The Heyworth Building is a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artist ...

located at 29 East Madison Street, on the southwest corner of Madison Street and Wabash Avenue in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The building was constructed in 1904 by the architectural firm of D. H. Burnham & Company under the commission of Otto Young, a real estate investor and wholesale

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmithing, goldsmithing, stone setting, engraving, ...

. It received its name from Lawrence Heyworth, the son-in-law of Otto Young, who also supervised construction of the building. Like many other buildings along Wabash Avenue, the Heyworth historically housed watchmakers, jewelers, and associated businesses. This structure was one of the final buildings designed by Frederick P. Dinkelberg at the firm before administration was turned over to Ernest Robert Graham. The Heyworth stands 19 stories tall with a gross square footage of . Its style strays from the typical designs of

Burnham and Root Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root. During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and ...

, appearing more rigid and geometrical than their other works done in a classical style. It combined the Chicago School's structurally expressive character with decorative appearance common in traditional masonry architecture. The

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

-like ornament of the building pairs well with the ornamentation designed by

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

on the adjacent

Sullivan Center The Sullivan Center, formerly known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building or Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Store, is a commercial building at 1 South State Street at the corner of East Madison Street in Chicago, Illinois. Louis S ...

building. The Heyworth is also noted for its intact finely crafted decorative

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, which is an uncommon feature among the other commercial buildings of Chicago. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 27, 2000. According to a real estate firm that manages the property, the height of the building is listed in various documents as . The building underwent an $11 million (equivalent to $ in ) renovation in 2001. As part of the renovation, the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

was cleaned and the famous cornice was rebuilt after having undergone a stripping in years past. It is currently the home of Computer Systems Institute, the ESL Academy's Chicago campus, MacCormac College in Chicago and to the

Center for Economic Progress The Center for Economic Progress (CEP) is a non-profit organization based in Chicago that offers free tax preparation Tax preparation is the process of preparing Tax return (United States), tax returns, often income tax returns, often for a pers ...

References

{{Chicago Landmark skyscrapers Chicago school architecture in Illinois Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Commercial buildings completed in 1904 Chicago Landmarks 1904 establishments in Illinois

See also

References