This house museum is accessible.
This house museum is available for events.
Group tours by request
Built in 1901-1902, the Madlener House is the work of architect Richard E. Schmidt and designer Hugh M. G. Garden. Recognized for the quality of its architectural design, the 9,000-square-foot Prairie-style mansion features compact, cubic massing related to German Neoclassicism in addition to details that reveal the influence of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.
MORE INFO ON HOUSE MUSEUM WEBSITE...
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
4 West Burton Place Chicago, IL 60610, USA312-787-4071
Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts gives project-based grants to individuals and organizations, and produces public programs relating to architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Foundation—and its art galleries, bookstore, library of grantee publications, outdoor architectural fragments collection, and public programs—are located in the Madlener House, a turn-of-the-century Prairie-style mansion.
Interior
Exterior
X
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
House Museums related to "ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES"
- International Museum of Surgical Science
- Frances Willard House Museum
- Pleasant Home
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: The Robie House
- Roger Brown Study Collection
- Loyola at Cuneo Mansion and Gardens
- Clarke House Museum
- Charnley-Persky House Museum
- Evanston History Center at the Charles Gates Dawes House
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: Wright Home and Studio
- 6018North
- Pullman House Project
- Mayslake Peabody Estate
- Glessner House
- Adlai E. Stevenson II Historic Home
- Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
- McCormick House at Elmhurst Art Museum
- Schweikher-Langsdorf Home & Studio
- The Driehaus Museum
- The Ansel B. Cook House
- Rudolph Glasner Studio by Edgar Miller
X
BOOKS
Situated in the Madlener House’s former kitchen, the Graham Foundation’s non-lending library showcases hundreds of books funded by its grantmaking initiatives, from the beginnings in 1956 to recently published titles. In the former dining room, a new bookshop contains a specially curated selection of architecture and design books and periodicals.
House Museums related to "BOOKS"
- International Museum of Surgical Science
- Frances Willard House Museum
- Pleasant Home
- Charnley-Persky House Museum
- Robert R. McCormick Museum/Cantigny
- 6018North
- Mayslake Peabody Estate
- Glessner House
- The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace
- Adlai E. Stevenson II Historic Home
- The Grove National Historic Landmark
- Kalo Foundation/Iannelli Studio
X
FINE ART
With galleries throughout the three floors of the Madlener House, the Graham Foundation has presented an important program of exhibitions relating to architecture and design for over 50 years. Events and lectures from grant award recipients and distinguished members of the architecture, art, and design community are held in the house’s third-floor ballroom.
MORE INFO ON HOUSE MUSEUM WEBSITE...House Museums related to "FINE ART"
X
PHILANTHROPY
The Graham Foundation makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations that explore innovative, thought-provoking investigations in architecture; architectural history, theory, and criticism; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urban planning; urban studies; visual arts; and related fields of inquiry.
House Museums related to "PHILANTHROPY"
X
HISTORIC FIGURES
Created from a bequest from architect Ernest R. Graham of the prestigious firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the Graham Foundation has funded groundbreaking projects in architecture and design for over 55 years. Notable recipients include Rem Koolhaus, Buckminster Fuller, Ada Louis Huxtable, MoMA, IIT, and the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT.
House Museums related to "HISTORIC FIGURES"
- International Museum of Surgical Science
- Frances Willard House Museum
- Loyola at Cuneo Mansion and Gardens
- Charnley-Persky House Museum
- Evanston History Center at the Charles Gates Dawes House
- Robert R. McCormick Museum/Cantigny
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: Wright Home and Studio
- National Public Housing Museum
- Pullman House Project
- Adlai E. Stevenson II Historic Home
- Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
- The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace
- McCormick House at Elmhurst Art Museum
- Schweikher-Langsdorf Home & Studio
- The Driehaus Museum
- 6018North
- The Ansel B. Cook House
- Kalo Foundation/Iannelli Studio
X
FAMILY
The Madlener House was built for Albert and Elsa Madlener, a young couple whose families emigrated to the United States from Germany and made their fortunes in the brewing and distribution business. With their reputation for gracious entertaining, it is said that invitations to the Madlener’s home were never refused.
PRESERVATION
In 1963, architect Daniel Brenner renovated the Madlener House to accommodate the Graham Foundation’s philanthropic and educational activities. While making minor changes, Brenner showed consideration for the special quality of the building at a time when architectural preservation was only beginning to be appreciated.
House Museums related to "PRESERVATION"
- Frances Willard House Museum
- Pleasant Home
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: The Robie House
- Roger Brown Study Collection
- Clarke House Museum
- Charnley-Persky House Museum
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: Wright Home and Studio
- 6018North
- National Public Housing Museum
- Pullman House Project
- Mayslake Peabody Estate
- Glessner House
- The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace
- Schweikher-Langsdorf Home & Studio
- The Grove National Historic Landmark
- Rudolph Glasner Studio by Edgar Miller
X
HEARTH
While touring the Graham Foundation’s exhibitions, visitors notice a uniquely elaborate fireplace in almost every room of the Madlener House. For the front fireplace in the entrance hall, Belgian sculptor Albert Van Den Berghen designed the bronze relief entitled "Spirit of the Waves," representing Lake Michigan.
ARCHIVES
During the Madelener House's 1963 renovation, Daniel Brenner transported elevator grills designed by Louis Sullivan from the Stock Exchange Building to the new library. This was the start of a growing collection of architectural fragments from famous Chicago buildings. In 1987, architect John Vinci installed a permanent display of fragments in the courtyard.
House Museums related to "ARCHIVES"
- International Museum of Surgical Science
- Frances Willard House Museum
- Roger Brown Study Collection
- Evanston History Center at the Charles Gates Dawes House
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trust: Wright Home and Studio
- The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace
- The Ansel B. Cook House
- The Grove National Historic Landmark
- Kalo Foundation/Iannelli Studio
X
PERFORMANCES
For two seasons a year, the Madlener House ballroom hosts experimental music performances presented by Lampo. Founded in 1997, this Chicago-based organization brings internationally-recognized composers and musicians working in electronic and electroacoustic music, free improvisation, sound art, and other new forms to local audiences.
House Museums related to "PERFORMANCES"
X
Interior
image credit: View of "Judy Ledgerwood: Chromatic Patterns for the Graham Foundation," 2014, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo by Thomas Rossiter.
Exterior
image credit: View of “Anne Tyng: Inhabiting Geometry,” 2011, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo by James Prinz.