1304 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607, USA

Abraham Groesbeck House - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Abraham Groesbeck House, built in 1869 at 1304 West Washington Boulevard, is situated in the middle of the block on the north side of Washington Boulevard, between North Elizabeth and North Ada Streets. Today the street contains mostly low-rise commercial buildings, though in the 1860's and 1870's, when it was simply known as Washington Street, the thoroughfare served as home to some of Chicago's most· prominent citizens. Although there are a small number of commercial and residential buildings dating from the 1870's that remain in the area between Halsted and Ashland and Van Buren and Randolph, (including a party-wall residence, with inferior integrity, that is located just to the west of the Groesbeck House) most if not all the remaining buildings date from after the 1871 fire. In addition to being unusual because of its early date, the house is unusual for its excellent integrity. The home retains its red brick Italianate facade with tall round arched windows and is still capped by its original bracketed wood cornice. First-floor interior changes made in the 1890's, including incrust wainscoting, parquetry floors and spindle work above the first-floor door openings, show change over time, and do not detract from the building's integrity and contribute to the building's significance. Although converted into commercial use on the first floor and apartments on the second and third, practically all historic detailing has been retained; the major spaces in the entire house are unaltered. With dimensions of 37.5' x 52', the rectangular house, which has a two-story brick coach house at the rear of its 37.5' x 180' lot, looks almost exactly as it did during the years it served as a single-family home. Although it will remain multifamily, the house is being carefully rehabilitated.

Originally built as a single-family house, the Groesbeck House is flanked on the west by a three-and-a-half-story residence with a Joliet limestone facade and on the east by a one-story brick commercial building. The houses are set 25' back from Washington Boulevard. At the rear of the Groesbeck House is a 50' yard and the 2-story brick coach house. The coach house opens onto a 20' public alley at the rear of the lot.

The main south facade of the flat-roofed, 3-1/2 story Groesbeck House is basically rectangular. It is four bays wide, although the wall of the two west bays is bowed. The raised foundation story is of smooth-faced limestone with rectangular blocks set in a regular pattern. The three stories above are of red face brick set in a stretcher bond. Capping the house is a deep wood cornice with ornamental paired brackets, separated by modillions and dentils, supporting the overhang. The raised front entrance, reached by a wood staircase with pipe railings, has double doors, each with an ornamental framed pattern at the bottom and a rectangular light at the top. Over the doors is a semicircular light capped by three rows of brick headers. Although narrower, the windows of the house follow a similar configuration. Except for the windows in the east bay, which are paired, all are tall and narrow with round headed arches at the top and bracketed stone sills. Some sill brackets are missing. The windows are topped by two rows of headers and, except for the window immediately over the entrance and the pair of windows east of the front door, have raised keystones. The keystones over the windows on either side of and above the entrance are missing. There is twisted rope molding between the brick exterior wall and each window's frame. In the east bay, the windows are paired, with the second and third-story pairs topped by a single keystone. Windows set in the stone foundation story are 1/3 the height of the upper-story windows and topped by segmental arches. All windows are 1/1 double-hung. There is a boarded-up doorway under the staircase.

The side facades are of common brick. There are no windows on the west facade. There are two oval windows on the east, located at the stair landings.

The rear north facade is common brick and five bays wide. There is corbelled brickwork at the roofline broken in the center bay for drainage. In the center bay of the first floor is the back doorway, accessed from a recently-built wood staircase. Windows on the top two floors are either 4/1 or 1/1 double-hung and topped by a single row of headers set in a segmental arch. The first-floor windows are infilled with glass block. Small windows in the foundation story are also topped by segmental arches. Those on the west end of this facade have been altered.

The first-floor interior has a central hall plan. Entrance is into a small rectangular vestibule with a tall arched opening separating the vestibule from the long central hall. On the west side of the house are double living parlors opening off this hall. The front parlor, with a bowed window, is entered through double paneled doors topped by an ornamental lattice screen, probably dating from the 1890's, set under a segmental arch. A similar opening, but with pocket doors, separates the two parlors. On the east side of the house hall is a small room that served as Dr. Groesbeck's office, entered through double paneled doors. To the rear of this room is a walkthrough under the stairs leading to another living space. This room, also entered from a small vestibule at the rear of the hall, has been altered by a dropped ceiling and wood wainscoting. A window, however, still exists between this room and a small powder room at the rear of the stairs, a room that was probably once a closet taking borrowed light through the window.

Opening off the rear of the hallway is a staircase with a wide polygonal newel post that narrows at the top, which is turned and topped by a light that was clearly a later addition. The staircase, which has a balustrade with slender turned balusters, curves at the landings. At the first floor landing is an oval window flanked by blind arched niches. At the second is another oval window. The 1890's lincrusta wainscoting lines the hallways.

First floor detailing is relatively elaborate compared to the home's simple exterior. There are wide door, window, floor and ceiling moldings, with ornamental round and oval ceiling medallions, from which lights were hung, in the front hall and parlors. There is one marble fireplace, that is original, in the rear parlor. The other first floor fireplaces have been removed. In the office the wood floors, probably dating from the 1890's, have a parquetry border. In the room at the back of Dr. Groesbeck's office is an ornamented radiator with a space inside to keep food warm. Early site visits indicate that much of the woodwork was grained and not painted as it is today.

The second and third floor plans are quite similar, with an apartment opening off the stair hall on each floor. Originally the second and third floors were family living quarters. Off the large front room on each floor is a small room separated from it by a broad arch. On the second floor the large front and rear rooms on the west side of the house have their original marble fireplaces. Moldings are similar to those on the first floor, and some of the wood floors have parquetry borders.

There is a basement under the entire house accessed from a doorway under the front stairs and from a rear interior staircase. Like the first floor, it has a long central hallway with rooms opening off it.

At the rear of the lot is the second building on the property, the 36'4" x 52'3" coach house. It is rectangular and built of common brick. On the south facade is a central sliding door that was originally located on the alley side of the building. To the east of the door is a window topped by a segmental arch. To the west is a window infilled with glass block. There are four 2/2 double-hung windows on the second story topped by segmental arches. On the north facade facing the alley is a wide central door opening. There is a second door topped by a brick hoodmold set in a segmental arch to the east of this opening. To the west is a window that has been infilled with brick. Over the wide alley entrance is an opening with double doors and a pulley arm. On each side is a 1/1 double hung window topped by a brick hoodmold. A small square chimney projects from the roofline of this flat-roofed building. The coach house is flanked on the east by the one-story commercial building and on the west by a two-story brick building. Inside, the first floor of the timber frame building is open. Upstairs, there are a few rooms. The smaller room, facing the alley has some wood door and baseboard moldings. The coach house dates from 1869, although it appears to have been enlarged.

The Abraham Groesbeck House, with its excellent integrity, reflects the lifestyle and office practice of one of Chicago's early physicians. The floorplan and most of the home's handsome historic detailing remain to serve as a reminder of what fine Chicago architecture looked like during the years just preceding the 1871 Chicago Fire.