A Stroll along Green Bay Road
By Megan McKinney
Photo credit: Ezra Stoller, The Country Houses of David Adler by Stephen M. Salny.
The entrance to the Ralph Poole House on Lake Bluff’s Green Bay Road.
What a marvelous way to enjoy the approaching autumn, escaping any thoughts of virus! We recently discovered the Lake Bluff Walking Tours app, which was launched earlier this year by the Lake Bluff History Museum and may be downloaded free at Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
The series was produced by the museum and Lake Bluff 125 Committee, with support from The Abbott Fund, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the village. Within the Walking Tours are Estates tours, which are perfect for Classic Chicago readers.
Photo credit: Ezra Stoller, The Country Houses of David Adler by Stephen M. Salny.
Another look at David Adler’s Ralph Poole House.
The Estates tour we selected was Green Bay Road Estates, and we quickly learned what a delightful and informative excursion this free gift from the Lake Bluff History Museum can be. Furthermore, there is more than one way to enjoy one of these tours; it can be a marvelous means of brightening a rainy Sunday afternoon without leaving a Near North Side Chicago apartment.
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
Again, the Ralph Poole House
Image Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
The Ralph Poole House floor plan.
The Green Bay Road tour begins with a brief introduction, which discusses the Road’s 19th Century history, with the added explanation that “Chicago business magnates” began building grand Lake Bluff estates in the 1910s and by 1930 there would be six of these magnificent mansions along Green Bay Road. This tour is led through narration by Walt Sloan, as well as a written itinerary and handsome photographs. The combination is so effective that, even experiencing the trip indoors and miles away, one feels a reality in being ushered along a virtual bike path to the first of the six estates, the stunning Ralph Poole House at 1010 Green Bay Road. This superb residence was designed by David Adler and built from 1911 to 1914.
Photo credit: Ezra Stoller, The Country Houses of David Adler by Stephen M. Salny.
Ralph Poole House Entrance Hall
Photo credit: Ezra Stoller, The Country Houses of David Adler by Stephen M. Salny.
View from the living room to the music room and dining room of the Ralph Poole House
Photo credit: Ezra Stoller, The Country Houses of David Adler by Stephen M. Salny.
Ralph Poole House Dining Room
Another delight along the Green Bay Road Estates tour is Tangley Oaks, built by Philip D. Armour III.
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
Entrance, Philip D. Armour III Estate
This Philip Armour was one of the two beloved grandsons upon whom the first Philip Armour so doted. The estate, Tangley Oaks, is at 900 Armour Drive, just off Green Bay Road.
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
A full view of Tangley Oaks
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
Tangley Oaks from another angle.
The stunning mansion below, Stonebridge, is one of a Green Bay Road trio belonging to the William Vallandigham Kelley family.
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
Stonebridge
Howard Van Doren Shaw designed Stonebridge for his good friend William V. Kelley, with construction completed in 1916. The other two Green Bay Road Kelley estates are those built for two of William Kelley’s sons, Phelps and Russell, in the 1920’s. Mrs. Russell Kelley was the former Daphne Field, daughter of Marshall Field’s nephew, Stanley Field.
The Russell Kelley Estate
The sixth of the Green Bay Road estates is a lovely “large Colonial Revival estate house” at 800 Green Bay Road, known as the William and Daisy Quigley House. We learn the architect was “probably David Adler.”
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
The Quigley name was well known in higher Chicago area circles through his ownership of William J. Quigley Inc., a legendary maker of furniture commissioned by the era’s great architects, including David Adler. Many of William Quigley’s pieces were in the house of his neighbor Ralph Poole.
Photo Credit: Lake Bluff History Museum.
The Ralph Poole House.
A physical trip to Lake Bluff’s Green Bay Road may be in our post-pandemic future; however rainy Sunday afternoons are not infrequent in Chicago and we look forward to such Lake Bluff Estates tours as those to Sheridan and Moffett Roads the near future.
Edited by Amanda K. O’Brien
