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Potter Palmer
(1826-1902)
Bertha Honoré Palmer
(1850-1918).
Erected 1921.
Potter Palmer was
responsible for much of the
development of State
Street. He operated an
extremely successful
dry-goods store in
partnership with Marshall
Field and Levi Leiter. In
the 1860s he withdrew
from this business (leasing
the building to Field and Leiter for $50,000 a year). He owned 3/4 mile of State street and
constructed a number of buildings, including the Palmer House Hotel. In 1871 he married the young
and beautiful Bertha Honoré, daughter of Henry Hamilton Honoré.
The Palmer House Hotel was newly completed in 1871 when the Great Chicago Fire struck. In a
single night, all of Palmer's State Street properties were destroyed. He borrowed $2 million from an
insurance company, up to then the largest amount ever loaned to a private citizen, and immediately
began rebuilding State Street and the new Palmer House Hotel.
Bertha Palmer was considered the queen of Chicago high society, and was a patron of
Impressionist artists. The Palmers lived in a Gothic castle at 1350 North Lake Shore Drive, built in
1885. Before the construction of the Palmer home, south-side Prairie Avenue had been the most
desirable residential real-estate for the rich, but following Palmer's lead they began building on the
"Gold Coast". Mrs. Palmer created a 75-foot picture gallery in her richly ornamented home,
collecting the work of French Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet. She frequently
entertained such guests as President McKinley.
When Mrs. Palmer died in Florida in 1918, her body was returned to her castle beneath a blanket of
orchids. Potter and Bertha Palmer now lie within the two large granite sarcophagi, with the inverted
torches on the sides symbolic of death. Three generations of their descendants lie beneath the floor
around them. McKim, Mead & White designed their tomb the style of a Greek temple, the largest
and most magnificent in Graceland.
The burial scene in the movie Damien: Omen II takes place just north of the Palmer monument.
The Palmer Castle
This extravagant castle of Connecticut brownstone and Amherst stone from Ohio was built
for Potter Palmer, owner of Chicago's famous Palmer House Hotel. The architects were
Henry Ives Cobb (formerly of Peabody and Stearns) and Charles S. Frost. The exterior was
completed in 1883, but work on the lavish interiors continued for another two years. Some
of the larger rooms were done by Herter Brothers of New York City. A multitude of exotic
woods were utilized throughout the castle to help make a strong artistic and social
statement as to the ways and means of its owner. The castle also had one of Chicago's
earliest domestic elevators. The basic footprint of the building covered an area of
approximately 80' x 56'. Mr. Palmers's castle stood at Lake Shore Drive and Banks St.
until it was torn down in 1951.
Potter Palmer
(1826-1902)
Bertha Honoré Palmer
(1850-1918).
Erected 1921.
Potter Palmer was
responsible for much of the
development of State
Street. He operated an
extremely successful
dry-goods store in
partnership with Marshall
Field and Levi Leiter. In
the 1860s he withdrew
from this business (leasing
the building to Field and Leiter for $50,000 a year). He owned 3/4 mile of State street and
constructed a number of buildings, including the Palmer House Hotel. In 1871 he married the young
and beautiful Bertha Honoré, daughter of Henry Hamilton Honoré.
The Palmer House Hotel was newly completed in 1871 when the Great Chicago Fire struck. In a
single night, all of Palmer's State Street properties were destroyed. He borrowed $2 million from an
insurance company, up to then the largest amount ever loaned to a private citizen, and immediately
began rebuilding State Street and the new Palmer House Hotel.
Bertha Palmer was considered the queen of Chicago high society, and was a patron of
Impressionist artists. The Palmers lived in a Gothic castle at 1350 North Lake Shore Drive, built in
1885. Before the construction of the Palmer home, south-side Prairie Avenue had been the most
desirable residential real-estate for the rich, but following Palmer's lead they began building on the
"Gold Coast". Mrs. Palmer created a 75-foot picture gallery in her richly ornamented home,
collecting the work of French Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet. She frequently
entertained such guests as President McKinley.
When Mrs. Palmer died in Florida in 1918, her body was returned to her castle beneath a blanket of
orchids. Potter and Bertha Palmer now lie within the two large granite sarcophagi, with the inverted
torches on the sides symbolic of death. Three generations of their descendants lie beneath the floor
around them. McKim, Mead & White designed their tomb the style of a Greek temple, the largest
and most magnificent in Graceland.
The burial scene in the movie Damien: Omen II takes place just north of the Palmer monument.
The Palmer Castle
This extravagant castle of Connecticut brownstone and Amherst stone from Ohio was built
for Potter Palmer, owner of Chicago's famous Palmer House Hotel. The architects were
Henry Ives Cobb (formerly of Peabody and Stearns) and Charles S. Frost. The exterior was
completed in 1883, but work on the lavish interiors continued for another two years. Some
of the larger rooms were done by Herter Brothers of New York City. A multitude of exotic
woods were utilized throughout the castle to help make a strong artistic and social
statement as to the ways and means of its owner. The castle also had one of Chicago's
earliest domestic elevators. The basic footprint of the building covered an area of
approximately 80' x 56'. Mr. Palmers's castle stood at Lake Shore Drive and Banks St.
until it was torn down in 1951.
