Groesbeck, Abraham, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1869 at 1304 West Washington Boulevard, this red brick Italianate town house on Chicago's Near West Side served as both home and medical office for Dr. Abraham Groesbeck. The flat-roofed, three-and-a-half-story building has tall round-arched windows, a limestone foundation story and a deep bracketed wood cornice. A two-story brick coach house sits at the rear of the lot. Inside, a central hall plan, original marble fireplaces and later 1890s additions such as lincrusta wainscoting, parquetry floors and spindlework remain. Washington Street was once among the city's most exclusive residential addresses, but most of its early mansions were lost to commercial and industrial development. Only this house and a neighboring residence with poorer integrity survive in the surrounding area from before the 1871 fire. Its exceptional integrity and typical Italianate features make it a rare record of that period, and it is significant for its architecture at the local level.
Significance in brief: The house is argued to be an excellent, well-preserved example of an Italianate town house from before the 1871 Chicago Fire. It is one of the few surviving remnants of the fashionable post-Civil War residential neighborhood along Washington Street. Its largely unaltered plan also reflects the home and medical office of Dr. Abraham Groesbeck, an early Chicago physician.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 92001841, listed February 4, 1993. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1304 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago |
|---|---|
| County | Cook County |
| Listed | February 4, 1993 |
| Reference number | 92001841 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1869-1900 |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to commercial use on the first floor and apartments above; listed as vacant in current function, and described as being carefully rehabilitated while remaining multifamily. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.88309, -87.65992 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 92001841.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5610102
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.