What Would Dr. Isham Think?
[Dr. George Snow Isham House (1899) James Gamble Rogers, architect /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The marriage of Katherine Porter and Dr. George Snow Isham in 1892 joined together two
of Chicago's pioneering families. When the young couple said, "I do" not only were two of the city's oldest families brought together but so were two substantial family fortunes. So it seemed fitting that when Dr. and the Dr. Mrs. Isham (she was often referred to as "the Dr. Mrs." in society) decided to build their own home in 1899 it should be on a prominent site in a socially prominent neighborhood.
[George S. Isham House, 1340 N. State Parkway, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
Designed by architect James Gamble Rogers, the house was built in, what was called at
the time, the "French style." Dr. Isham had his offices on the ground floor with a two-story, 30x60 foot ballroom and a large living room/salon on the floor above. Isham had a thriving practice and was a highly regarded surgeon within the medical community, but he and his wife also spent alot of their time out and about attending and giving parties, as well as money, to a number of charitable organizations. Their names popped-up almost every week in the society pages of local newspapers for decades. George and Katherine were pillars of their social class - upstanding, upright, philanthropic Presbyterians right up until their deaths. Katherine died in their home in 1917, George followed her in 1926, and soon thereafter the house was sold.
[Playboy Mansion /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
In 1959 Playboy Enterprises, which was headquartered in Chicago, purchased the house
for $400,000. There are a lot of Chicagoans who remember the building as the Playboy Mansion, home of Hugh Hefner, bunnies and scandalous, outrageous behavior. But by 1974 Hef decided to live the good life in LA and in 1984 the house was leased to the School of the Art Institute, where Hefner had once been a student, for a nominal fee of $10.00/year. Eventually the school moved out and the 70-room mansion was divided into large condominium apartments. With Hef gone, so too went the plaque that he had placed over the front door with the Latin inscription: Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare; which translates into: If you don't swing, don't ring. Quite a difference from the shingle the good doctor had hung outside the door 60 years earlier.
Posted by designslinger at 7/1/2010 1:40 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Playboy Mansion Gold Coast mansions George S. Isham Chicago
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Playboy Mansion Gold Coast mansions George S. Isham Chicago
Fascinating history!
Amazing stories these buildings have to tell.