Terrace Row

Terrace Row

Terrace Row Pre-Fire Landmarks

Designed by W.W. Boyington and erected in 1856 along Michigan Avenue south of Van Buren Street (just north of what would be the site of the Auditorium), Terrace Row caused a stir for a number of reasons. Its linking of eleven contiguous luxury homes of Athens Marble, an innovation in urban living, seemed ostentatious to many at the time. The price of these four-story residences facing the lake in this fashionable neighborhood ran from $18,000 to $30,000. William Bross--former lieutenant governor, co-owner of the Tribune, and Chicago booster--was one of those burnt out of Terrace Row. He described the building's last minutes: "The fire had already worked so far south and east as to attack the stables in the rear of Terrace Row, between Van Buren and Congress streets. Many friends rushed into the houses in the block, and helped to carry out heavy furniture, such as pianos and bookcases. We succeeded in carrying the bulk of it to the shore. There I sat with a few others by our household goods, calmly awaiting the destruction of our property--one of the most splendid blocks in Chicago."


	Terrace Row	Pre-Fire Landmarks
	Designed by W.W. Boyington and erected in 1856 along Michigan Avenue south of Van Buren Street (just north of what would be the site of the Auditorium), Terrace Row caused a stir for a number of reasons. Its linking of eleven contiguous luxury homes of Athens Marble, an innovation in urban living, seemed ostentatious to many at the time. The price of these four-story residences facing the lake in this fashionable neighborhood ran from $18,000 to $30,000. William Bross--former lieutenant governor, co-owner of the Tribune, and Chicago booster--was one of those burnt out of Terrace Row. He described the building's last minutes: "The fire had already worked so far south and east as to attack the stables in the rear of Terrace Row, between Van Buren and Congress streets. Many friends rushed into the houses in the block, and helped to carry out heavy furniture, such as pianos and bookcases. We succeeded in carrying the bulk of it to the shore. There I sat with a few others by our household goods, calmly awaiting the destruction of our property--one of the most splendid blocks in Chicago."