{"nrhp_refnum":"01000649","name":"Chicago Varnish Company Building","other_names":["Varnish Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"33 W. Kinzie St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.88903094700004,"lon":-87.62936278099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-06-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-and-one-half-story red brick and limestone commercial building at 33 West Kinzie Street, Chicago, at the southeast corner of Kinzie and Dearborn streets in River North. It was completed in 1895 to designs by Henry Ives Cobb.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant under Criterion C as an example of Dutch Renaissance Revival architecture and as the work of architect Henry Ives Cobb. In a neighborhood of plain, utilitarian loft buildings, it stood out for its fine brick and stonework and its animated stepped-gable roofline.","narrative":"Standing at the southeast corner of Kinzie and Dearborn streets in Chicago's River North area, this four-and-one-half-story building was completed in 1895 for the Chicago Varnish Company. Henry Ives Cobb, whose firm was among the largest in the city, designed it in the Dutch Renaissance Revival style. Red pressed brick walls are trimmed with grey limestone quoins, sill and lintel courses, and radiating voussoirs, while a steep red tile roof carries stepped gables, dormers and roundel windows. The company used it for offices, a showroom, distribution, and a well-known display of fossil resins. After the company left in 1910, the building served food-processing firms and, since 1971, a series of restaurants. Its main entry has been relocated, and the interior has been much altered, but the exterior remains largely intact. It was valued for its refined craftsmanship amid the plain warehouses and lofts of the surrounding district, and as an example of Cobb's work.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Henry Ives Cobb (architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Dutch Renaissance Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently used for commerce as a restaurant (since 1971); interior altered, exterior windows are 1986 replicas, and a non-contributing two-story addition adjoins the north side.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.370104-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/8919/28891981/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/01000649.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000649/dddaf61ad9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000649/dddaf61ad9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Victorgrigas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Varnish_Co._Building_Sign_Chicago_June_30,_2012-16.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Victorgrigas</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Varnish_Co._Building_Sign_Chicago_June_30,_2012-16.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891981","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Varnish_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5095830"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/chicago-varnish-company-building-01000649/"}