Located at Diversey and Pine Grove (originally Park), it was designed by architect Enock Hill Turnock for Norwegian-native Bjoerne Edwards, publisher of American Contractor, with construction started in 1893 and completed in 1896. Edwards would die from an eighth-floor fall at the construction site before the project was completed.
The building features a stone exterior of pink jasper and employs steel skeleton-frame construction, which enabled the advent of skyscrapers at the end of the 19th century. The most prominent building feature is a full-height atrium with open cast iron stairways, bridge walkways paved with glass blocks, and a massive skylight.[1]
Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld lived in the building in 1897 after leaving the governorship.[2]
Charlie Chaplin lived in the building in 1915–16 while employed by Chicago’s Essanay Studios.[3] He would later move to the studio’s Niles, CA location. The penthouse owners have sworn by this tale of early film history,[4][5] though historians say that Chaplin only lived in Chicago for three weeks, and slept on “Broncho Billy” Anderson’s couch instead of getting himself an apartment — at the time, he was known for being far too tight with money to rent a place as pricey as the penthouse would have been.[6]
1 2 "Brewster Apartments". Chicago Landmarks. City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
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