Throughout Chicago, historic mansions built by legendary architects
were the homes to characters just as great and whose impact is still
felt today.
Chicago is known throughout the world for its architecture. Although
many people are familiar with the city's skyscrapers and public
buildings, they often overlook or are unaware of Chicago's mansions that
are located throughout the city. These mansions represent Chicago's past
and its future, and it can even be said that they are the very
embodiment of Chicago and its architecture. These fashionable residences
were built to make a statement, and what better way to have done this
than to employ the leading architects of the time to design them. These
architects included men such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright,
Henry Hobson Richardson, Daniel Burnham, and John Wellborn Root. While
the city's mansions are significant because of who built them, they are
just as important because of who lived in them. Many of these mansions
were built for Chicago's elite businessmen and captains of industry-men
who represented old money, new money and big money. Just as important
were the families of these men and the other residents who came to live
in these mansions-for they left a legacy of their own that contributed
to the city's history.