![]() |
The Italian Courtyard of Le Petit Gourmet once had a cocktail bar and served lunch, tea and dinner in the late 1940s, according to a description on the back of the postcard. |
The Italian-style
courtyard shown in the postcard was loved by many before it was razed in 1967. The
scenic “slice of Italy” located near 600 N. Michigan Ave. featured shops, restaurants
and about 20 apartments for artists.
The courtyard
was surrounded by three buildings that were fitted together between 1919 and
1926. The Chicago Daily Tribune wrote that the project was one of the
earliest private urban renewal projects in the city. When the first building
was acquired by the Ira B. Cook estate, Michigan Avenue was still named Pine
Street and the area was surrounded by soap factories and breweries.
The new
owners handed the building and its development over to Architect Robert S.
DeGolyer, according to the Tribune. The idea for a shop-studio compound was
also worked up by artists Nancy Cox McCormick and Frederick Grant.
In 1921, a
run-down hotel to the south was renovated, and another building on Ontario
Street was bought in 1926. In the courtyard’s early days, it housed a large
shopping space called Le Petit Bazar, which benefitted the Illinois Children’s
Home and Aid society. The group of well-known Chicago women who started that
charity were Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. John Alden Carpenter and Mrs. Marshall
Field.
Those who
lived in the buildings surrounding the courtyard included artists, writers,
critics, architects, designers and advertising personalities, among others. Portrait
painters Leopold Seyfert and Paul Trebilcock resided there. One apartment was occupied by the Baroness
Violet Beatrice Von Wenner, who is known for painting portraits of five
presidents as well as European and Middle Eastern royalty.
Von Wenner asked
the Tribune, “Why do they have to tear it down? Do we need another monster high
rise building?” A 27-story office building was soon built at the site, and the
little slice of Italy disappeared from Chicago, making way for more high-rise office
and retail buildings that would come to characterize North Michigan Avenue.
Comments
Post a Comment