{"nrhp_refnum":"03000784","name":"Palmolive Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"919 N. Michigan Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.899868851000065,"lon":-87.62392377999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 37-story Art Deco skyscraper at 919 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, designed by Holabird and Root and completed in the late 1920s, with a 150-foot beacon mast bringing its height to 620 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a fully realized, mature example of the Art Deco skyscraper in Chicago. Its four facades are unusually integrated, with undulating bays and smoothly rendered zoning setbacks emphasizing verticality. It is also considered among the most exemplary works of Holabird and Root, and it retains excellent integrity.","narrative":"Rising thirty-seven stories at the corner of North Michigan Avenue and Walton Street, this Art Deco office tower was designed by the Chicago firm Holabird and Root. Its steel frame is clad in Indiana limestone, with dark terra cotta spandrels decorated with stylized papyrus patterns set between projecting bays. Six setbacks and alternating recessed and projecting bays give all four facades a strong vertical emphasis, and a 150-foot steel and aluminum mast once carried a powerful aviation beacon. Inside, the original nickel staircase and carved elevator panels by sculptor Enrique Alferez survive, along with traditional-style executive offices on the top floor. The ground floors were remodeled in the 1960s and 1982, and the upper windows were replaced in 1982 with similar sash. The nomination values the tower as a mature example of Chicago's Art Deco skyscrapers, notable for its integrated design, its prominent setting at the top of Michigan Avenue, and its smoothly handled setbacks, and it considers the building one of the architects' finest late-1920s works.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Holabird and Root","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as retaining excellent integrity, with the lobby and retail spaces under renovation and a refurbished 1944 beacon awaiting mounting atop the mast.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.033385-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/32/8919/28891932/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/03000784.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000784/f6d31d500b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000784/f6d31d500b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmolive_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmolive_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891932","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmolive_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3387206"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/palmolive-building-03000784/"}