Peeking Through the Gate of the Cable House

The Cable House is a Richardsonian Romanesque-style house built in 1886 for  Ransom Cable who was the president of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company.  It's one of the few mansions I stumbled across on my walk in Chicago last June.

Triple arch continues around the side of the entrance

The Cable House is currently occupied by the offices of Driehaus Capital Management, which is operated by Chicago financier, preservationist and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus. I'll get into that a bit more at the end.

The exterior is constructed of  peach-pink Kasota stone, a sedimentary rock from the upper Midwest which glows warmly when lit by the sun. It's steep gabled roof sure wouldn't have had a problem with snow build-up!

A hundred years ago this mansion was surrounded by other mansions and not skyscrapers.  Ransom was the son of one wealthy man, Hiram C. Cable, and the nephew of another, Philander Cable, yet he started his working life as a railroad conductor. By the way, the word "philanderer" is a popular name for a lover in stories, drama, and poetry - it comes from the Greek adjective philandros.  You learn something new every day!

You can really see the pink tones in the stone above the fountain...if you can take your eyes off the lion heads long enough.

I got these photographs by sticking my iPhone through the bars of the gate that surrounds the property.  No visitors allowed, unfortunately.  Look at the lion head in the metal surrounding the window of the coach house and those gorgeous statues in the courtyard!

As I mentioned it is owned now by Driehaus Capital Management. The Richard H. Driehaus Museum is located across the intersection in the historic Edward J. Burling-designed Samuel M. Nickerson House at 40 E. Erie Street.  I'm hoping to go to Chicago soon to take a tour of this museum that explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th and early 20th centuries with a focus on the Gilded Age.  They currently have an exhibit relating to the World's Fair of 1893...a passion of mine as you know if you've been following along for awhile!

Dickerson Mansion, home to the Driehaus Museum

I doubt the sun will be shining though, and the temperatures will be quite different as we are seeing winter weather here in the Midwest these days...