Tour Information

Glessner House Museum offers guided tours of Glessner House (1886), a National Historic Landmark and Clarke House (1836), the City's oldest surviving building located in the adjacent Chicago Women's Park and Gardens. Tours are led by trained docents and last approximately one hour in each house.

We are open year-round, except for major holidays.

Glessner House Museum
Wednesday through Sunday

at 1:00 and 3:00 pm

Clarke House Museum
Wednesday through Sunday

at 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm

Events Calendar

Prairie Avenue

Walking Tours

Offered every summer on selected Sunday afternoons.  See upcoming dates at right.  Also available by appointment for groups of 10 or more.

Starting Point: Glessner House Museum Coach House

Call 312.326.1480 to reserve a place, since group size is limited.

$15.00 per person,

$12.00 for museum members

Explore the fascinating history of Chicago's Prairie Avenue on this two-hour walking tour through the neighborhood, led by Bill Tyre, Executive Director and Curator of the Glessner House Museum. The tour will cover almost 200 years of history, from the Battle of Fort Dearborn through the recent rebirth of the area as Chicago's hottest residential neighborhood. Visitors will see historic photos of homes that have been lost and walk past the eleven houses that remain in the area. Interior tours of the last surviving house on Calumet Avenue, now functioning as the Wheeler Mansion boutique hotel, and the incredible Arts & Crafts sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church, featuring nine Tiffany windows, will be included.

For children's events, scroll down to end of list

Prairie Avenue Walking Tour

Sunday September 12, 2010 from 2:00 to 4:00pm

See information in the sidebar at left

Tour of I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot
Led by Timothy Long, Costume Curator, Chicago History Museum
Wednesday September 15, 2010 at 1:00pm

$25 per person, pre-paid reservations required

R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

Timothy Long will lead this exclusive private tour of the new exhibit which explores wedding fashions and customs from the past 170 years.  Included in the exhibit are several pieces from the Glessner family, including Frances Glessner's wedding dress from 1870, on exhibit for the first time.  Participants will be also be able to view additional pieces from the Glessner family, including John Glessner's wedding suit, that are not included in the exhibit.

Tour of the Sullivan Center (former Carson Pirie Scott & Co.)

Led by Gunny Harboe, restoration architect

Wednesday September 22, 2010 at 5:30pm

$25 per person, pre-paid reservations required

R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

Back by popular demand, restoration architect Gunny Harboe will repeat his exclusive tour of the recently restored Sullivan Center, widely regarded as one of Louis Sullivan's masterpieces.  Learn about the restoration process, the hidden surprises and treasures discovered along the way, and see Sullivan's beautiful design up close, as it appeared when the building was first completed.

Originally built for the retail firm of Schlesinger & Mayer in 1899, this building became a model for a new modern building type - the large department store.  The bases of richly ornamented display windows was used to attract customers and to provide, as Louis Sullivan stated, "a garment of poetic imagery."

Tour of Louis Sullivan's Idea
Led by Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago
and exhibit co-curator
Wednesday October 13, 2010 at 12:15pm

Saturday October 16, 2010 at 1:00pm
$25 per person, pre-paid reservations required
R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

Joint program with the Greater Chicago Chapter, Victorian Society in America
Louis Henry Sullivan was one of Chicago's most famous but misunderstood architects.  Come hear Tim Samuelson, a leading historian of Sullivan's life and career, as he leads a tour of the Chicago Cultural Center exhibition that Tim co-curated with Chicago artist Chris Ware.  Tim will discuss Sullivan in the context of an innovative installation of photographs, drawings, documents, and artifacts that portray his life, writings and architectural works set within the framework of his time and original creative intent.

Tour of Wright's Bradley House in Kankakee
Saturday October 23, 2010 at 10:00am
$50 per person, pre-paid reservations required
R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480
The newest house museum in Illinois (opened July 2010) is Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Bradley House in Kankakee.  Designed in 1900, it is generally regarded to be Wright's first true "Prairie Style" house with its classic ground-hugging exterior, 100 art glass windows, and perfect siting along the Kankakee River. It was meticulously restored within the past five years, using Wright's original plans.  This in-depth two hour tour will explore the groundbreaking architecture and the restoration process.  Interior photography will be permitted.
Limited to 15 participants

24th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Readings

Saturday October 30, 2010 at 5:00 and 8:00pm
$25 per person, $20 for museum members
Pre-paid reservations required to 312-326-1480
Squirm in your seat as actors from Lifeline Theatre present staged readings of Poe's terrifying stories and poetry.  A holiday tradition!

Shadows on the Street:
Haunted Tours of Prairie Avenue
Saturday October 30 and Sunday October 31, 2010
Tours at 7:00 and 8:00pm each evening

$10 per person, $8 for museum members
Pre-paid reservations suggested to 312-326-1480
Tales of strange sounds, unexplained sightings, and untimely endings as your explore Prairie Avenue after dark!

"Antique Road Show"

Saturday November 6, 2010 at 4:00pm

Joint program with the Greater Chicago Chapter, Victorian Society in America

Karl Gates, speaker/appraiser/teacher, with 30 years of experience will offer appraisals for anything that can be carried in, for $5.00 per item.  This will be your opportunity to learn what attributes one should look for in an item to determine its worth as an antique.

Lecture by Kenneth Breisch

Henry Hobson Richardson and the American Public Library

Thursday November 11, 2010 at 7:00pm
East Gallery (use front entrance on Prairie Avenue)

$10 non-members, $8 for museum members

R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

This lecture will focus on five designs for public library buildlings produced by Richardson in the decade between 1876 and 1886.  Four of these were constructed within the intellectual and economic orbit of Boston, at North Easton, Woburn, Quincy, and Malden, Massachusetts.  The fifth design, which was not realized, was entered into a competition held in 1886 in East Saginaw, Michigan.  As Richardson's first biographer, Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer observed in1888, his library buildings "afford an excellent chance to trace the development of his talent," a gift for design and invention which was widely acclaimed by both his colleagues and the American public at the time of his premature death at the age of 47 in 1886.

Museums Decorated for the Holidays
Wednesday November 24, 2010 through Sunday January 2, 2011

Experience the museums decked out in 19th century Christmas decor!

Lecture by Art Miller

"Frazier, Raftery, Orr & Fairbank, Architects:

Houses of Chicago's North Shore, 1924-1970"

Wednesday December 1, 2010 at 7:00pm

East Gallery (use front entrance on Prairie Avenue)

$10 non-members, $8 for museum members

R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

Many will recognize the name of this firm (at the time Frazier and Raftery) as the designers of the Masonite House, one of the "Homes of Tomorrow" exhibited at the Century of Progress in 1933-1934.  But beyond that, the firm had a long and rich history  that embraced numerous styles including Beaux Arts, Art Deco, International, New Formalist, and Postmodern.  The firm also had an interest in the restoration and replication of the mid-19th century Italianate style, including the restoration of a Lake Forest home for the grand nephew of William Kimball.  Frazier's old Chicago area roots, and Raftery's series of lithographs from 1935 depicting famous Chicago houses (including Glessner House), speak to their interest in the architectural history of Chicago, with a particiular sensitivity toward Prairie Avenue.  As one of the firms involved in the development of Circle Campus, they championed the preservation of the original Hull House building.  Copies of the book of the same name, co-authored by Art Miller and Kim Coventry, will be available for purchase and signing after the lecture.

Candlelight Tours

Saturday December 11 and Sunday December 12, 2010

Tours at 5:30, 6:00, and 6:30pm each evening

$18 for adults, $14 for children 8-12

Members: $15 for adults, $11 for children 8-12

Pre-paid reservations required

R.S.V.P. to 312-326-1480

These special 90-minute docent led tours will highlight Christmas customs and decorations of the 19th century.  The museums take on a special glow at the holiday season, and these tours are the perfect way to usher in the holidays by learning about the origin of many of our most beloved customs.  The Clarke House will feature decorations of the 1830s and 1840s, when the celebration of Christmas as we know it today was just starting to take root.  The Glessner House will feature decorations of the late 19th century, including a live Christmas tree shipped from the Glessner's former summer estate in New Hampshire, filled with glass and paper ornaments.  Hot cider and cookies will be served after the tours.

CHILDREN'S EVENTS

Children's Reading Class
2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, October thru May, at 10:00am

Class resumes October 9, 2010

Beidler Room (use front entrance on Prairie Avenue)
The museum is proud to launch a bi-weekly class (loosely modeled on Mrs. Glessner's Monday Morning Reading Class) scheduled at 10:00am on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month.  The hour-long class will consist of a group reading, as well as crafts and other age-appropriate activities for 3 to 10 year old children (accompanied by a parent or guardian).  Attendance at the class will be free for Junior Members with a suggested donation for non-members.  The class is designed to provide social and educational activities for families with young children in the neighborhood.  The reading selections are books and materials with an emphasis on local history, culture, and the time period of the 1880s to the early 1900s.  For more information on participating or volunteering, pleasecontact Scott Clark at scottdclark1138@sbcglobal.net.