Madlener, Albert F., House
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Why it's listed
Built in 1902 at 4 West Burton, at the corner of State Street and Burton Place in Chicago, this three-story house was designed by Hugh M.G. Garden while he worked in Richard E. Schmidt's office. Its walls are warm, narrow brick with patterned rectangles on the top floor, trimmed in buff Indiana limestone, beneath a hip roof with a simple limestone cornice. The entrance has a limestone enframement incised with Sullivanesque ornament, and some windows suggest a modified Chicago window. The house is regarded as a high point of Chicago residential design and a distinguished example of Prairie School architecture. A 1905 article by Russell Sturgis compared its cubical mass to a Renaissance palazzo while noting that it was not traditional in design, and its masonry bearing walls are expressed clearly on the exterior. The Graham Foundation later restored it, mainly inside, creating a library, galleries and a lecture hall in the former ballroom. The building remains in excellent, largely unaltered condition.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the house as a high point of Chicago residential architecture and a distinguished example of the Prairie School. Its geometric simplicity, wide cornice, fine detailing and exposed masonry bearing-wall structure tie it to that movement. Contemporary critics Russell Sturgis and Arthur David, and historian H. Allen Brooks, praised it.
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 70000234, listed October 15, 1970. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 4 W. Burton St., Chicago |
|---|---|
| County | Cook County |
| Listed | October 15, 1970 |
| Reference number | 70000234 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1902 |
| Architect / builder | Hugh M.G. Garden (designed while in the office of Richard E. Schmidt) |
| Architectural style | Prairie School / Chicago School |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Excellent and unaltered condition on its original site; owned by the Graham Foundation, which restored it with mostly interior changes and uses it for a library, offices, exhibition galleries and a lecture hall. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Within district | Gold Coast Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.90966, -87.62908 (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 70000234.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6728263
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.