a photographic survey of exterior terra cotta ornament adorning adler & sullivan's ann halsted flats

ann pinegar halsted was the sole executrix of henry s. halsted's legacy, and as she took over the reins of his water vessel business, she decided to change her living situation. in 1883 she began discussions with new architectural partners dankmar adler and louis sullivan about building a house on a piece of property she owned on belden avenue near clark street. around the same time, she expressed interest in building a group of townhouses for the vacant, unimproved portion at the family's original dwelling site. so although ann was ready to move, she was as good a business person as her husband and understood that she had an income stream just waiting to be developed. when the drawings were done and the permits secured, construction began on the $4,000-per-unit townhomes.

photo by richard nickel. courtesy of the john vinci collection.

once the belden avenue house was ready to move into, the old halsted house was demolished and two more row houses were added to the existing three. ann must have been happy with her rental returns because she held on to the group until the early 1920's, when the 89-year-old matriarch began selling them off one-by-one. the last house was sold in 1928, and during the intervening years the row of conjoined homes went through several owners. in march 1962, hjordie and james garner purchased 1834 n. lincoln park west, the row house that sits on the site of the original halsted dwelling, and sold their ann halsted row house in the spring of this year.

photo courtesy of eric j. nordstrom

photo courtesy of eric j. nordstrom

sullivan's exterior ornament - all fabricated by northwestern - is presented beginning with the unit on the south and ending with the unit (built during the second phase) to the north. the terra cotta ornament from the second phase of construction wasn't designed by louis h. sullivan. in fact, by that time, northwestern was making "stock" terra cotta panels based on ornament from the halsted flats. look carefully at the detailing and finish from one panel to the next. i will be discussing the ornament and its discrepancies in further detail in a future blog post. 

the terra cotta panels shown below represents early sullivanesque "stock" terra cotta fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company. i've identified several three and four-flats around chicago using this type of ornament on their facades. the panels dates to 1885-1889.

early "sullivanesque" red slip terra cotta "stock" block fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company. chicago, ills. the initials "e.k." are a mystery. the design was likely a reinterpretation of sullivan's ornament designed for ann halsted flats. the ornament was likely made between 1885-1887. the "stock" design is rather crude (e.g., the stem in the left corner abruptly stops). this is a great visual example showing how sullivan was able to surpass edelmann's limitations by creating more fluid and lively designs, integrating both the organic and geometric forms.