History of the Wheeler-Osborn House

Historical Irving Park

Irving Park (first called Irvington, and named after the author Washington Irving) is located 7 miles Northwest of the Loop.  Irving Park’s past and present are both tied to preservation of its historic houses.  Building fine houses was the concept for the development business Charles T. Race decided upon after purchasing acreage in 1869 from Major Noble, whose father had bought the land in 1833.  Race had intended to become a gentleman farmer, but his land was so close to the Chicago & North Western railroad, that he decided that there was more money to be made in beginning a settlement.  After Race paid for a depot to be built, the train line agreed to stop in Irving Park.  The area was platted in 1869 by Charles and WB Race, John Wheeler, and John Brown, who collectively became the Irving Park Land Company, and was one of a series of new suburbs that were developed along the railway, including Park Ridge, Norwood Park and Jefferson Park.  Irving Park grew until the 1873 Depression, and development was resumed in the early 1880’s and was first annexed to Chicago in 1889.  It was promoted as having “easy access to downtown via hourly trains, and having shady streets, fine schools, churches and stores”.  The Irving Park Land Company made 600% on their investment in the land.  Irving Park attracted wealthy residents who sought larger homes and amenities that included closets and drinking water from artesian wells.  It was one such wealthy person, Alfred Osborn, who purchased the property in Irving Park in 1872.

Wheelers’ addition of Irving Park included a part of the northwest quarter of Section 23.  (History of Cook County, pg. 760)

The Wheeler Family History

John R Wheeler was prominent for many years in the business, social and religious life of Chicago.  He was born in East Greene, NY, and he and Miss Eliza Ann Tremaine were married in 1849.  She was also originally from East Greene, NY.  Previous to moving to Chicago in March 1869, Wheeler was a businessman, Town Supervisor and County School Commissioner in Oxford, NY.  Here in Chicago he invested his capital in real estate.  He became Superintendent of the Western Railway Weighing Association, and was active in the Republican Party, becoming a delegate for the Party in 1884.   In 1885 he presided over the Cook County Republican convention, and in 1886 was elected Alderman of the then Ninth Ward.  He was elected Chairman of the Board of the State Railroad and Warehouse Commission in 1890, and acted in that capacity until his death at age 66, in 1893.   In addition to his business and political activity, Mr. Wheeler was a Deacon for the 2^nd Baptist Church of Chicago for 18 years.  He was noted to be a man that gave 100% of himself to his efforts and causes.

The Wheeler-Osborn House 

The Wheeler-Osborn House, constructed in 1872, resides in the now Old Irving Park area of Chicago, and is an outstanding example of Italianate style architecture.  The frame structure, is one of the earliest remaining frame Italianate examples in the area and certainly in the city, as many of it’s frame sisters were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire.   

FYI  -- The hyphenated name of the house is determined by the name of the person who first built the house (Wheeler) and followed by the name of the person of the first owner in the house (Osborn), therefore The Wheeler-Osborn House.

Mr. John R. Wheeler, the builder, was part of The Irving Park Land and Building Company, along with relatives Richard T. Race (RT Race Company), Charles Race, and Stephen Race (The Race House, a Chicago landmark building built in 1874). (See Race Family)

Mr. Wheeler personally purchased the property on June 20, 1872.  His early connection to Irving Park was through his wife, Eliza Ann Tremaine, whose mother was a Race.  Wheeler developed the property on speculation and sold the house to the Alfred and Mary H. Osborn, from St Joseph, MI in October of 1872.  Alfred had been a fruit farmer in Berrien County, Michigan and was later associated with a real estate development company located at 90 Republic Life Building. 

Documentation shows this frame Italianate house to be the first property built on the land purchased by the Race family, and that the original house footprint has the identical floor plan of the Race House, a Chicago Landmark, at 3945 North Tripp Avenue, located 1 block to the East and 1 block to the North of the Wheeler-Osborn House which was built in 1874 – 2 years later.  This would indicate that that the same architect was used for that landmark several years later.  It is speculated that the architect of both of the homes was H. Rehwoldt, who moved to the US from Germany in 1832.  Rehwoldt built mainly churches in the United States, however he resided in Irving Park from 1870 on, and has been credited with designing homes in the area at that time.  This, along with Rehwoldt’s neighborly and business ties to the Race family, along with Wheeler’s ties to the religious community, Rehwoldt would have been a logical choice as the homes’ architect. (History of Cook County, Pg 762)

In Chicago and its Suburbs (Everett Chamberlain, 1874) mentions the house of Alfred Osborn (now the Wheeler-Osborn House) as among the noteworthy houses of the new suburb of Irving Park.

The House Pre-Restoration

The two story structure, which includes a full basement and attic, is situated on a corner lot, 50 by 153 foot lot.  The first floor rests on an original limestone and brick foundation.  The original front porch and carriage entrance also rested on cut limestone foundation stones, which were excavated during the porch replacement and have been preserved as part of the current landscape.

The brick foundation was painted sometime previous to 1964, which is shown in pictures taken by former residents.

For many years the house was covered with asphalt shingle siding, and it’s eaves were cut back to allow for modern gutters and downspouts.  Original corbels, wood siding, and historic detail, however, were preserved underneath the shingles and aluminum soffits, giving a map for the current owners to follow during restoration. 

The basement was divided up into multiple rooms, also prior to 1964, utilizing modern materials.  A portion of the original dirt basement floor remained intact under wood framing.

A two story addition was constructed between 1872 and 1894 and almost doubled the square footage of the home.  The first and second floors are frame, and the rooms of the original part of the house were mostly intact with period woodwork, windows, and narrow width oak flooring.  The parlors and dining room boast 11 foot ceilings and 10 foot solid wood, arched doors.   Ceiling medallions and lighting had been removed and replaced with more modern fixtures.  Only one chandelier that would have been a period electrical fixture remained.  The plaster was amazingly intact, a tribute to 1870’s building practices and materials, and had only a handful of cracks throughout the 6000+ square foot home.

All of the fireplaces had been bricked up, and the chimneys cut off at either the second floor or in the attic.  Only one Carrere marble mantel remained, however it was kept in a very nice state, and the Eastlake mirror above it is spectacular and obviously original to the house.

The mahogany and rosewood stairway spans both floors.  The railing and spindles had very old and darkened finish, and the treads were painted.  The newel post was original and also not painted, and made of mahogany with burl maple insets that were not noticeable until stripped.

The first floor of that addition had been “remodeled” in the 50’s with dropped ceilings and smaller rooms.  A large picture window facing Byron (the North) was also added at that time.  The second story of the addition was left intact; however all the original moldings were removed and replaced with modern wood.  The doors appeared to be originals to the addition.  One of the bedrooms had the oak flooring removed and was covered with carpet glued onto the floorboards.

The house had been used as a boarding house since at least the 1950’s, and one bedroom upstairs had been converted into an apartment with it’s own bath.  The other bedrooms were numbered with deadbolt locks, sharing a communal bathroom.  The dining room on the 1^st floor was converted into a bedroom for the owners.  Dead bolts on the parlor door prevented the boarders from entering the owner’s living area from both the front and rear staircases, and several of the doors original to the 1^st floor had been plastered over on one side to prevent access by the boarders.

The original porch and carriage entrance had been replaced with a wrap around porch sometime between 1894 and 1904 that was completely enclosed at a later date.  The exact date that it was enclosed is not available, but by the Suliga family says it was enclosed when they purchased the home in 1950.

(The Suliga Family 1964)

(Picture taken by the Suliga Family in 1966)

The house was virtually untouched by the last 2 owners (Suliga and Guthrie) until it was purchased by the current owners, James and Katherine in 2004, when they began restoration.