4 W Burton Pl
Chicago, IL 60610, USA

Albert F. Madlener House - National Register of Historic Places

The Madlener House faces south on the northwest corner of State Street and Burton Place. The lot is small with the house at the southwest corner. The three-story main block is 59'4" plus, at the rear of the west wall, a Kitchen wing that is 19'2" x 16'7"· A two story carriage house is located at the west with a small yard between it and the main house.

The exterior walls of the house are of warm colored, narrow brick with patterned brick rectangles on the top floor. -A -note on the original drawing reads, "Bricks are to be laid so that every eight courses measure 1 ‘3" ... Horizontal joints in white mortar, vertical joints in mortar of the same color as the bricks." The trim is of buff Bedford Indiana limestone There are projecting belt courses between floors. Horizontal stone bands on the first-floor flush with the surface of the brick.

The entrance stoop to the Madlener House is two steps above ground, with high limestone side walls. The main entrance is slightly to the right of the center of the south facade. The wide limestone door enframement has smooth rectangular forms, its surfaces-incised with Sullivans ornament. The windows are one-over-one light double hung, wooden sash, with limestone windows enframements. Some windows are organized in group of three. On the south and east sides are windows whose tripartite division suggests a modified "Chicago window." There is a hip roof on the house with a simple limestone cornice topped by a low parapet.

The main entrance leads to a short stairway. Up seven steps are a vestibule leading to a square hallway at the center of the house. On the main floor was a living room, music room, dining room and kitchen area. The main stairway at the rear of the hall leads to the second floor, which contained five bedrooms. On the third floor was a34’ x 46’ ballroom at the southwest and servants’ quarters at the northwest.

Shortly after the house was purchased by the Graham Foundation, the architectural firm of Brenner, Danforth and Rockwell took charge of restoring it. Changes made were primarily interior. On the main floor, the kitchen was transformed into a library. A board Room and John Entenza's office also are located on this floor. There are two large exhibition galleries on the second story and a lecture hall, which was formerly a ballroom, on the third. Although the building was found structurally sound, extensive plastering and requiring was necessary, and much of the woodwork has to be completely restored. Presently the Madlener House continues to express the beauty and architectural excellence it has shown through the years.

Albert F. Madlener House, 4 West Burton Place, Chicago, Cook County, IL

This is one of the finest residential works of the Chicaog Architect Richard E. Schmidt, and an example of the work of the Prairie School. With its simple cubic volume and strong horizontality, it was an exceptional design for the time.