09/11/2026
original 1930s photographic image of solon s. beman's william kimball house (1890-92), located at 1801 south prairie avenue, chicago, il.
the william w. kimball house at 1801 s. prairie avenue is a landmark of chicago’s prairie avenue historic district. built between 1890 and 1892 the mansion was designed by solon spencer beman, architect of the planned pullman community. inspired by brittany’s 12th-century château de josselin, beman used the french châteauesque style, with bedford limestone, asymmetrical turrets, a slate mansard roof, and prominent copper cresting.
inside, a mexican onyx-paneled foyer opens to a two-story great hall featuring a caen stone fireplace, carved oak woodwork, and a monumental staircase illuminated by three leaded-glass windows. a custom security system and ornate wrought-iron perimeter fence protected the family’s celebrated art collection, which included works by rembrandt and monet.
the house was built for william wallace kimball, founder of the kimball piano and organ company. after his death in 1904, his widow, evaline, lived there until 1921 and bequeathed their multimillion-dollar art collection to the art institute of chicago.
the mansion later became a boarding house before the american institute of architects and the chicago architectural club purchased it for $100,000 as their headquarters. as prairie avenue’s “millionaire’s row” declined and the area became increasingly commercial, maintenance proved unsustainable during the great depression, and the architects club vacated the property in 1937.
in the 1940s, it housed the hull school for exceptional children. it was later occupied by publishers, including domestic engineering, then acquired and preserved by r.r. donnelley in the 1970s and donated to the chicago architecture foundation.
from 1991 to 2023, the mansion served as headquarters of the u.s. soccer federation, earning the nickname “soccer house.” it has since been sold to a private buyer who plans to restore it as a single-family residence.
chicago journalist and architectural historian john drury extensively documented the house during its years of transition. writing for the chicago daily news and later the chicago sun-times, he featured it in his landmark 1941 book, old chicago houses, calling it “chicago’s best châteauesque design.”
historical photographs from the 1930s and 1940s survive in the chicago public library’s john drury photographic collection and the library of congress.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
