Unique Chicago Architecture

 

40 West Schiller Street is at the edge of Chicago’s Gold Coast

 

With 50 West Schiller next door  

 

The  area between 40 and 50 West Schiller Street is seen here from outside the complex 

 

 

 

By Megan McKinney

 

Not only are 40 and 50 West Schiller Street unlike other co-op buildings in Chicago, but the units of architect Andrew Rebori’s 1923 Gold Coast twins are also probably unique within the category at large. Here’s a random look at a few interiors

 

Although the format for all is duplex,

 

zillow.com

and  the ceilings tend to soar to 18 feet, 

 

zillow.com

the impression is that of a cluster of charming neighborhood houses—some with quite formal dining rooms.

 

zillow.com

The wood burning fireplaces in each unit celebrated their centennials last year.

 

 zillow.com

Chicago’s Gold Coast is home to other eccentric designs of Mr, Rebori.

 

For example, his Frank Fisher Studio Houses is a few blocks east on North State Parkway

 

credit:flickr.com

And the Florsheim Mansion is a block or so north, also on North State Parkway. But if you’re thinking Mr. Rebori’s architecture is totally quirky, wrong. What could be more conventional than his 1325 Astor co-op?

 

 

 Or his design for 2430 Lakeview?

 

 

Or the Racquet Club?

 

 

  The grounds of the West Schiller Street “courtyard buildings” are delightful.

 

 

And if they look like a great place to throw a party, they are.  

 

 

We have a friend who owned one of the units and threw at least one party in his front yard every summer—they were terrific. 

 

 

 

Author photo: Robert F. Carl

40 and 50 West Schiller photos: zillow.com