If there is one
thing that is more fascinating to me than the architecture of Chicago, it is
the story that lies behind each building. Every structure, no matter how grand
or mean, was designed, built and inhabited by real people, each of whom has a
life story that fades over time.
We can’t know the
whole story, of course, but occasionally we get small glimpses that humanize
the ghosts of the past and make them come alive again.
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| 629 W. Fullerton (JWB, 2010) |
Take one small
example – the Ernest Ammon house at 629 West Fullerton Avenue, an attractive
Queen Anne residence of limestone and red granite, finished in 1889. The AIA Guide to Chicago considers it important enough to list
although there is no description of the property, just the architect, address,
Mr. Ammon’s name and the date the home was completed, 1889.
The architectural
firm of Fromann and Jebsen designed 629 West Fullerton. Emil Henry Fromann, who lived to be
90-years-old and died in 1950, was the son of a German immigrant, architect
George N. Fromann. The elder
Fromann moved to Chicago from Peoria in 1871, drawn by the massive
reconstruction that followed the Chicago fire of that year. Little is known
about Ernst Jebsen, the other partner in the firm. [www.scribd.com]
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| Schuba's at Belmont & Southport (Photo courtesy of Forgotten Chicago.com) |
We don’t hear much
at all these days about Fromann and Jebsen, but it must have been a firm that
was busy and well-off. From 1877
to 1906 the firm designed 27 buildings for Edward Uihlein and the Schlitz
Brewing Company, many of these buildings “tied houses,” taverns that carried
the Schlitz name and sold the company’s beer. Schuba’s at the corner of Belmont and Southport, finished in
1903, is one such Fromann and Jebsen tied house.
The firm took on a
variety of other commissions throughout the city. And the designs were wildly diverse, ranging from Tudor to
Gothic Revival and Empire styles to the Arts and Crafts and Prairie styles of
the early 20th century.
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| Humboldt Park Receptory and Stables (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia.com) |
Without a doubt the
most lasting and conspicuous commission of Fromann and Jebsen was the 1895
Humboldt Park Receptory and Stables.
The structure, which originally housed stables, a reception area and a
comfort station, is a feast for aesthetic eyeballs, a riotous combination of
turrets and gables complete with a wagon wheel and horse’s head at the peak of the
half-timbered reception wing’s roofline.
Fromann and Jebsen
. . . one aspect of the story of 629 West Fullerton.
But you keep
looking . . . the AIA Guide to Chicago lists the original owner – this Ernest Ammon guy, obviously a
gentleman well off enough to hire an architect of some repute to design a home
for him out in Lakeview Township. (Chicago annexed the township in 1889, the
same year that the home was completed . . . so the lot must have been purchased
before the annexation when Lakeview was a sleepy town out in the country).
 |
| JWB, 2010 |
Unlike many Chicago
residents of the late nineteenth century, Ernest hasn’t left a whole lot of
information for us over a century later.
And then,
unexpectedly, way back in the Google pages, a reference – a case that came
before the Supreme Court of the United States in April of 1892. It seems that our Mr. Ammon had sued
one Aut Miller, “a citizen and resident of Wisconsin,” seeking $5,287 for
“1,125 gallons of sherry wine and 1,100 gallons of port wine” that Mr. Miller
had entered into a contract to purchase and for which Miller had not rendered payment.
The lower courts
found in favor of Ammon and awarded him the money. But Mr. Miller balked and the Supreme Court ended up with
the sherry and port dumped in its docket.
It seems that our
guy Ammon had neglected to purchase a license, required under Chicago law, the
law stating, “No person, firm, or corporation shall sell or offer for sale any
spirituous or vinous liquors in quantities of one gallon or more at a time,
within the city of Chicago, without having first obtained a license therefor
from the city of Chicago.” [United States Supreme Court Reports, Volume 36]
 |
| JWB, 2010 |
So Mr. Ammon had
skipped the 250 bucks for the license and . . . wouldn’t you know it, a
contract that is entered into in violation of the law cannot be enforced. So Ammon was out the $5,287, not to
mention close to 2,500 gallons of wine.
Wisconsin wins
again.
It is stories like
these that make the walk through architectural history so fascinating.
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