{"nrhp_refnum":"71000291","name":"Kimball, William W., House","other_names":["Cahner's Publishing Company, Inc."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1801 S. Prairie Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.85683669000008,"lon":-87.62013083699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Chateauesque mansion of Bedford limestone over a wood frame at 1801 South Prairie Avenue, Chicago, built 1890-92 for piano maker William W. Kimball and designed by Solon S. Beman.","why_significant":"Chicago historian John Drury cited it as the city's finest example of the French Chateau style, and its significance as a typical example of that style is recognized nationally. It is also nearly the last surviving evidence, apart from the Glessner House, of Prairie Avenue's peak as Chicago's foremost residential street in the 1880s and 1890s. It reflects a way of life long gone and stands near the site of the Fort Dearborn Massacre.","narrative":"Built in 1890-92 at 1801 South Prairie Avenue in Chicago, this three-story mansion was commissioned by William W. Kimball, founder of a piano and organ manufacturing company, and designed by architect Solon S. Beman. Its Bedford limestone walls cover a wood frame and rise to a steep slate roof of hipped, gabled and conical forms, with dormers, tall chimneys, finials and an iron-railed gallery. Beman patterned it after the Chateau de Josselin in Brittany. Inside, the main rooms keep their oak and mahogany paneling, beamed ceilings, onyx fireplaces and carved main staircase, though some rooms have been subdivided. Historian John Drury called it Chicago's finest example of the French Chateau style, and architectural historian Marcus Whiffen illustrated the Chateauesque style with it. It is also one of the last reminders of Prairie Avenue's era as the city's leading residential street, where neighbors included Marshall Field, Philip Armour and George Pullman.","period_of_significance":"1890-92 (19th Century)","architect_builder":"Solon S. Beman, architect","architectural_style":"Chateauesque (French Chateau; 16th Century Francis I style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in excellent condition, with an unaltered exterior and altered interior; occupied and in commercial use by a publishing company at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.616825-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/8922/28892226/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/71000291.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000291/bcae71636b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000291/bcae71636b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"User:TonyTheTiger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070110_United_States_Soccer_Federation.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">User:TonyTheTiger</a>, <a href=\"http://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:20070110_United_States_Soccer_Federation.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892226","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Kimball_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16893453"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/kimball-william-w-house-71000291/"}