Encyclopedia o f Chicago
Interpretive Digital Essay : The Plan of Chicago
The Plan of Chicago
Chicago in 1909
Planning Before the Plan
Antecedents and Inspirations
The City the Planners Saw
The Plan of Chicago
The Plan Comes Together
Creating the Plan
Reading the Plan
A Living Document
Promotion
Implementation
Heritage
Edward E. Ayer Residence
Return to "The Plan Comes Together"

Burnham and Root designed this handsome stone mansion (and nearby barn) for Edward E. Ayer in 1885 at the corner of State and Banks Streets in Chicago's tony new North Side Gold Coast neighborhood. Ayer made his fortune in the railroad commission business. He became one of the most remarkable American collectors and a major benefactor of both the Newberry Library and the Field Museum, the latter of which he was the first president.