#lehmann

Henri Lehmann

French, Kiel 1814-1882 Paris Study of a Female Nude, 1840

Oil on canvas

“In a letter to his mistress, Lehmann described the woman depicted here as one of the "four most beautiful girls that you could have as a model in Rome." The sensual curve of the figure's back is in line with odalisques by Lehmann's revered master, J. A. D. Ingres. This ravishing study was made in preparation for a painting of bathers at a river; inspired by Victor Hugo's poem "Bièvre," it was exhibited at the Salon of 1842 as Femmes près de Peau. Acquired by the Belgian royal family, the Salon painting was destroyed in a fire in the 1890s.”

The Lessing (now The Commodore), 550 W. Surf St., Lake View, Chicago

The Lessing Annex (Now The Green Brier or Green Briar), 559 W. Surf St., Lake View, Chicago

The Commodore, view at Broadway and Surf St. Source: apartments.com

The Lessing (The Commodore) archival photo. Source: Chicago History, Spring 1985, p.30

I've always admired The Commodore, its severe facade of Roman brick with minimal ornament contrasting with its deep recesses and complicated footprint. I used to fantasize about living there; data about recent condominium sales put prices at $250,000-$300,000 for a two-bedroom unit.

Originally called The Lessing, the residential building was completed in 1897 at the northeast corner of Surf and Broadway, and designed by Edmund Krause.

New Yorker Herbert Croly observed in 1907 that while New Yorkers turned to Paris for models, Chicagoans favored simple, even modest exteriors. Chicago History, Spring 1985, p. 30

According to Carroll William Westfall, in "Home at the Top: Domesticating Chicago's Tall Apartment Buildings," Chicago History, Spring 1985, p. 21:

Multi-family dwellings, apartment and flat buildings, did not conform to nineteenth-century Chicagoan's cherished view of their town as a community of freestanding, single-family residences surrounded by fences protecting trees, gardens, and outbuildings. This image persisted long after Chicago had become a thriving commercial city and had ceased being merely a town.

Chicago History, Spring 1985, p.30

The story of The Lessing and Annex began with German immigrant Ernst Johann Lehmann, who began his career in Chicago by opening a small jewelry store on Clark Street. By 1874, he had been so successful that he moved his business to the prestigious corner of State and Adams. He called the new store "The Fair," a name that assured customers that they would be treated fairly. By 1882 The Fair store occupied every building along the north side of Adams between State and Dearborn Streets.

A short time later, the entire south half of the block bounded by Dearborn, State, Monroe, and Adams streets had been leased to The Fair in a deal amounting to a little over three million dollars. A great emporium would be constructed on the site, twelve stories high, costing two million bucks. The building would be the largest in the city and, in fact, the largest in the world devoted to merchandising.

Lehmann died in 1900 at age 50, 10 years after he suffered a mental breakdown, spending the remainder of his life in a mental institution. His wife, Augusta, via a male relative, gained control of the business. She also received the bulk of his wealth, estimated $10 miliion (about $331 million today). Augusta and the Lehmann clan had become interested in real estate before Ernst died. In 1897, the upscale Lessing Apartment building, designed by Edmund Krause, was completed at Surf and Evanston Street, now Broadway.

The Commodore, floor plan published in 1923

The Lessing was marketed to an upscale clientele and had 86 apartments, some of them with as many as eight rooms. Architect Edmund R. Krause broke the huge six-and-one-half-story complex into a series of projecting units with deep but narrow courts between them to provide light and ventilation. The Roman brick façade is organized into the classic three-part design of the Chicago School. Although there is a nifty oculus (a circular opening, especially one at the apex of a dome or structure), it is minimally decorated, centered at the top of each projecting bay. Digital Research Library of Illinois History

Oculus in the attic story

Entrance hall

Stairway

Interior views of The Commodore are available here

The quiet apartment building was disturbed in 1917 when a lurid tale of deceit and betrayal led to a murder that reads like a novel (see story below). 

MURDER AT THE COMMODORE IN 1917.

Shoots When She Learns He is Married. 

Dr. Louis H. Quitman Wounded by Cabaret Singer, May Die.

A video tour of The Commodore by sales agents is available on Instagram here

The Virginia Hotel, Chicago, was quite similar in design and simplicity to The Lessing.

Seven years later, the Lessing Annex was completed just to the south, facing The Lessing from across Surf.

The Lessing Annex

Apparently, the term "hotel" was sometimes applied to residential buildings that were not intended for short-term stays. "Fire proof construction, built 1902, steel and tile interior, brick exterior. The Green Briar was constructed of a different color of Roman brick than its neighbor across the street.

My photographs of the buildings:

Edmund R. Krause, architect

Edmund R. Krause was born in Thorn, Germany, on August 15, 1859, the son of William and Wilhelmina Krause. He studied architecture in Germany and came to the United States in 1880 at the age of 21. He began his architectural practice in Chicago in 1885 at the age of 25 or 26. For a brief time, he was in partnership with Frederick W. Perkins (1896) but, for most of his working years, he was a sole practitioner.... The American Contractor database that covers the period 1898 through and including 1912 shows that he designed 61 buildings. Of these, 25 (or 41 percent) were for either E.J. Lehman, the estate of E.J. Lehman or another Lehman family member. It is a great example of the importance of a major client to an architect. Another major client was the Fair Department Store. He designed six buildings for them – mainly warehouses or delivery stations – between 1904 and 1909. It appears that the large apartment building was his specialty, for he designed several. Most of them have been demolished, but one prominent commission still stands at the intersection of Surf and Broadway. Originally known as the Lessing Apartments, it was later renamed the Commodore and is now a condominium building. Designed in 1897 and completed in 1898, it originally had 75 apartments, 15 to a floor around a “U”-shaped central courtyard. Later, an Annex was constructed to the north using the same style yellow Roman brick. The Lessing Apartment Complex was one of the first, if not the first, large apartment building constructed north of Diversey. He also designed the 20-story Majestic Theatre building, at what is now 22 W. Monroe. It was subsequently renamed the Schubert Theater and, in 2005, was renamed the LaSalle National Bank Theater. George Rapp of the later firm of Rapp and Rapp designed the interior theater while working as an assistant to Mr. Krause. The building itself was recommended for Chicago Landmark status in 2005. To our knowledge, Edmund Krause designed only three structures in Edgewater: two houses and one commercial building. The first house he designed was at 1189-91 (now 6212) Winthrop. Cook County Recorder of Deeds records show his wife purchasing the lot on August 25, 1898. The permit for the house was issued the next month and he is shown as living in the house in the 1899 and 1900 city directories. It was a rather substantial frame house at 2,800 square feet. The Krauses sold the improved property on January 1, 1902. It was obviously a short stay. Edgewater Historical Society