Glessner House
Designed by American architect Henry Hobson Richardson in the late nineteenth century, Glessner House broke sharply with the Victorian architecture of its time and stood in striking contrast to the mansions of Chicago’s Prairie Avenue neighborhood. With its rough granite walls, deeply recessed openings, and fortress-like exterior, it appears almost defensive from the street, more like a modern-day castle than the remarkably warm and comfortable urban residence found within.
Inside, the character changes completely. Dark woodwork, patterned textiles, built-in furnishings, art, books, and carefully arranged rooms create an intimate, highly personal, and surprisingly inviting atmosphere. The house reveals itself gradually, through stairways, doorways, pools of window light, and the quieter details of everyday domestic life.
I took these photographs entirely handheld during a public tour. Tripods were not permitted inside the residence, making bracketed exposures impossible. Each interior image was therefore captured as a single exposure, often in very low light, working with each room’s natural contrast rather than trying to eliminate it. In black and white, those limitations became part of the series' character, allowing shadows, architecture, and small areas of illumination to define the spaces.
