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Chicago’s Lost Gilded Age Mansions

This House

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Chicago once had castles. Before steel-and-glass towers took over the skyline, Prairie Avenue and the Gold Coast were lined with Gilded Age mansions, most now gone.

Featured lost mansions & sites in this video:

Marshall Field Mansion
George Pullman Mansion
John G. Shedd Mansion
Perry H. Smith Mansion
Cyrus McCormick Sr. Mansion
Cyrus McCormick Jr. House
Potter Palmer Mansion
William Borden Mansion
Edith Rockefeller McCormick’s Chicago home
Villa Turicum (Lake Forest)

Location: Chicago, IL

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Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress
Assets from: Envato Elements
Music from Epidemic Sound

20 Comments

@DebbieBaker-vj2ng 7 months ago

I cannot imagine how it feels to live in such a huge home. So sad they were lost.

@tamcon72 7 months ago

The destruction of so much excellent craftmanship is sickening. There, I said it. Thanks for posting!

@jasonolszanicky4035 7 months ago

Sad that these homes couldn't be preserved. But thank you for sharing our history with us.

@clairwaucaush7225 7 months ago

Ken you should do a 'This House' book with lots of pictures of these old mansions.

@jport74 7 months ago (edited)

My Great Great Grandfather Herbig immigrated from Austria and was a woodcarver and cabinet maker in Chicago. He carved the lions on the staircase and other carvings in the Palmer mansion seen in the video at 10:28. I have the carving tools that were used, passed down to me from my Uncle. I grew up hearing stories of the Palmer Castle and my Grandfather driving by it with my Father and Uncle before it was taken down. My Grandfather even worked as a kid in his Grandfather's cabinet shop. Great video of Chicago's mansions.

@dianespease412 7 months ago

I guess the one upside to all the high rise buildings of today is that it will not be so sad when they are torn down. So sad the artistry of so many mansions is gone.

@anteeker 5 months ago

The Pullman mansion was always one of my favorite houses. At least parts of it still can be found.

@jenpink4298 7 months ago

Such gorgeous buildings, But I can’t wrap my mind around living in one as a home.

@mitchellbarnow1709 7 months ago

What an incredible collection of Gilded Age mansions! I kept hoping that you would surprise us with news that one of these mansions survived, but no such luck. It’s incredibly expensive to keep these places from falling apart without constant maintenance and upgrades. I am thankful for every one of those mansions that do survive and will continue to survive in the USA.

@rugerroo3464 7 months ago

Glad the pictures are there for us to see.

@jasonwomack4064 7 months ago

I'd love to see a video discussing the major causes of the nation's mansions being lost. Torn down for a bigger one, fire, money dried up, increasing tax liability, etc.

@jamespeltzer5380 5 days ago

It’s crazy how many of these were torn down in the 1950s.

@antonlavey5540 7 months ago

Sadly every major city had its millionaires row and have lost probably 90% of the grand old estates of the Gilded Age.

@dionmarkadonis9146 1 month ago

I live north of Chicago. Did billiard table repair with my family.
Been inside a few awesome properties. Coolest for me was the guy that invented the twist off lid for the ketchup bottle.
Had a dungeon in the basement.

William P. White founded the Chicago-based White Cap Company, which famously revolutionized the food packaging industry by inventing and popularizing the commercial "Twist-Off" metal vacuum cap

@thomascoffin4799 7 months ago

It's a shame [criminal????] the way American cities like New York and Chicago consider Gilded Age architecture as disposable....

@doylefoust4802 7 months ago

I don't think I could choose I love them all😊

@jtlynn23 7 months ago (edited)

The Glessner House on Prairie Avenue has been restored and is open for tours. They are an amazing resource for the history of the district. They are online, and very much worth checking out.