the edbrooke and burnham-designed three-story greystone (one of three adjoining buildings) was built as a group around 1887-88 by james c. thomas, a real estate investment broker who developed many houses in the bronzeville neighborhood of chicago's south side. in august of 1888, he sold the the house for $18,000 to george and martha hackney - the first occupants of the house. george hackney was an english-born mechanical engineer who had worked his way up to be head of the mechanical department for the entire santa fe railroad. as superintedent of motive power, he was in charge of railroad's department that performed regular maintenance on their locomotives and related equipment owned by and operated by the sante fe railway. 

willoughby james edbrooke was an american architect and a bureaucrat who remained faithful to a richardsonian romanesque style into the era of beaux-arts architecture in the united states, supported by commissions from conservative federal and state governments that were spurred by his stint in 1891-92 as supervising architect of the u.s. treasury department.

edbrooke was born in evanston, illinois. he first practiced in chicago in 1868 and in 1879 formed a partnership with franklin pierce burnham (died 1909). the partnership was dissolved in 1892. among their major joint commissions were the georgia state capitol, and buildings for university of notre dame, and the mecca flats in chicago, where edbrooke served as superintendent of construction. the division of responsibilities and credit for constructions at the world's columbian exposition, chicago, 1893, may have finalized the dissolution of the partnership. edbrooke resided in washington dc, where in his position as supervising architect of the treasury department, he initiated the design of at least forty buildings.

at the world's columbian exposition in chicago, 1893, the government building was ascribed to willoughby j. edbrooke. its classicizing design fit in harmoniously with the "white city" that ushered in the american renaissance movement and the age of beaux-arts architecture. at the exposition, franklin p. burnham was officially credited only with the cold-storage warehouse, while "willoughby j. edbrooke, washington" is credited with the united states government building and the other official federal exhibits.