{"nrhp_refnum":"88003311","name":"Hotel St. Benedict Flats","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"40, 42, 50 E. Chicago Ave., 801 N. Wabash Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.89706308800004,"lon":-87.62642801499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-09-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick and limestone \"French flat\" apartment building at the northeast corner of Chicago Avenue and Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, designed in the Victorian Gothic style and built in 1882-83.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion C as a work by architect James J. Egan, an Irish immigrant noted mainly for church design. It was also an early and large example of the \"French flat\" apartment type that spread during Chicago's rebuilding after the 1871 fire. Its design makes one large building look like several separate houses.","narrative":"Built in 1882-83 at the northeast corner of Chicago and Wabash Avenues, this four-story L-shaped building was designed as a 36-unit \"French flat\" apartment house, despite its \"Hotel\" name. A slate mansard roof with pressed metal trim, rock-face limestone at the base, red face brick, incised limestone lintels, small balconies and carved entrance entablatures with polished granite columns give it a polychromatic Victorian Gothic look. Architect James J. Egan, an Irish immigrant best known for church work, designed it for developer and contractor Patrick J. Sexton, who bought the land from the Benedictines. The \"hotel\" label reflected a way of working around an 1872 Illinois law that limited corporations. The building matters as an early, large example of the flat buildings that rose during Chicago's rebuilding after the 1871 fire, and its entrances and massing make it resemble four separate houses. The first floor now holds shops and a restaurant, while the upper floors remain apartments.","period_of_significance":"1882-1883","architect_builder":"Architect: James J. Egan; Builder: Patrick J. Sexton","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Gothic (Victorian Gothic)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Mixed use: apartments above, with retail businesses and a restaurant on the first floor and basement levels; the form describes good integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.408741-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/8920/28892046/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/88003311.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88003311/f593a1463f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88003311/f593a1463f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Alanscottwalker","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_St_Benedict_Flats.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Alanscottwalker</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:Hotel_St_Benedict_Flats.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892046","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_St._Benedict_Flats","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48810471"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/hotel-st-benedict-flats-88003311/"}