December 2, 1945 – Before it falls to the wreckers, the mansion of Cyrus
Hall McCormick at 675 North Rush Street is opened to Chicago Daily Tribune reporter Edward Barry for one last look. Barry writes, “To a person entering the old
house suddenly from the busy streets of the near north side the impression was
strong that he had stepped into a more tranquil, a more spacious age. Before him heavy walls of mellow walnut
converged toward the fireplace set into the far wall . . . In an austere room
to the right of the entrance hall were found the objects of art which the
McCormicks brought back with them from their trips to Europe, and had sent to
them from the ends of the earth. China
of every imaginable design huddled under dust cloths . . . The deserted rooms
were empty and cold. Where open fires
formerly crackled and laughter resounded there was nothing to be heard but the
hushed voice of the traffic outside.” [Chicago Daily Tribune, December 2, 1945] The 35-room mansion, reportedly patterned
after a wing of the Louvre, took five years to build and was finished in
1879. After World War II ended, though,
the old world order, at least as far as elaborate urban mansions for the rich
were concerned, began to give way, and the McCormick mansion was finally
demolished in 1955.
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