurich where she lived as his pupil and assistant for eight years. Returning to Chicago in 1921, she picked up a pudgy little Swiss architect, Edwin D. Krenn, brought him home as her social escort. Efforts to make a commercial success of the Krenn real estate firm in Chicago cost her most of her fortune. She died in a small apartment in the Drake Hotel in 1932 (TIME, Sept, 5, 1932) leaving five-twelfths of her estate to Escort Krenn.

On hand to participate in the auction of her relics last week were Mrs. Edward H. Manville, Mrs. Walter P. Chrysler, Mrs. John North Willys, Actor David Warfield, many another great name. Present, too, was Muriel McCormick Hubbard to buy as many of her late mother's belongings as she could afford. She spent $60,000 and got, among other things:

¶ Two 16th Century Gothic hunting tapestries, each $6,100

¶ Diamond & sapphire bracelet . . . 4,700

¶ Diamond & pearl pendant . . . 4,100

¶ Cromwellian silver candle or

posset cup . . . 2,600

¶ Pair pearl & diamond earings . . .2,400

¶ Chinchilla wrap with silver fox collar. . 2,400

¶ Pearl ring . . . 2,300

¶ Tournai (or Oudenaarde) Gothic

millefleurs tapestry . . . 2,100

¶ George III silver wine coolers . . . 2,000

¶ Aubusson silk tapestry screen . . . .1,900

¶ Directoire carved acajou and silk

petit-point canapé 1,025

¶ Twelve George III silver plates $1,020

¶ 18 pierced & chased gilded silver

dessert plates 900

¶ Linen damask & Burano Point

de Venise lace banqueting cloth 900

¶ Three dozen drawn-thread linen dinner napkins 675

¶ Mahogany boudoir grand piano 525

¶ Crown Derby gold-decorated & hand-painted porcelain dessert service.... 455

¶ Pair embroidered linen bed sheets 85

¶ Pair embroidered linen bed sheets 57

Out of a black velvet case appeared the high spot of the jewelry sale—Mrs. McCormick's diamond necklace, a glittering plastron of 1,801 stones, 40 inches long ending in a sort of jointed breastplate of diamonds. Dealers, many of whom were unable to get in the room, shouted bids through the door, raising the price $250 at a time. A quiet, unassuming woman in galoshes who sat with her husband on a bench against the wall finally bid it in for $15,000. Said she: "It's beautiful. It all comes apart, you know, and makes lots of bracelets and brooches and things." Known to every Chicago gossip columnist was the historic Bonaparte-McCormick gilded-silver dinner service of 1,600 separate knives, forks, plates, dishes, platters, etc., weighing over 11,700 ounces. Made by Napoleon's favorite goldsmiths, Martin Guillaume Biennais and Jean Odiot, executed after the design of Architects Percier & Fontaine, the service was a wedding present from the Emperor to his sister Pauline on her marriage to Prince Gamillo Borghese. In 1892 the Borghese family sold it intact to Prince Baucina who sold it to Dealer Ercole Canessa who sold it to Mrs. McCormick for $80,000. Last week it was subdivided in 146 separate lots and sold, after a block bid of $20,000 by Mrs. Hubbard had been refused, to dozens of different owners for a total of $57,565. Unnoticed by most in the room was a plump little man who kept nervously wiping his forehead and gazing first at Auctioneer Otto Bernet, then at Mrs. Hubbard as she bid $100 at a crack with the raise of a pencil. It was Escort Edwin Krenn. "All this is breaking my heart," declared this beneficiary under the McCormick will, with a wave of his hand. "It cuts into me, you know, it cuts into me!''

What cut into him deepest was that the sale of objects valued at well over $1,000,000 brought a total of $330,617.50. Of this the gallery extracted its customary 20% for advertising, cataloging and use of the hall.

In Chicago, at her greystone Lake Shore Drive palace and in Lake Forest, Ill. at her country home, Villa Turicum, the rest of Mrs. McCormick's private belongings were to go on sale next week. Auction gapers in Chicago were discouraged by a $10 admission fee, redeemable on the first purchase.

Bear in mind, a book could be written about the Bonaparte-McCormick service. Now commonly referred to as the Borghese service, in Edith's time it was assumed that it was a gift from Napoleon to his sister Pauline when she married Prince Camillo Borghese in 1803. The problem is that there are pieces in the service with hallmarks used in Paris between 1809-1819. Regardless, Napoleon did indeed bestow the pieces to Pauline for whatever reasons, and the provenance alone is a veritable who's-who: Prince Camillo Borghese & Pauline Bonaparte, The Borghese Palace sale, Don Antonio Licata, Prince Baucina, Ercole Canessa, Edith Rockefeller McCormick, Simone de Borges, and a Hong Kong collector.

The service that Edith owned was comprised of over 500 silver-gilt objects and nearly 1000 pieces of table silver. Hence we see items on the market quite often. A year ago, our mysterious Hong Kong collector sent many items to auction, including the pair of French Empire silver-gilt pieces shown above. This lot of two alone sold for $127,000.

(Incidentally, much note has been made of Muriel's attendance at the auction, & I will write about this in a later post.)

Warm Wishes

2010-12-22T23:05:00.000-06:00

I wish you all joyful days and extraordinary memories this Season and in 2011.

March 10,1942

2010-12-22T21:09:00.016-06:00

I just found this clipping from the "Late News Flashes" in the final edition of the Miami Daily News:

So terribly sad, but this being the Christmas Season, I can't let this post end on an unhappy note.

I have another clipping, which shows how Muriel; one of my two (the other being Mathilde for separate reasons) favorite of Edith's daughters, kept Villa Turicum alive. After selling her home on El Brillo Way (this preceded by Jungle Road) in Palm Beach, Muriel moved to neighboring Via Bellaria and christened the house Villa Turicum. Following is a blurb from Florence Casen's "Palm Beach Notes" which appeared in the February 17th, 1952 edition of the Palm Beach Post:

The Other Mrs McCormick & Dalí

2010-12-02T19:25:00.030-06:00

When it comes to Harold McCormick's wives, I seldom think of Adah Wilson McCormick. My primary interest is of course our inimitable Edith. Second wife Ganna Walska, (albeit larger than life and who does deserve a post on here soon - I've numerous photos) and true other Mrs McCormick, never ceases to vex me as I'm researching Harold.

Edith (at left) & Ganna (right) circa 1920's

Then there is Adah, who can be summed up in this Nov. 9, 1942 Time magazine blurb:

Married. Adah Wilson McCormick, 38, widow of Harold Fowler McCormick, harvester millionaire; and George Tait II, 30, aircraft engineer; in Phoenix. Longtime nurse of McCormick, who left her a fortune when he died at 69 a year ago, she was his third wife (first: Edith Rockefeller; second: Diva Ganna Walska).

What interests me (and I often forget about) is the portrait of Adah completed by Salvador Dalí in 1941:

Originally titled Portrait of Mrs. Harold F. McCormick, it was renamed Portrait of Mrs George Tait II with regard to the aforementioned nuptials. Adah would take this portrait with her into her new marriage along with another Dalí painting, the 1940 Group of Women Imitating the Gesture of a Schooner:

Given that "Group of Women" pre-dates the McCormick portrait, it is my suspicion is that the painting was acquired in lieu of Dalí consenting to the commission. It certainly must have taxed Harold's much more pedestrian taste:

Harold's oil painting; a James MacDougal Hart (1828-1901) Loon Lake, Adirondacks which went to Edith in their divorce and consequently sold in the American Art Association/Anderson Galleries auction of her estate in 1934

As Adah had been Harold's nurse for quite some time, we could assume that what Adah wanted, Adah got. (Adah married Harold in 1938 at the estate of his sister Mary McCormick in Pasadena, CA) "Group of Women" was acquired by the Gala-Dalí Foundation in 2002. Portrait of Mrs George Tait II, (while widely reproduced and listed as a surviving Dalí) presumably remains in a private collection.

Boy Scouts at the Hearth of Things

2010-11-28T21:54:00.054-06:00

Early this morning a visitor to the Villa Turicum website sent me an email explaining that they had a police photograph of vandalism that occurred at Villa Turicum in the late 1940's. I was asked if I would like to see the photo, and I of course replied that I would be interested in viewing it.

The above image arrived about an hour later, and when I first glanced at it my heart instantly skipped a few beats. My immediate thought was, "Oh god, I'm looking at the boy scout massacre." It is here that I have to digress for a moment and fill you in as to why I thought this.

Lest I disturb you, let me first explain that boy scout massacre is my term for what happened to the mansion. As I have often written, after Edith died in 1932 the estate languished as plans by potential buyers or investors fell through. The estate remained mothballed for quite a few years after the January 1934 auction of it's contents. Many of the former servants and grounds keepers tried in vain to keep everything in order. Unfortunately, nature was taking it's course; the lawns were overgrown, trees and shrubs were sprouting through the driveway and the terraces down the bluff to the swimming pool. The long promenade toward the tea house resembled a tunnel as opposed to beautifully landscaped walkway.

In due course the legend of the empty house spread throughout the area, and subsequently curiosity seekers, looters and vandals would arrive on the scene to take a peek - or just take. Then the Boy Scouts blew in, and they were not coming to the rescue. I don't know the exact date, but around the time that our photo was taken a group of them spent a weekend camping on the property. One, or some of them (I'll give them the benefit that it was a group decision to spare an individual my ire) had the brilliant idea to stage a war. In the house itself. Ergo, Villa Turicum was to suffer some of it's severest damage to date. The Boy Scouts waged a mock war within the mansion using their tools, hatchets or whatever to destroy doors, paneling, fixtures and moldings.

The entrance just before the mansion was destroyed

I wholeheartedly believe that this was the death knell for Villa Turicum. Doors and windows were gone, and given it's location on the bluff nature absolutely took a toll. (Ironically the house was built to be fireproof!) When Robert Kendler bought the property in 1956 (and held on to it in a year later in a delinquent property tax auction, with plans to save the house) the damage was far too severe, and it was soon bulldozed down to the foundation. The service court and garages with their copper doors were to follow in 1963, in order to extend Circle Lane and to make room for his growing subdivision of maisonettes.

Now that I've given you the story of the massacre, we can move forward. Of course within seconds of viewing the photo I realized something was wrong. Well, everything was wrong. I know the Villa Turicum floor plan like the back of my hand, and my first observation was that the fireplace to the left of the staircase just shouldn't be there. As my eyes adjusted and while my heart stopped palpitating I realized the style was all wrong, and I still couldn't get that fireplace off my mind. So, after I calmed down and did a little thinking and probing I started to get some answers.

My correspondent had the right family, but the wrong McCormick! But I too went down a different path, as I eventually found the same photograph which identified the scene as the Patterson McCormick mansion on Burton Street. This had me scratching my head as the Patterson McCormick fireplaces were all wrong in comparison to the above photo. I hesitantly chalked this up to the renovation that took place when the building was converted to condominiums.

Finally the mystery was solved when my friend Kevin informed me that the iamge at top is indeed vandalism that occurred at the Cyrus McCormick mansion at 675 Rush St. in 1948. Finally everything made sense, and had I looked at my own photos of 675 Rush I could have solved the mystery myself. Below is an earlier photo of the hallway from a different direction:

(The fireplace shown in the first photo can be seen at the end of this hall)

Following are a few photos of 675 Rush in various stages. It is interesting to note that after Nettie Fowler McCormick died in 1922, our Harold of Villa Turicum fame would inherit 675 Rush Street. As Edith received Villa Turicum & 1000 Lake Shore Dr. in the 1921 divorce settlement, perhaps Nettie was insuring that her favorite son would have a home?

675 Rush St. in the 1920's. The Hotel Allerton is in the background

An interior view

Edith & Harold's youngest daughter Mathilde standing beside 675 Rush in 1922.

The exterior of 675 Rush on November 12th,1941. It is interesting to note that Harold died a month prior; October 16th, 1941

September 14th, 1948. (The same year as our first photograph)

The entrance to 675 Rush St.

This is our other mansion mentioned; the Patterson-McCormick, designed and built by Stanford White in 1893 with a 1927 addition by David Adler. As you can see, this time at least a building was saved and beautifully restored:

I have walked past this building for over twenty years as it is one street North of me in Chicago. The quirky thing is that for years I wondered what the interior looked like as I had never had occasion to be inside of it. I've been in almost every building of historical note, and this one has somehow always evaded me, which I always found strange due to it's proximity to me. That question was answered only two weeks ago when I saw that Billy Corgan's unit was listed for sale. I posted the link on Facebook, and of course will share some of the photos with you as well:

The Corgan unit is on the second floor, so it include the balcony & terrace.

So. I can happily end this post on the upswing, as evidenced above. I'm not sure now if I ever do want to see the interior of Villa Turicum in ruin. (Viewing the Rush St. photo was enough!) Even though I've dealt with numerous photos of Villa Turicum's exterior in decay, at least parts of the grounds have been restored and there are still elements intact; the Tea House remains virtually unchanged from the day it was built. However, having only seen the interiors in their prime, I think someday it will be a jolt for me to see the downfall, as the house is gone forever. Perhaps it's best to leave it forever young in my mind.

Incidentally, should you be interested in Mr. Corgan's listing, click here.

Three Acres

2010-11-09T06:20:00.018-06:00

Last night I was apprised (from a lovely lady named Linda with whom I have been corresponding) that the three acre parcel on which Villa Turicum itself once stood (and still containing the lily pond and terraces to the lake) finally sold this past April. I knew it was still on the market as of last September - as it had been since it's initial offering in late 2007.

The Debruin home, with the restored lily pond in the foreground.

I've always remained quiet about Ronald and Carole Debruin, who built their home on the lot in 1977. They also set about restoring what remained of Villa Turicum after the bulldozers and developers had made their earlier mark. (I kept quiet because I respect privacy; as I was developing a website devoted to the lost estate I could appreciate the need, thus I never published a picture of their home until now.)

The 52 foot entrance hall of the 13-room house, which has five bedrooms, and a family room that opens onto a bluestone terrace. (Bluestone was a material of choice in the construction of Villa Turicum, and many remnants have been incorporated into some of the surrounding homes in the area.)

Villa Turicum justifiably has a small cult following, and I'm sure that the Debruins had their share of people literally knocking on the front door with questions. None-the-less, they set about lovingly restoring the lily pond, gardens, and most extraordinary; the watercourse to the lake. I heard that they collected bits and pieces of stone that remained scattered about the bluffs and on the beach. Without the Debruins, who knows what could have happened to those remaining features; after all it was 1977, and we all know how preservation took a back seat back then.

One of the many staircases (now restored) that descend the property’s 75-foot-high bluff to Villa Turicum's (former) beach-side swimming pool.

The same staircase as it existed in the late 1920's.

Three years is a long time for a property to be on the market, and it is somewhat ironic given that Villa Turicum itself languished for about thirty years after Edith's death in 1932 and many attempts to revitalize it. Carol Debruin was quite poignant about matters back in 2007. When asked what was in the plan for she and her husband (a radiologist at Lake Forest Hospital) she said: "We've raised our four children. We spend a lot of time in the city anyway, and we can leave this house. But how do we leave this property?”

Then & Now

2010-11-08T22:43:00.012-06:00

My friend Catherine enjoys the contrast of an historical photo against the contemporary as much as I do. Tonight she inspired my to post these two pictures; which show an element of Villa Turicum in it's prime (1930) and as it is now.

This first photo is of the second fountain terrace below the house terrace. (The portion of the house visible is the North section, which contained the dining room on the first floor.) Notice the twin dolphins at the top of the fountain, as they serve as a reference point for the next photo:

Pictured above are the Camerata Singers of Lake Forest in front of what remains of the fountain. Unfortunately, the group held their final concert in 2008. They were especially known for combining their extraordinary vocal talent against the architectural backdrop of some of Lake Forest's most historic and fascinating homes.

Aerial Maps

2010-10-10T00:04:00.009-05:00

I have always loved maps. When I was a child, for some reason we had boxes and boxes of the National Geographic from the 1950's & 60's that had all of their maps with them. I would spend hours with them spread out, pouring over them and comparing.

Tonight I was inspired by my friend Catherine, with whom I was comparing an old address with Bing and Google screen-shots online via Facebook. We were using the shots to determine the address of a vintage photo I had sent to her earlier.

In a previous post I wrote about HistoricAerials.com, and so after tonight's adventure with Catherine I headed over and typed in that all too familiar address: 595 Circle Lane, Lake Forest, IL. Below are the screen shots that all too vividly show the demise and inevitable change to Villa Turicum.

1939

1946

1961

1988

Today

Folded Memories

2010-10-01T07:10:00.014-05:00

This morning I found myself re-reading an article written by Arthur Miller for LAKE FOREST COUNTRY PLACES, XVIII in 1996. The two sections, Walden I & Walden II contain various recollections, and I forgot that Walden II has a memory of Villa Turiucm. Here is a snippet:

Though Miss Jackson was only three years old when she came to "Walden," she recalls many stories about her earlier home -- Harold and Edith Rockefeller McCormicks' "Villa Turicum" which was south of "Walden" across Jasmine or Westleigh Road. Contrary to reports elsewhere the family knew that Edith McCormick had spent at least one night there, since the next morning the chauffeur came to their house on the estate to seek flowers Mrs. McCormick wanted to take with her back to the city. Also, the family has a snapshot of the airborne seaplane Harold McCormick used to commute back and forth to the city. The pilot had only one arm -- the other had been taken off by a tricky propeller. Harold McCormick figures prominently in a chapter entitled "Early Flying" in Tribune writer and cartoonist John McCutcheon's very readable autobiography, Drawn From Memory (1950). On p. 240 he reports that Harold had the first private plane in the region and that he "built a hangar on the beach below" his Lake Forest house. McCutcheon in 1911 was an early passenger from Grant Park to the "Villa Turicum" beach.

A photo I restored of Harold and Mathilde in a canoe on the Villa Turiucum beach. In the background is the "hanger" mentioned above, which actually moored the seaplane, allowing it to be taken up onto the beach to a boathouse.

I had completely forgotten about this, but I smiled as I remembered researching how much Harold liked to fly back and forth from Chicago to Lake Forest. When I originally was building the Villa Turicum website, one of the first elements was a section devoted to this, titled, ELITE SPORTSMAN REQUIRED FLYING BOATS . I still have the photos of the planes, one of which was named "Edith."

(Note Edith's name painted on the fuselage above)

Following is the subsequent portion with further reference to Villa Turicum:

Miss Jackson also reports having a photo of the "Villa Turicum" garden's outline taken before it was planted. A few other mementoes reflect the times. First, Miss Jackson has from her mother an intricately stitched lacework tablecloth, now framed, which was cast off by Edith McCormick but rescued by a staff member for Miss Jackson's mother. From Cyrus McCormick's "Walden" there are both a discarded blue china tea pot on little legs and also a pressed-glass bottle for shaving lotion, from Cyrus III and meant as a gift for Lee (who found it too fussy for a man). Most of Edith McCormick's effects were auctioned off, spectacularly at a tiny fraction of their costs, in the 1930s -- the College library has one of the sale catalogs which shows the contrast with the Jackie Onassis sale which fetched prices so far above the estimates. Edith McCormick had lost her fortune through ill-conceived investments in an era of sobering failures. Hardly anybody could afford to buy from her collection. She and Harold had divorced much earlier. Indeed, when Ruth Jackson was three and her parents moved across Westleigh Road to "Walden" she recalls hearing in the family that this was not considered as one brother raiding the neighboring brother's staff, since Harold and Edith were breaking up.

Incidentally, Harold's love of flying was well documented, and over the years I've discovered many photographs that were taken. Harold also donated an extraordinary amount of aeronautica to Princeton University.

Harold (left) and one of his pilots, C.C. Witmer.

Villa Turicum Post Wartime

2010-09-27T19:50:00.013-05:00

In 1919, given Villa Turicum's proximity to Fort Sheridan, (which was on the Southern border of the property) it is not surprising that men were recruited to tend the grounds. Below are two photos I recently repaired, taken that year of wounded men from the Great War working outside of the service buildings for Villa Turicum:

John Dunford (the caretaker) is pictured with his dog Major at left. More importantly, the good fellows pictured: (from left to right) Matthew Zdroleas, Raymond Coutore, William S. Hepner, John Boyanowski and Jack Dawson are Villa Turicum's most appreciated caretakers.

A True Curtain Warmer - Redux

2010-09-22T06:18:00.023-05:00

The picture below that Jim's father took in 1928 had me scratching my head for a few moments the other night. It was identified as garage, and I immediately assumed it was the exterior of the service court. As I was pulling up the blueprints it hit me that, no! this is the south garden promenade looking toward the southern elevation of the house:

Here is one of my photos from the same perspective taken in 1912:

Interesting, no? The two photos make it quite evident that Villa Turicum was always kept hiberné. Sixteen years have shown virtually no effect on the unoccupied house. Recently I did find out that Harold lived in Villa Turicum for awhile after he & Edith returned (separately) from Europe in 1921. In the subsequent divorce, Edith would receive Villa Turicum in the settlement and "buy back" 1000 Lake Shore Dr.

Now,if we were to walk forward (in the above) and pass around the right hand corner of the house, we would be confronted with this sight:

The loggia and terrace that faced Lake Michigan. Once again, here is one of my photos for context:

I think in this comparison it is conspicuous that Villa Turicum has been unoccupied and idle.

This final photo is cool, because it gave me an entirely new view of the infamous lily pond:

I say infamous, because over the years I have heard countless stories of people who grew up in the area and remember playing around (or falling into) it. Happily, the lily pond is one feature of Villa Turiucum that still exists, so for once (as is seldom the case) I can post a photo on here in color!

My bona fide thanks once again to Jim for sharing these remarkable photos with me; and now you!

A True Curtain Warmer

2010-09-21T06:28:00.006-05:00

I recently heard from my pal Jim concerning some photographs his father took of Villa Turicum in the summer of 1928. At the time, Jim's father was a student at the Lake Forest Foundation for Architecture and Landscape Management.

Jim and I originally began corresponding in February, but as so often happens to all of us, other matters took precident and time sliped away from us. I had to smile when Jim wrote me a week ago: "I bet you thought you would never hear from me again." So not true! I take all of my emails concerning Villa Turiucm very seriously; filing them away in a special folder. I have every email since the site went up.

Regardless of that, last night I started viewing the pictures that Jim's father took in 1928. In short, I was spellbound; opening each file with the apprehension and trepidation one would have with a small jewel box in hand. Jim is in the process of scanning images, but as you can see from the preview below they are indeed extraordinary.

A view from the second terrace toward the South (library) wing.

A stunning shot of the lower cascade up to the pelican and twin alligator water source.

Detail of the pelican and alligators.

A view from the top terrace, looking down toward the beach and Lake Michigan.

Cattle Barns & Stables; Who Knew?!

2010-09-15T10:02:00.005-05:00

I often wonder what the originators of the old Lake Forest estates would think of what has happened to their conceptions. SO many of the old homes are gone, but many of the service buildings still exist; converted into private homes, and now some very pricey real estate in their own right.

I am an avid cyclist, and over the years I have never tired of my Lake Dr. and Mayflower Road routes. One of my favorite conversions is the David Adler designed stables at 51 Mayflower Road. I remember vividly the day I first saw that tower, wondering to myself, "now what is that?!" This was years ago, and now this home has been renovated and restored, with a modern floor plan. There is of course all of the usual; a new chef's kitchen, updated baths, and updated mechanicals. I hear one of it's treasures is a study (in the tower) with a vaulted ceiling and murals by Nikolai Remisoff.

The house was on the market in June for $2,800,000.

Did I mention cattle barns? Another novelty:

the former cattle barn at what was once Meadowood Farm. This is quite off the beaten path for for me, (West of Waukegan) but if you should be shopping real estate this place is also on the market - for $1,799,000. I hear that the uniquely designed space is now quite livable. We would hope. There was actually a tour of some Meadowood cottages by the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation on September 12th, but I missed it.

Edith & Muriel

2010-09-15T09:01:00.003-05:00

I have been been delving extensively into my files in order to relocate pictures of Edith today. On the plus side, it affords me the opportunity to organize and clean up my documents! Following is a photo of Edith and Charles G. Dawes, who was Vice-President of the United States from 1925-1929 and U. S. Ambassador to Great Britain from 1929-1931. They are standing (Edith to his right) in an unidentified room in Chicago, Illinois, 1921.

Even more exciting for me this morning was finding this photo of Muriel taken in 1922:

Her father Harold is pictured behind her, and the man to her right is unidentified. Muriel is a challenge when it comes to photographs; although she could not completely keep herself out of the press, she did an extraordinary job when it came to not being photographed.

1000 Lake Shore Drive

2010-09-14T08:22:00.008-05:00

I was recently contacted by a fellow who is putting together a "labor-of-love documentary homage to James Joyce's Ulysses." Because Edith Rockefeller McCormick was a patron of Joyce, my contact is in need of photographs. As I started digging through my files, I found these pictures that were taken of Edith and Harold's Chicago residence. During this time, Lakeshore Drive (as named by Potter Palmer) was a relatively quiet boulevard used for carriage rides and strolls along the lakefront.

The front of the mansion faced North. The street in the foreground is Bellevue Place. This picture was taken in 1901.

Not long after Edith was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1930, her brother (John D. Rockefeller, Jr.) traveled to Chicago to convince her to vacate her beloved home and take a suite of rooms at the Drake Hotel. This was a forced economization, as Edith's mounting debts were believed to be a threat to the Rockefeller holdings. How awful it must have been for her to gaze out of the hotel windows and see her home and sanctum, with so many memories - less than 100 feet across the street.

Southern exposure.

The front gates on Bellevue Place .

The Lake Shore Drive exterior of the mansion. The figure in the lower right of the picture is facing West on Bellevue Place. This image was taken in 1907.

Incidentally, the house was designed by Solon Spencer Beman, who also designed the Fine Arts Building, (also know as the Studebaker Building) which still exists on Michigan Ave. Like so many other turn of the century homes, 1000 Lake Shore fell to the wrecking ball in order to construct 1000 Lake Shore Drive in 1953. (1000 Lake Shore Plaza was to follow in 1964.)

Villa Turiucm or Villa Lante?

2010-09-11T09:44:00.046-05:00

Charles Platt in his atelier during the late 1800's

Although Charles Platt is best remembered today for his landscapes and designs for country houses, in his time he was also renowned for his etchings, landscape paintings, photography, commercial architecture, and institutional projects. I find it attractive that he was largely self-taught in each of these disciplines. He built his his success (and there were many) on his ability to re-conceive the classical tradition in architecture for the needs and desires of his wealthy, powerful clients.

The garden pavilion (above and below) at Villa Lante, Bagnaia Italy

The tea house pavilion (above and below) at Villa Turicum

Villa Lante; stairs including balustrade, hedge, and villa

Villa Turicum; restored stairs

The Villa Lante watercourse.

As I was reading about him this morning, I was reminded of the obvious influence his travels and studies had on his work, especially with regard to Villa Turicum. Some of the following photos beg one to wonder, "Am I in Italy or at Villa Turicum?"

Villa Turicum watercourse in ruin...

and restored.

Mathilde

2010-09-02T23:57:00.006-05:00

Although Muriel is my favorite, I have a soft spot for Mathilde McCormick Oser. She was the youngest of Harold & Edith's children, and perhaps the one who gave her parents the most trouble of the social sort.

In July 1922 she hit the Chicago papers again with speculation of whether or not she was traveling to New York (the start of a trip to Europe) to meet her father in Paris, or travel on to Switzerland and marry Max Oser. She left Chicago alone, and she had no intention of giving anyone the reason for her departure. As she walked the platform to her train, she simply smiled at the barrage of press reporters and shook her head.

Max Oser, March 11, 1922 with his horse Taligny and his dog Feusi.

Mathilde posing with her horse in Hot Springs, VA in 1922.

The situation was thus; Mathilde had turned 16 that April. Max Oser, her Swiss riding instructor, was 44. Her mother Edith was none too amused, to the extent that she sought guardianship in court that previous May in order to block the impending wedding. Edith's arguments were many, but the primary one was that Max was, "without regular or certain income" and that his marriage to Mathilde would, "imperil certain property rights." She also cited the disparity in age, and she asked the court for a restraining order against, of all things the wedding itself. This was in response to the fact that Mathilde had applied for appointment of her father as her guardian. In court Edith my have stalled things, but ultimately she failed.

As Mathilde sailed for Europe aboard the Majestic, she sent out the following wireless message, "Mathilde McCormick wants the whole world to forget her and her affairs. America must quit bothering about me. Others have a right to do what they please and why should I not have the same right?"

Mathilde & Max visit her grandfather John D. Rockefeller in the 1930's with their children.

Onwentsia

2010-06-30T11:06:00.002-05:00

I was chatting with my friend Anna and she happened to mention a little silver bowl she has from the Onwentsia Club. As soon as she told me I knew what it was; one of the divine little "Pow Wow" bowls that were awarded in the early 1900's. What a treasure!

An Extraordinary Book

2010-05-19T23:13:00.007-05:00

I have a "new" book in my library:

With Stephen R. Higley's book Privilege, Power, and Place: The Geography of the American Upper Class (1995, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) we are given a rare look beyond the doormen and up the long driveways of the past. In the book, (In which Higley drew often upon the Social Register as a source for data) the McCormicks and Villa Turicum are of course mentioned:

"When Cyrus H. McCormick's brother Harold married Edith Rockefeller, it was heralded in the press as 'the marriage of the century,' uniting the Standard Oil fortune and the International Harvester fortune. Harold immediately began construction of a 44-room lakefront mansion, Villa Turicum, adjacent to his brother's Walden. At Villa Turicum one could choose between taking an elevator down nine stories to a lakefront beach-house or descending a winding double marble staircase with a cascading fountain between the steps to a stunningly beautiful pool hanging four stories abouve Lake Michigan. This was a choice that was seldom made, as 'the marriage of the century' broke up before the house was used. It was rarely occupied and the two million dollar home, it' s appraised three million dollar's worth of contents, and 206 lakefront acres were sold at the county sheriff's sale in October 1933 for $51,524."

Get Linked

2010-05-06T02:12:00.010-05:00

An anonymous commenter posted this link [CLICK HERE] in January to the site HistoricAerials.com, on which you can view aerial photography from the 1930's onward. This allows you to see the progressing decline of Villa Turicum from 1939 until 1961. I find the 1961 photo so sad, as the estate is in obvious decay, and the horrible lakefront erosion has yet to take it's toll on the property. One fascinating aspect is that from 1939 to 1946 very little changes. None-the-less, of course the estate slowly disappears, and the unavoidable Turicum subdivision takes hold. (Make sure to check out the various tools offered; the dissolve function is fascinating, and the distance function in the survey tools will astound you.) Thank you so much to anonymous!

Amazing Treasure

2010-05-01T22:39:00.009-05:00

While cleaning out one of my mom's garden sheds today, I made an astonishing find. I found a box filled with old magazines and newspapers.Or so I thought. When I looked closer, i discovered old drawings and a few photos that once belonged to my grandfather, David Henry Davis.

David was the son of a well known Chicago architect; Zachary Taylor Davis. I assume these childhood renderings are intended to hone my grandfather's draughting technique. (David Henry would become an engineer in adulthood)

Homework perhaps?

My grandfather spent a lifetime of designing and executing his own ship models completely from scratch, using only the finest materials. Now I know where it started; I found this pamphlet for decorative ship models dated 1923, published by The Architectural Record. The same publication that produced an article about Villa Turicum and it's gardens and grounds.

My grandfather was born 1 April, 1910. Today is 1 May, 2010. Interesting timing that indeed makes this find a treasure!

Exciting News

2010-02-10T09:49:00.009-06:00

I recently heard from Katherine Hale regarding a program about Villa Turicum, which I would like to do. Following is an excerpt from my correspondence with Katie.

The Historical Society will be putting up an exhibit of drawings and ink and gouache paintings from Lake Forest’s Foundation for Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The Foundation was active in the late 20’s and 30’s. It’s purpose was to nurture the collaboration between architect and landscape architect and to prepare promising beginning professionals through atelier-like group study with nationally known teachers. Winners were chosen annually for a year’s fellowship in Europe.

There are many drawings and paintings of Villa Turicum from that time, as well as of other estates. Some of these are framed and displayed in the south-east reference room at The Lake Forest Library. More are stored away in boxes in the library and at Lake Forest College. The Historical Society will be framing and exhibiting many of these images.

In conjunction with the upcoming exhibit we are trying to build a program/tour of some of the featured gardens – knowing that a few are complete and many only partially remain. We would love to include something on Villa Turicum.

Below is one of the images that she sent me; artwork from the Foundation of Architects and Landscape Architects.

A Great Letter

2009-11-21T10:30:00.001-06:00

My Dear Anna,

I received this from a couple (now married) who spent their childhoods playing in the ruins. I love getting stuff like this! Incidentally, any letters I put up on the site I keep anonymous. The "JG" is ----- -------- (-------- family) who I suspect was a playmate of K, and they both told me the same story about the lily pond. Muah! ~Todd

Todd,

How funny! I read J.G's letter and laughed. I'm trying to figure out who that is! (one of my neighbors, obviously!) My dog fell in the lily pond when she was a pup! I, too believed that the whole estate, the "tea house" and the servants' quadrangle, was populated by ghosts and by...horror of horrors, escaped prisoners who were rumored to run down the beach and climb up the stairs through the old elevator beside the pool, which was partially submerged.

I suppose you are aware that at one point, Tempel Smith tried to buy the estate for use as a Lipizzan and Haflinger farm; the idea was nixed by neighbors who were afraid of stable boys, manure and flies. One of my early memories is of a boy nicknamed Buzzy, who lived in the servants' quarters. He was, I believe, a policeman's son. I lived in the house that was the site of Cyrus H. Mc Cormick, Jr.'s greenhouses, directly to the west of the wall that bordered Walden's Fromal Garden. When my parents' house was sold, the front hall floor, made of ceramic tiles salvaged from Walden's exterior, laid smooth side-up, was destroyed and replaced by something that appealed to the new owner.

The disrespect that was shown to these grand old estates astounds me. I have to wonder who declared the main house of Villa Turicum "structurally unsound." I do know of the story that pride caused the destruction of Walden. How un-Waldenllike that thought is! It seems that these wealthy Chicagoans couldn't "get it, " because they couldn't buy it...and I'm not convinced they're doing any better these days. The only reassurance I have (having recently visited for a school reunion) is that the trees have taken over and the once-new homes have finally begun to recede into the landscape. However, there was a span of about twelve years (1956-1968 or thereabouts) when the estate sat undeveloped...a place for the homeless, if there were any, and for all the ghosties we dreamed up. It was also a perfect parking spot for young couples, at least until the police chased them off.

-K. S.

2008-02-19T15:39:00.001-06:00

I found these photos last night while doing some research. Chicagoan or not, I think you'll get a kick out of them.

My neighborhood, circa 1955. Notice the horrid 1000 Lake Shore building in the distance. (Palmolive to the right)

Old Chicago wouldn't be complete without the old Palmer mansion.

These pictures were taken in the 1940's.

Ugly, yes, but still a shame it was torn down in 1951.

Cyrus McCormick's mansion in McCormickville, (West of Michigan Ave.) torn down as well.

City skylines, circa 1950's.

Keep in mind that at this time Prudential was the tallest building in Chicago..

Exceptional Emeralds - Fascinating Women

2007-11-29T12:48:00.001-06:00

(Edith Rockefeller McCormick at the Pagent Vivant in 1907, sans emeralds)

Above is of course the infamous Barbara Hutton wearing the emerald tiara and earrings that once belonged to Edith. (Edith sold many of her jewels to Cartier in the early 1930's, in order to assuage debts. She died not long after)

I found a New York Times article written in 1922; that claims the emeralds once belonged to Catherine the Great, and had been sold to Carier's Paris branch by the revolutionary government. I can only guess that Edith read the article (or one similar) and decided that she had to have the stones.

The last known owner of the earrings is Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis.

From The Air

2007-10-16T15:50:00.000-05:00

My pal Greg in Indiana sent me the above snap (click to enlarge) today of Villa Turicum. I had never seen it before, but what is snazzy is that I always lamented that my photo below (primarily showing "Walden") only shows the Villa Turicum service court and gardens in the distance:

Thanks again Greg!

Monday, Oct. 08, 1928

2007-10-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

AGAIN, GANNA

Actors and esthetes and opera singers return to their stamping grounds in the autumn. As the leaves fall from the trees, to pile in crackling heaps on roadsides, the people of the artistic world gather themselves together, frayed with the merry ardours of the summer, into troublesome bunches, to be lifted and scattered by weird, enthusiastic winds. None should know all this better than Harold Fowler McCormick, the mildly extravagant reaper scion of Chicago.

He, in the days when he was relatively unsophisticated, married Edith Rockefeller and entered the bright, ineluctable world of fame and fashion which awaited him with terrible certainty from the day of his birth. Much later, still a little puzzled by celebrities, and somewhat irked by their cost, he married famed Ganna Walska, who astounded the world by frantic attempts to sing grand opera.

Now Harold F. McCormick knows what to expect in this most melancholy season of the year. Last fortnight, when he heard that Ganna Walska was coming back from Paris, he waited further developments with a heart made heavy by foreboding and cheered only by the vague hope that perhaps, this once, Ganna Walska would be able to come home, like other people, without eccentric fussing or publicity.

This vague hope, most notable as an indication of the heroic optimism which has always characterized the friendly Harold McCormick, was of course unjustified. Ganna Walska achieved, not merely the notoriety which generally attaches to her doings; before she had put foot on the U. S., she became a cause célèbre, a wronged woman, an international affair. In short, she surpassed herself and Harold McCormick's worst presentiments. Ganna Walska arrived with 15 trunks, containing, she said, $2,500,000 worth of personal effects; and when customs officials demanded that she pay duty of approximately $1,000,000 upon these, Ganna Walska refused to do so.

Her arguments were not entirely illogical. Ganna Walska said that she was a nonresident citizen; she pointed out that she was the owner of a residence, a beauty shop and a theatre in Paris and that her principal activities were carried out in that capital. Her entity was an individual one, not to be confused with that of her husband who could if he wished stay at home throughout the year. He was a resident but she was not. Since nonresidents do not pay customs duties, she would pay no such.

When the customs officials refused to allow this alibi, on the ground that wives, however undomestic, if not legally separated from their husbands, must share the citizenship of their men, Ganna Walska produced a lawyer who last week said he would appeal to Washington because:

"The enlightened and progressive conception of feminine rights has worn away every rule of law or custom which placed the wife in a different or less favorable position as a human being than her husband.

"The right to own and manage her own property, to retain her earnings and protect and safeguard her rights by the vote and otherwise has now become an accepted fact.

"The proposition that a wife is an independent thinking being whose wishes are not subordinate to those of her husband is now almost universally accepted as axiomatic."

Customs officials at Washington, unlike those at the Port of New York, showed some sympathy with this viewpoint. They admitted solemnly that for several years the right has been recognized of a woman of foreign birth (Ganna Walska is a Pole) who married a U. S. citizen to retain her own nationality together with its privileges. In addition they confessed that there were precedents for a U. S. citizen who has established legal residence abroad (as Ganna Walska has done in Paris) bringing personal effects to the U. S. without paying duty.

While her position grew thus to appear more tenable, Ganna Walska adopted different and less characteristic tactics. She went down to where her trunks were being held and proved that most of the private fortune which they contained she had taken with her away from the U. S. on the occasion of her departure in 1925. This accomplished, she took most of the things away with her; the crisis of Ganna Walska's dresses and jewels dwindled into an almost entirely theoretical question of "women's rights." Harold McCormick, who by this time had gladly produced an affidavit corroborating his wife's statement that she lived abroad, was doubtless glad to see the rumpus dwindle, even after so hideous a sputter, to a conclusion that did not include a senate investigation or even a hanging.

Bubbling with conceit and excitement, Ganna Walska revealed her true self, a feat which Harold McCormick has never been able to achieve, to reporters in Chicago. "My object in this world," she said, "is to think new thoughts."

Monday, Nov. 22, 1926

2007-09-13T16:04:00.000-05:00

Royalty Rambles

"As one queen to another, Denver greeted Marie of Rumania." Thus, one day last week, the Denver Post, self-styled "The Best Newspaper in the U. S.A." touched off its red-spattered front page. The city, its major streets decked with bunting in the Rumanian colors (red, blue and yellow), accorded Her Majesty perhaps the warmest welcome she had received on her American tour (TIME, Oct. 18 et seq.).

At Omaha the National Convention of Hoboes adopted last week a resolution: "It is offensive to us that the railways are providing free transportation to Queen Marie while our members are obliged to steal rides at great risk of life and limb."

From Hastings, Neb., Her Majesty spoke over a broadcasting hook-up with Eastern radio stations to His Majesty Ferdinand I., King of Rumania, who listened in at Bucharest. Said Queen Marie: "My King, it seems incredible that I should be able to talk to you from a far away land." King Ferdinand, unprovided with a trans-Atlantic patent transmitter, could not reply.

At Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Albert Isaac Beach declared at the height of a spontaneously enthusiastic reception: "This is the greatest day in the history of Kansas City!"

At St. Louis Queen Marie acted as godmother for a child of Rumanian parentage, two-year-old Marie Weber of Smackover, Ark. Before the St. Louis Women's Clubs luncheon, Her Majesty said: "I am struck with the wonderful lives of the women here."

Arriving at Chicago Queen Marie halted for a longer time than at any other stop except Manhattan: four days.

A luncheon in Her Majesty's honor at the greystone mansion of Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick was actually if not officially the focus of the Chicago stop. While the ever present Rockefeller-McCormick special police prowled, the Rockefeller-McCormick gold plate was laid out for a luncheon of 80 covers. Various McCormicks, several of the Armours, and Prince and Princess Cantacuzene provided the background of local aristocracy. At the Queen's table, beaming with good nature, sat "Sam" Hill, rich railway tycoon, who had rushed to Chicago from Seattle in his private car. He has followed Queen Marie about the country, sometimes in his private car, sometimes on her private train, and announced last week his intention of continuing this procedure until Her Majesty sails for Europe in December.

Chicago Tribune columnist R. H. L. (Richard Henry Little) implored his fellow citizens last week as follows:

Now daylight bandits, a word to you,

Don't fill us full of shame

By stealing from the railroad tracks

The Queen's own special train.

Today let's don't be rude or mean,

There's naught could be absurder,

Let's keep our faces bright and clean,

And boys—now, please, no murder.

To refresh herself prior to visiting the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, Queen Marie hastened to the Chicago Racquet Club, donned a modish bathing garment, swam with vigor for ten minutes in the pool. Hastening to Gary, she viewed the mechanical operations of steel working from a glass-inclosed moving observation platform, but descended from it to stand beside the thrilling cascades of moulten metal. Amid the glare of the furnaces her regal and commanding presence was revealed at last in an approximately iridescent milieu.

Hot Wheels

2007-09-11T12:57:00.000-05:00

I have had this photo on file quite some time as I knew there was a tale behind it related to Edith Rockefeller McCormick. I recently discovered the source of the photo, with the attached story concerning the Brander family of Chicago.

The Brander family were in the banking business, & they were close friends of the J.P. Morgans and the Rockefellers. Concerning the Rockefellers, a relative wrote:

One of the fun stories that went with the V-16 was that the Cadillac agency phoned my grandmother asking if they could have her car for a day to show Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick, so she could have an identical car made. My grandmother told them that Mrs. Rockefeller should have her own car made, not a copy of my grandmother's car. (Incidentally...they were very close friends.)

1 July, 1929

2007-09-10T15:22:00.000-05:00

Heiress, Inc.

The conventional modes of employing great wealth have not appealed to Edith, daughter of John D. Rockefeller, one-time wife of Harold Fowler McCormick, lion huntress, psychoanalyst, philanthropist, social arbiter. Her method of using her money was to incorporate herself. In 1923 she organized the Edith Rockefeller McCormick Trust, capitalized with a five-million-dollar contribution from her and $1,500 apiece from Chicago realtors Edwin D. Krenn and Edward A. Dato. Last week the E. R. M. Trust announced a new financing of eleven million dollars in five year 6% gold notes, "unconditionally guaranteed as to payment of principal and interest by Edith Rockefeller McCormick." The notes are secured by Edith Rockefeller McCormick's holdings in Standard Oil Companies of New Jersey,

New York, Indiana, Ohio, California; Union Tank Car Co., Vacuum Oil Co., Atlantic Refining Co., Illinois Pipe Line Co., Continental Oil Co., Columbia Gas and Electric Corp.

Proceeds of the issue will be applied to the operation and expansion of the Trust's real estate, which is mostly in north side Chicago property. The Trust has developed many a Chicago subdivision, has bought up many a Gold Coast home and erected apartment buildings on the sites. Thus all U. S. citizens with $1,000 or multiples thereof have the opportunity to make a conservative short-term investment with no tremendous yield but with almost governmental safety.

Lake Shore Drive 1926

2007-08-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

Looking north from the Drake Hotel in 1926 is a portion of the famous 'Gold Coast' before the days of the double drive. The home of Edith Rockefeller McCormick is seen at the left, at Bellevue Place and the Oak Street Beach at the right.

August 25th 2007

2007-08-25T02:01:00.000-05:00

Edith Rockefeller McCormick

b 31 August 1872 - d 25 August 1932

Enjoy Your Week-End

2007-08-24T13:26:00.001-05:00

Edith's Desk

2007-08-23T11:27:00.000-05:00

This desk was once a part of Villa Turicum. I am currently researching it for a woman who is moving it to California. (So many Villa Turicum articles have made their way there.)

1 August, 1932

2007-08-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

Dowager at the Drake

A pale, ailing dowager who bears an increasing resemblance to her father, John Davison Rockefeller, was installed in a four-room suite at Chicago's Drake Hotel last week. The rooms, overlooking Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan's wave-rimmed shore, were so expensive that many persons would be glad to call them "home." But to Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick the move was a heartbreaking acquiescence to the condition she always speaks of as "the change." Once worth 40, 50, perhaps 60 million dollars, last week in her 60th year she found her tremendous fortune largely vanished.

"To say that Mrs. McCormick is broke is absurd," protested a plumpish, rosy-cheeked' little man who is seen with Mrs. McCormick almost every day. "When one is broke one cannot meet one's obligations. Mrs. McCormick can meet hers."

It was Mrs. McCormick's obligations which led her into her stringency. They began to arise in 1921 when she and the plumpish little man began doing business. He is Edwin D. Krenn, reputedly 37 years old, a Swiss architect. He and his future patroness met while they were studying at Dr. Jung's clinic of psychology in Zurich in 1913. He was with Mrs. McCormick when she returned to the U. S. in 1921. That year he formed the real estate firm of Krenn & Dato, in which Mrs. McCormick is thought to have invested $13,000,000. Although at one time it employed hundreds of salesmen, to whom Mrs. McCormick on occasion gave "pep talks," it has not been strikingly successful.

In 1923 she formed a trust bearing her name to consolidate, operate and develop some of her real estate properties which as late as 1931 were valued at $12,000,000. They consisted chiefly of office buildings in the business district, subdivisions at Highland Park Highlands, Edithton (named for her) Beach and a section near Evanston. In 1929 the Trust needed new working capital, had to pay off bank loans. Mrs. McCormick endorsed an $11,000,000 bond issue which was further secured by $18,000,000 worth of securities, chiefly in Standard Oil of New Jersey.* When 15,000 tenants found themselves unable to pay rent she was unwilling to evict them. The Trust's income and securities both began to fall. The securities were sold to pay the bond issue. Bank loans were called. Mrs. McCormick met her obligations but in doing so had to place a $220,000 mortgage on her Lake Forest home and a $557,500 mortgage on the mansion at No. 1000 Lake Shore Drive which was a wedding present from her father. Now, on sunny days, she sometimes leaves the Drake to cross the Drive and enter the garden of her closed home. She must often muse over the scenes behind the foreboding Romanesque walls of grey stone when she was Chicago's No. 1 Hostess, serving meals off gold plates, discussing her favorite subjects of art, astrology, numerology, "synthetic psychology." Mrs. McCormick is not left lonely in her adversity. Mr. Krenn is as constant a companion as ever although until Mrs. McCormick recovers her health they will not be seen as of old in the neighborhood cinema, where they sat always in the back row, or at the theatre, chatting in German. Mrs. McCormick's brother, John D. Jr., recently rushed to Chicago to advise her, the first time he had seen her since she returned to the U. S. in 1921 with Mr. Krenn. Although Brother John is not thought to have aided his sister to a great extent, the reconciliation is said to be such that soon she may pay a visit to the Rockefeller Patriarch at Pocantico Hills. Chicago imagines that when she does, Mr. Krenn will not accompany her. For much as the Rockefellers respect his untiring devotion, and his confidence that she "will again be the richest woman in Chicago," they have had small respect for the business advice he gave the Dowager at the Drake.

*The bulk of Mrs. McCormick's fortune is in Standard Oil of Indiana, in which she is the largest shareholder. The company's dividend is now $1 annually against a regular dividend of $2.50 in 1929.

Mark Your Calendars

2007-08-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

I've been communicating with the Director of Programs at Lake Forest - Lake Bluff Historical Society this summer. For those of you who might not be familiar with the organization here's an excerpt of their storey:

On January 6, 1972, the Lake Forester and the Lake Bluff Review carried an article, which stated, “In the midst of change, Lake Forest has a unique past, one which should not be forgotten. Surprisingly, Lake Forest is one of the few communities in the area without a historical society.” Almost simultaneously, the same thought occurred to several civic-minded residents of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, and they determined to remedy the situation by forming a local historical society. The first board met on April 22, 1972. One of the society’s first official projects was to support the saving of The Evergreens, a mid-nineteenth century estate.

Fast forward to this summer, in which the Society's event was tours of the Lasker Estate. This successful event led to an idea for next summer's agenda; "What about a program devoted to one of Lake Forest's lost estates - say, Villa Turicum? They did a google search which of course led them to the Villa Turicum website, and then on to me. I'm pleased to say that I have decided to contribute my time and research and materials to the effort.

I will keep you all posted as things develop, and those of you with information or photos (I'm planning to do a slideshow presentation) that could be of help would greatly be appreciated.

Oh yes. I titled this post, "Mark Your Calendars" didn't I? The LFLBHS Fall Benefit is just around the corner:

FALL BENEFIT
Thursday September 27, 2007
Save the Date!
Luncheon and Silent Auction at Shoreacres
Guest Speaker Caroline Preston, author of Gatsby’s Girl

I'll see you there!

Welcome

2007-08-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

This is my first post for the newly constructed Villa Turicum blog. This site is an offshoot of the more established website, http://villaturicum.com/. I created the Villa blog to keep people up-to-date on events and my discoveries concerning that magical place of Edith's. This also serves as a forum to express myself more casually concerning the estate; allowing all elements of me and my research concerning Villa Turicum.

What I am most excited about is this this blog presents the opportunity for you, the reader, to become involved as well. The comment section at the bottom of each post shall always remain open and unedited. The entire blog is designed for all of us to exchange ideas and opinions about the McCormicks, Edith, Harold, the Villa, Platt - you name it.

I look forward to serving you in the future as your blog administrator and acquaintance.

-Todd