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Albert F. Madlener House

Architect
Richard E. Schmidt & Hugh M.G. Garden
Year
1902
Style
Prairie School
City
Chicago, IL
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The Madlener House went up in 1902 at 4 W. Burton Place for Albert Fridolin Madlener, a German-American brewery owner, and his wife Elsa Seipp Madlener, designed by architect Richard E. Schmidt with Hugh M.G. Garden as designer. Albert Madlener was the son of liquor distiller Fridolin Madlener, an immigrant from Baden, Germany, and had trained through a winery apprenticeship in Germany before commissioning the house in 1901. Since 1963 it has served as headquarters for the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

the building

1963 renovation. When the Graham Foundation took over the house in 1963, architect Daniel Brenner carried out a full remodeling and renovation of the building for its new role as the foundation's headquarters.

the style

The Madlener House is counted among the early works of the Prairie School, designed by the firm of Richard E. Schmidt and Hugh M.G. Garden as the style was taking shape at the turn of the century.

More on Prairie School

the architect

Richard E. Schmidt (1865-1958) headed the firm, with Hugh M.G. Garden (1873-1961) serving as its designer; the Madlener House stands as one of the pair's notable early Prairie School commissions.

significance

The Madlener House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a Chicago Landmark on March 22, 1973, with a landmark plaque affixed to its south-facing facade.

nearby

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