Humboldt Park Receptory & Stables
[Humboldt Park Receptory & Stables (1895) Frommann & Jebsen, architects /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
When Frommann & Jebsen designed a stable and visitor center complex for Chicago's Humboldt Park in 1895, people knew what a stable was, but visitor center, not so much. So the building was called a receptory, as in reception or receiving space for guests, with an attached stable area for visitor's horses and buggies. The designers configured a wagon wheel and horse's head to top off a roof peak as a kind of kitschy way to proclaim that the building included a stable. Apparently they didn't see the need to do something similar to indicate that the building was also a rest station for park patrons.
[Humboldt Park Receptory & Stables, 3015 W. Division Street, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The Humboldt Park neighborhood had originally been settled by Scandinavian immigrants who were followed by German-speaking migrants. At the time the city's Park Board found picturesque designs charming and romantic so Frommann & Jebsen looked to the old country for a fanciful interpretation of recognizable architectural features from the homeland, which the Board labeled "German country house." The sweeping roof lines, towers, gables and timbering provided just the kind of whimsical decoration the commissioners were looking for to enhance the appearance of a very utilitarian building providing horse stalls, canoe rentals and comfort station amenities for park patrons.
[Institute of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The corner turret housed the office of park superintendent, Jens Jensen who went on to became Chicago's premier landscape designer. Ironically, when Jensen became the head of the entire park system in 1905 he ordered the demolition of many of the park's picturesque architectural structures in favor of a more organic and natural landscape. Perhaps he had nostalgic feelings for the old stables because under his tenure as general superintendent four Humboldt Park buildings built prior to the receptory were demolished. They were replaced with Prairie School era designs which were much more in keeping with Jensen's redesign of the parks.
I remember when the building looked a little worse for wear in the 1970s with it's asphalt shingled roof, falling down gutters and boarded up windows. The building hadn't been used as a patron's facility in decades and became a place to store machinery and supplies. After a devastating fire in 1992 which burned nearly 40% of the structure, the exterior underwent an extensive renovation in 1998, returning Frommann & Jebsen's design back to its 1890s appearance. The receptory now welcomes visitors of the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, the area's dominant immigrant population of more recent times.
Posted by designslinger at 1/18/2011 4:12 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Adaptive Reuse, Gardens, Preservation
Tags: Frommann and Jebsen Humboldt Park recreational buildings park architecture
Categories: Architecture, History, Adaptive Reuse, Gardens, Preservation
Tags: Frommann and Jebsen Humboldt Park recreational buildings park architecture
Thank you for sharing. It's a charming structure, and I'm glad to see it get a second life.
It's been an interesting journey for the old building, and interesting for me to see the changes in the old neighborhood where I grew up.