Glessner House

Our online auction ends at 5:00pm Chicago time! Don't miss your chance to bid on a variety of terrific items ranging from a Rome vacation to a high tea at the Charnley-Persky House, plus wine packages, a pamper yourself package, and tickets to a variety of tours and experiences. Click here to place your bids and good luck! https://event.auctria.com/79d7a15d-9840-4f0f-a28e-dc4ca3e64fca/

Photo Friday!

This week’s Photo Friday shows the west elevation of the house, facing towards the alley. The larger first floor windows, at left, illuminated the carriage room, while the smaller windows, at right, were set one above each horse stall. The second floor, with a saltbox roof at left, contains windows and an access door to the hayloft. The photo by James Caulfield is featured in our newest publication, H. H. Richardson’s Glessner House: A Guide Book, available in our online store at https://www.glessnerhouse.org/online-store.

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The Chen String Quartet
Our first classical courtyard concert on Thursday, June 11 features the Chen String Quartet, led by Robert Chen, concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Doors open at 6:00pm, with music starting at 6:30pm. Bring your chairs, blanket, picnic basket, and favorite beverage, and enjoy a beautiful evening of music in our intimate courtyard. Purchase tickets online at https://www.glessnerhouse.org/events/courtyard-concert/the-chen-string-quartet.

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Online auction
Our annual online auction opens today, June 1, at 9:00am CDT, and will close on Monday, June 8 at 5:00pm CDT. The auction includes 35 items ranging from a two-week Rome vacation to the use of the elegant Glessner House dining room for a private dinner, plus a variety of tours and experiences, sports memorabilia, dining and lodging, and more! Visit https://www.glessnerhouse.org/2026-gala-online-auction to view the items and place your bids. Good luck!


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Photo Friday
This week’s Photo Friday shows a detail from the Steinway & Sons piano located in the parlor. The Model C semi-concert grand piano was the second largest size produced by Steinway. Francis Bacon of A. H. Davenport & Co. designed the mahogany case, which features inlaid wood and mother-of-pearl, as seen in this image of the center of the fallboard, located over the keyboard.

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Century of Progress:

The Century of Progress World’s Fair opened in Chicago on May 27, 1933 – 93 years ago today. The Fair was located along the lakefront south of downtown. This aerial view shows a portion of the fairgrounds; Glessner House is located in the upper lefthand portion of the image at Prairie Avenue and 18th Street, the latter being one of the main entrances into the fair. As estimated 22.5 million people attended the fair that year.

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Memorial Day:

In honor of Memorial Day, we present this Revolutionary War marker which is located on the grave of William Wood (1736-1806), one of Frances Macbeth Glessner’s great-grandfathers. Private Wood served in Captain Jacob Cisna’s Company in the 2nd Battalion from Washington County, Pennsylvania. He is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Whiteley Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, beside his wife Margaret who died in 1846 at the age of 101.

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Photo Friday:

This week’s Photo Friday celebrates National Preservation Month with this view of the parlor restoration in 2011. The canvas wallcovering, shown here during installation, was recreated by Grammar of Ornament in Denver, Colorado, using two different stencils and exactly replicating the seven layers of metallic paints and glazes used by the original artist, William Pretyman, in 1892.

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