H' 
 
 UNIVERSITY CLUB 
 
 OF CHICAGO 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 
 CARLI: Consortium of Academic and Researcii Libraries in Illinois 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/universityclubofOOuniv 
 
UNIVERSITY CLUB 
 OF CHICAGO 
 
 FLOOR PLANS, ILLUSTRATIVE SKETCHES 
 
 AND BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF 
 
 THE NEW BUILDING 
 
 OF THE CLUB 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
 FOR THE USE OF MEMBERS 
 
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 PRIHTED COLLECTIONS 
 
 
4* SIntro&urtnry 4* 
 
 '"p'HE new building of the University Club of Chicago is located 
 
 at the northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Monroe 
 Street. It has a south frontage of one hundred and seventy-one 
 feet on Monroe Street and an east frontage of sixty-eight feet on 
 Michigan Avenue. The exterior walls are of Bedford stone ; the 
 roof is of green tile. Every modern device has been utilized to 
 make the building as nearly fireproof as possible. 
 
 The style of architecture fortunately chosen by the architects, 
 Messrs. Holabird & Roche, is the English Collegiate, sometimes 
 described as Tudor Gothic. In making this selection the architects 
 followed the line of academic tradition. How to adapt this style, 
 associated as it is with comparatively low buildings, to the require- 
 ments of a congested portion of a great city, was a formidable 
 problem. How successfully the architects have met this difficulty 
 must be left to critics of architecture to decide. 
 
 The interior arrangements of a commodious club-house are 
 such as to require great diversity in height of ceiling. Unless the 
 interior arrangements are to be tortured to suit the exterior eleva- 
 tion, considerable irregularity in the distribution and size of the 
 windows is, therefore, inevitable. The Gothic style seems to be 
 peculiarly hospitable to irregularity. In fact, it has often been 
 noted that one of the charms of Gothic architecture grows out 
 of the fact that a certain irregularity, as opposed to absolute 
 repetition, is productive of the most satisfactory effects. 
 
 The result is that the exterior of the building quite 
 clearly reveals the uses to which the principal apartments are 
 devoted. A glance at the frontispiece of this book will show to 
 the reader, for instance, that the large mullioned windows of the 
 second story which occupy the entire Michigan Avenue frontage and 
 turn the corner for three spaces on Monroe Street must look into 
 a fairly spacious apartment ; and the location of this apartment, 
 raised just enough above the street level to insure privacy within 
 
 [7] 
 
and to afford to the occupants an unobstructed view out over the 
 Park to Lake Michigan in the distance, indicates to any one in the 
 least familiar with the requirements of a club that this is the main 
 assembly-room of the Club. The high arched windows, again, 
 in the ninth story, with their corbeled balconies — four windows 
 on Michigan Avenue and six on the Monroe Street side, affording 
 a splendid view of the Lake throughout nearly a half-circle — it 
 these windows do not light the main dining-hall of the Club, 
 then a great opportunity has clearly been missed. Still higher up, 
 the space behind the parapet, and extending in under the eaves ot 
 the high pitched roof, is of course devoted to a roof-garden. 
 Less conspicuously, yet quite unmistakably, the third, fourth, fifth, 
 and sixth stories, with their alternate traceried bays and mullioned 
 windows in absolute repetition, mark the location of the bed- 
 chambers of the Club. 
 
 It will, therefore, be appreciated that a serious attempt has 
 been made, not to erect an ordinary sky-scraper tricked out with 
 Gothic suggestions, but to construct a building essentially Gothic, 
 in which the interior arrangements and the outward aspect have 
 each had due consideration, and in which neither required sacrifices 
 on the part of the other. 
 
 The text of the following pages will be limited to a very 
 brief description of some of the principal features of the building, 
 indicated upon the accompanying floor plans or suggested by the 
 illustrations. 
 
 ■4* ISa0pmfnt 
 
 A considerable portion of the basement is necessarily reserved 
 for apparatus generating heat, light, and power. Sufficient space 
 has, however, been provided for a complete Turkish Bath equip- 
 ment, with the necessary dressing-rooms, shower-baths, rest-room, 
 and lounging-room, and for a swimming-pool of respectable pro- 
 portions. The pool is fifty feet long and twenty-six feet wide, 
 and varies in depth from four to nine feet. 
 
 [«1 
 
4* Jtrat Maav 4* 
 
 ^HE main entrance to the Club is situated 
 in the center of the Monroe Street side, 
 
 f- 1 ' >i''H^[(|i^^ V _ in 
 
 ,C^r«j|»?F*'*r and is flanked on either side by windows open- 
 ■ -:^''i^''^.-«?g;^^^^ ins: into the main entry hall. To the left of 
 
 the main entrance, and somewhat removed 
 from it, is the entrance for ladies. Otherwise 
 the street frontage of the iirst story is occupied 
 by shops, one opening on Monroe Street, 
 west of the ladies' entrance, and four on Mich- 
 igan Avenue, the fronts of which are all so 
 treated as to detract as little as possible from 
 the appearance of the Club, being deeply recessed in heavily 
 moulded arched openings with strong piers between. 
 
 Entering the main doorway of the Club, which is arched 
 and deeply recessed, as the drawing on this page indicates, we 
 notice in passing that the walls of the vestibule are of Bedford 
 stone, and the ceiling, vaulted and groined, is of the same mate- 
 rial ; and then ascending a short flight of steps, we find ourselves 
 in the main entry hall of the Club. The central portion of 
 this hall is forty-one feet in depth and thirty-six feet in width, 
 and departs from the purely Gothic style which characterizes the 
 exterior of the Club and characterizes also the principal apart- 
 ments of the Club. This hall is designed in the Elizabethan or 
 English Renaissance style. Two rows of free-standing stone piers 
 extend the length of the hall, and pilasters, also of stone, occupy 
 corresponding spaces at the walls; while the wall surfaces between 
 the pilasters are paneled in oak. Massive oak beams extend from 
 pier to pier, and from pier to pilaster. The ceiling between 
 the beams is of plaster. 
 
 At the northern end of the hall, directly opposite the 
 entrance, the main stairway rises to the second story. This 
 stairway is of oak, with carved balustrades and newels. 
 
 [10] 
 
U d 
 
i>prnnb 3loav 4* 
 
 A SCENDING to the second floor, we And the treatment of 
 ■^ ^ the entry hall to be extended up the stairway to include the 
 hall in this story. The eastern end of this floor is occupied by the 
 main assembly-room of the Club. This room has a length of sixty- 
 one feet, a breadth of forty-three feet, and a height of twenty-one 
 feet from the floor to the panels of the ceiling. Its east and south 
 exposure insures abundance of light, and the open spaces of the 
 park and the width of the avenue insure a fair share of winter 
 sun. The floor of the room is raised fourteen feet above the 
 street level, and this elevation is just sufficient to afford a satis- 
 factory view of the Lake beyond the Park. 
 
 The assembly-room is purely Gothic in style. The walls 
 are paneled in English oak from floor to ceiling; the ceiling is of 
 plaster, and is divided into panels by cambered beams of oak. 
 The windows are mullioned ; the upper spaces are filled with 
 leaded panes, while the lower casement windows are of clear 
 glass to afford unobstructed view from within. A large stone 
 fireplace occupies the north end of the room. The full-page 
 illustration on page fifteen is intended simply to suggest the 
 decorative treatment of the walls and ceiling. Adjoining the 
 
 assembly-room to westward are 
 two smaller rooms, where some 
 degree of retirement may be 
 found ; and these rooms may be 
 used as writing or conference 
 rooms, as the convenience of the 
 members may from time to time 
 dictate. 
 
 All the remaining portion of 
 the second floor is devoted to the 
 use of ladies. The plan of pro- 
 viding a Ladies' Annex has been 
 
 Ladies' Dining-room 
 
 12] 
 
tried in other cities, as well as in Chicago, and has been found to 
 minister to the convenience of members and their friends. The 
 division of the residential portions of Chicago into three widely 
 separated districts makes the centralization of the different agencies 
 of public entertainment, musical, dramatic, etc., inevitable. Then, 
 too, the residents of the numerous large suburbs of the city find 
 easy access to the central portion of the city. It is, therefore, 
 obvious that a restaurant in the Club building under club manage- 
 ment, to which ladies may be admitted under certain prescribed 
 conditions, will serve a useful purpose. 
 
 The directors of the Club will define, from time to time, the 
 conditions under which the Ladies' Annex may be used. It has 
 been found feasible in other clubs to provide that ladies perma- 
 nently or temporarily of the family of a member of the Club, and 
 while residing with him, shall, whether attended by such member 
 or not, be permitted to use the restaurant for ladies and be accom- 
 panied by other ladies. It has also been found practicable in 
 other clubs to relax somewhat the customary club rules with 
 regard to visitors, and to permit a member, when accompanied by 
 ladies, to invite gentlemen who are not members of the Club to 
 the restaurant of the Ladies' Annex. 
 
 The Ladies' Annex is reached by a separate short stairway 
 leading up from the ladies' entrance on the street level. 
 A glance at the floor plan will show that there is here provided 
 a dining-room, connected, through the service room, by dumb- 
 waiters and by service elevators with the kitchens on the ninth 
 floor. Across the entry hall will be found a reception-room and 
 adjoining it retiring-rooms. These rooms have a south frontage 
 on Monroe Street, are well lighted, and, as the accompanying 
 small illustration will suggest, they are decorated in a somewhat 
 lighter style than are the club-rooms proper. 
 
 As the main assembly-room occupies substantially two stories 
 in height of the building, a second mezzanine floor has been 
 inserted over the portion of the second floor occupied by the ladies' 
 dining-room, etc., and in this mezzanine floor (not shown on the 
 accompanying floor plans) sleeping-rooms, dining-rooms, and bath- 
 rooms are provided sufficient to accommodate all of the female 
 domestics who must be housed in the Club building. 
 
 [14] 
 
4* Ipiniom 3^loor0 4* 
 
 '"p^HE third, fourth, and fifth floors contain bedrooms only, 
 ■*• of which the floor plan on the opposite page will show the 
 arrangement. The sixth floor is also devoted mainly to bedrooms, 
 arranged substantially as shown on the floor plan of the third, 
 fourth, and fifth floors. The barber-shop is, however, located 
 on the sixth floor, and at the west end of this floor provision is 
 made for four private dining-rooms. Each bedroom is provided 
 with a private bath, excepting the bedrooms leading off the service 
 halls, which are not intended for the use ot members or guests. 
 
 The total number ot bedrooms available for members and 
 guests is sixty-four. There is ample opportunity, particularly at the 
 east end of each floor, to arrange rooms en suite for such mem- 
 bers as may desire to make the Club their home. The number 
 of bedrooms available is sufficiently large to warrant the letting of 
 a limited number to resident members for a considerable period of 
 time. But such letting must obviously be limited, as the demand 
 tor rooms tor temporary use by resident and non-resident members 
 will doubtless in the course of time overtake the supply. In pro- 
 viding such a considerable number oi bedrooms, the Club has 
 been actuated largely by the desire to meet the needs of its non- 
 resident members. The University Club of Chicago should be, 
 
 its members hope that it will 
 become, the center of college life 
 in the Middle West, a place to 
 which college men from far and 
 near may come and feel sure of 
 meeting other men of their own 
 college or of other colleges; a 
 place where college men from 
 the East and from the West, from 
 the North and from the South, 
 may meet on common ground 
 and in common fellowship. 
 
4* ^puf ntl| Moat 4* 
 
 'nr^HIS rioor contains a billiard-room seventy-two feet long and 
 ■*• twenty-nine feet wide, affording sufficient space for nine tables. 
 Seven large windows opening on street and avenue afford abundant 
 light. Raised seats for spectators are provided on three sides of the 
 room. The card-room divides the Michigan Avenue frontage on 
 this floor with the billiard-room; and the cafe adjoins the billiard- 
 room on the Monroe Street front. The cafe, by reason of two 
 large openings into the billiard-room, is an extension of the 
 billiard-room to westward. The billiard-room and the cafe are 
 treated in the same style; the walls are wainscoted in oak, and 
 above the wainscoting the walls are of face brick up to the 
 stone corbels carrying girders and beams of oak which support 
 the ceiling. The ceiling between the beams is of plaster. The 
 card-room is treated in a different style; it is also wainscoted in 
 oak, but the ceiling is vaulted and groined. The windows 
 throughout this floor are mullioned. 
 
 There are on this floor also four private dining-rooms con- 
 nected by a corridor with the service hall and with the service 
 elevators and dumb-waiters, by which the kitchens are easily 
 reached. These four private dining-rooms, together with the 
 four already mentioned on the sixth floor and three others here- 
 after to be mentioned on the eighth floor, make up a total of 
 eleven private dining-rooms ranging in length from twenty-two 
 to thirty-two feet, and in width from fourteen to seventeen feet. 
 These rooms will be available not only for private entertainment 
 of a social nature, but for conferences of various kinds, which may 
 include gentlemen who are neither members nor guests of the 
 Club. The demand for private dining-rooms for such purposes 
 has been steadily increasing, and it is expected that the rooms 
 provided will contribute materially to the utility of the Club, 
 
 The main bar of the Club is also on this floor. 
 
 [18] 
 

 nr^HIS floor contains the College Hall, where luncheon will be 
 served from a limited menu arranged tor quick service. 
 It is expected that this room will also be largely used for dinners, 
 smokers, and other gatherings of the various alumni associations 
 represented in the Club membership. This room is paneled 
 in oak to the ceiling, which is of plaster divided into panels by 
 heavy beams of oak. Around the frieze is a series of shields 
 decorated with the arms of the various colleges. Adjoining 
 College Hall to eastward will be found three private dining-rooms. 
 Passing eastward through a small assembly-room we enter 
 the Library which occupies the entire Avenue frontage. This 
 
 room has four large windows 
 opening out on Michigan Avenue, 
 and two windows opening south- 
 ward on Monroe Street. It affords 
 an unobstructed view of Lake 
 Michigan from all its windows. 
 The style of the Library is Eliza- 
 bethan ; the walls are paneled in 
 oak, the windows are mullioned, 
 and the ceiling is of decorated 
 plaster. A stone fire-place occu- 
 pies the north end of the room. 
 
 [20] 
 
4* Nttttli Boor 4* 
 
 '"T^HIS floor contains the main dining-room of the Club. 
 ''■ Architecturally this room is the most important feature of 
 the interior of the building. It has a length along Monroe Street 
 of eighty-six feet six inches, and a width on the Avenue of forty- 
 three feet. The height from the floor to the crest of the vaulted 
 ceiling is thirty-six feet seven inches. The floor plan on the 
 opposite page shows a recessed space on the north side of the 
 main portion of the room, extending from the light-court to 
 Michigan Avenue, which forms a part of the dining-room. 
 For architectural reasons this recessed space is separated from the 
 main portion of the dining-room by massive stone columns, the 
 general treatment of which will be seen at the left of the full-page 
 illustration on page twenty-five. But for all general purposes this 
 space forms a part of the dining-room. The entire floor area of 
 the dining-room is about four thousand four hundred square feet. 
 It will seat comfortably from one hundred and eighty to two 
 hundred persons at small tables, and when provided with larger 
 tables for banquets it will accommodate about twice that number. 
 The walls ot the dining-room are severely simple; they are 
 carried in plain Bedford stone from the floor upwards fully twenty 
 feet to the stone corbels, which carry the roof trusses of the ceiling. 
 The mullions of the windows are also of stone. The room de- 
 pends for its decoration largely upon the stained glass in the 
 windows, and upon the ceiling. The ceiling is vaulted and groined 
 in dark wood, and has five rows of pendants along the length of 
 the room. It is frankly an adaptation of the ceiling of Crosby 
 Hall in London. Crosby Hall was built as a banqueting-hall in 
 the fifteenth century, and has long been regarded as one of the 
 most beautiful Gothic structures in London. The architect is 
 unknown. Buildings devoted entirely to business have encroached 
 upon the Hall, and the Hall itself has been subjected to various 
 incongruous uses and to some indignities, but its beauty has survived 
 
 [22] 
 

its tribulations. It has been threatened repeatedly with demo- 
 lition. Renewed efforts are now being made to preserve it as a 
 public monument, but the result is still indecisive. 
 
 Crosby Hall is a narrower room than the dining-room of the 
 University Club, having a width of only thirty feet. The dining- 
 room, being forty-three feet wide, requires five rows of pendants 
 in order to give substantially the same effect which Crosby Hall 
 gives with its three rows. 
 
 The effect of the ceiling depends very much upon the amount 
 and quality of the light which is permitted to reach it. The 
 windows are numerous and large, exceeding twenty feet in height; 
 and in order to restrict the light along the upper reaches of the 
 room, to lend to the ceiling the requisite sense of mystery, the upper 
 portions of the windows are filled with stained glass, growing 
 less translucent toward the top of the windows. The stained 
 glass has been designed by Mr. Frederic C. Bartlett, and Mr. 
 Bartlett has also co-operated with the architects in the decora- 
 tive treatment of the other principal apartments of the building. 
 
 The lower windows of the dining-room are of clear glass, and 
 are casement windows opening out upon corbeled balconies. The 
 illustration on the opposite page may serve to give a general im- 
 pression of the appearance of the room, but the dimness of the 
 light on the ceiling is rather exaggerated, and gives perhaps the 
 impression of gloom rather than mystery. 
 
 The ceiling of the recessed portion of the dining-room 
 above mentioned is somewhat lower than the ceiling of the main 
 portion, and is of stone, vaulted and groined. Against the north 
 wall of this recess there is a stone fireplace of liberal dimensions. 
 
 Adjoining the dining-room to westward is the kitchen of 
 the Club, consisting of two stories (only one of which is shown 
 upon the accompanying floor plan), having ample accommodation 
 for all the needs of the Club, and being connected by service 
 elevators and dumb-waiters with the college hall below, with 
 the roof-garden above, with the various private dining-rooms, 
 and with the ladies' dining-room on the second floor. 
 
 [24] 
 
4* Ati|lrttr lEqm^jmPtit 4* 
 
 '"T^HERE has been growing an urgent demand for athletic equip- 
 "*■ ment in buildings devoted to club purposes in all the larger 
 cities of the country, and in planning the University Club build- 
 ing this need has been recognized, and has been as liberally met 
 as was possible under the circumstances. The swimming-pool in 
 the basement has already been mentioned. Four squash-courts 
 are provided, and are placed immediately over the upper kitchen. 
 These squash-courts are all of the regulation size. Above the 
 squash-courts and extending eastward over the main dining-room 
 are two racquet-courts, also of regulation size, separated by a 
 gallery which commands a view of both courts. The racquet- 
 courts are lighted in the daytime from the roof by a full expanse 
 of northern light, and they are provided with artificial light for 
 such games as may be found from time to time capable of being 
 adapted to artificial light. 
 
 4* loof-ClarJipn 4* 
 
 '"T^HE space varying from fifteen to twenty feet between the 
 ■*■ walls of the easternmost racquet-court and the parapet of the 
 exterior walls of the building is admirably adapted for a roof-garden. 
 The portion of this space inside the walls supporting the pitched 
 roof is protected from the weather in winter by glass doors and 
 windows, so that the space is available for the purposes of a roof- 
 garden through a larger portion of the year than an entirely un- 
 enclosed space would be. 
 
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