Blackstone Hotel: 636 South Michigan Avenue

Considered one of the city’s finest historic hotels, the Blackstone is a fanciful example of the “Modern French” style of Beaux Arts architectural style. The hotel was built in 1908 and designed by the prominent architecture firm of Marshall & Fox. Known as the “Hotel of Presidents,” the hotel has hosted a dozen U.S. Presidents and was also the location of the famous “smoke-filled room” where Warren G. Harding was chosen as the... 

Seven Houses on Lake Shore Drive District: 1530 North Lake Shore Drive

The seven grand mansions on the 1200- and 1500-blocks of North Lake Shore Drive are rare survivors of what was a prestigious residential street in late-19th century and early-20th-century Chicago. The residence at 1530 Lake Shore Drive was built in 1916 for Bernard Albert Eckhart, a prominent businessman, philanthropist, and politician. The architect, Benjamin H. Marshall, was renowned for the designs of the Blackstone Hotel, the South Shore Country...