The Tree Studio Building and Annexes was an

artist colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

established in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

in 1894 by Judge

Lambert Tree Lambert Tree (November 29, 1832 – October 9, 1910) was a United States state court judge, ambassador, and patron of the arts. The Tree Family of America and Early life The Tree family of America were amongst the first colonists from Engla ...

and his wife, Anne Tree.

Origin

Tree arranged to have the original Tree building constructed in 1894, designed by the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

firm of

Parfitt Brothers The Parfitt Brothers were architects in Brooklyn, New York CIty. The firm included three brothers, Henry, Walter and Albert, who were born in Frome, England. They were "one of Brooklyn’s best and busiest architectural firms of the late 19th an ...

. The building is constructed with steel frames and is three stories high. The ground level is covered in a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

arcade and designed as storefronts, while the second story is covered in a

Roman brick Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick used in Ancient Roman architecture and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type inspired by the ancient prototypes. In both cases, it characteristically has longer and f ...

and is designed to serve as artist studios with large windows to allow natural light to enter. Tree created a legal trust which stipulated that only artists could live in Tree Studios. This trust remained in force until 1959 when the complex was sold to the

Medinah Temple The Medinah Temple is a large Moorish Revival building in Chicago built by Shriners architects Huehl and Schmidt in 1912. It is located on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois at 600 N. Wabash Avenue, extending from Ohio Street to Ontario ...

, with which the studio complex shared a block.

Notable artists

Some of the studio's residents have included sculptors

Albin Polasek Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Flori ...

, John Storrs, and Nancy Cox-McCormack; illustrator

J. Allen St. John James Allen St. John (October 1, 1872 – May 23, 1957) was an American author, artist and illustrator. He is especially remembered for his illustrations for the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, although he illustrated works of many types. He ta ...

; muralists Frances Badger,

John Warner Norton John Warner Norton (7 March 1876 – 7 January 1934) was an American painter and muralist who pioneered the field in the United States. Norton was born in Lockport, Illinois, the son of John Lyman Norton and Ada Clara Gooding Norton. The family r ...

and

Louis Grell Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

; painter
Scott Shellstrom

Ruth VanSickle Ford Ruth Van Sickle Ford (August 8, 1897 – April 18, 1989) was an American painter, art teacher, and owner of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. She credited artists George Bellows, who influenced her interest in social realism, and John Carlson, ...

, Robert Wadsworth Grafton, James Murray Haddow, Antonin Sterba, James J. Ingwersen, John Doctoroff, Gus Likan, Richard Florsheim,

Leopold Seyffert Leopold Seyffert ca. 1910 Leopold Gould Seyffert (January 6, 1887 – June 13, 1956) was an American artist. Born in California, Missouri and raised as a child in Colorado and then Pittsburgh, his career brought him eventually to New York City, ...

and Pauline Palmer, Carl Tolpo and Lily Tolpo; and actors

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series ''Columbo'' (1968–1978, 1989–2003), for which he ...

and

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

. Painter

Indiana Gyberson Indiana Gyberson (sometimes Gyborson or Giberson) (1879–1944) was an American painter, born Anna Giberson before adopting her mother’s first name and changing the spelling of her surname. Well-regarded in her day, she has been almost completely ...

was also a resident for some time, as was painter Anna Lynch.

2000 World Monuments Watch

The studios and temple were included in the

2000 World Monuments Watch The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call upon every government in the world, preservation organizations, and other groups ...

by the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

, after citizens became concerned that the complex would be demolished and a high rise tower constructed in its place. With support from the financial services company

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

WMF awarded a grant toward the preparation of an architectural significance survey and a feasibility study for the site. The results of the significance survey led to the sites being designated as Chicago

landmarks A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

Restoration and historic landmark

Restoration of the property was guided by Albert Friedman, who purchased the property in 2001, following which construction workers and artisans labored side-by-side, rebuilding Tree Studios by hand. Architectural details were re-created from surviving fragments in on-site woodworking shops. The State Street building was listed as a

Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archite ...

on February 26, 1997. The Ohio Street and Ontario Street annexes and courtyard were added as Chicago Landmarks on June 27, 2001. The complex was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 16, 1974.http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=506

References

External links

Friedman PropertiesThe Ivy Room at Tree StudiosProperty owner's web page for Tree Studios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tree Studio Building And Annexes American artist groups and collectives Chicago Landmarks Queen Anne architecture in Illinois Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Residential buildings completed in 1894