Gold Coast

Gold Coast continued...

The vision of architects Frank Lloyd Wright (who lived here for a time) and Louis Sullivan is represented in one house whose design they shared -- the Charnley-Persky House.

When Playboy founder Hugh Hefner needed a mansion, he found it here, on State Parkway. And when he needed to buy a bauble, he didn't have far to go.

Oak Street, from Michigan Avenue to Rush Street, is one of those shopping streets. It is Chicago's Rodeo Drive. This is the world of Harry Winston, for those in need of just the right tiara for brunch. Lester Lampert and Trabert & Hoeffer are local jewelers with a big reputation. David Yurman is here.

Tessuti, the men's clothier, where a suit routinely runs $2,500, has been an Oak Street fixture for 30 years. Women's clothing, women's shoes, women's accessories. Hermes, of course. Prada, of course. Yves Saint Laurent, of course.

And there are places in categories all their own -- like the Daisy Shop, which features pre-driven couture garments that are either very old (and therefore fashionable) or very new (and therefore fashionable). We'll Keep You in Stitches has been providing Chicagoans with designer knitting yarns for as long as Tessuti has put them in silk.

Moving from designer cuts to designer lunches is just a matter of steps. The Rush Street district, with its upscale meal offerings, is right there. (See the Rush & Division page for more dining options.) But for those who insist on the integrity of neighborhood being more important than a steak at Gibson's, there's the 3rd Coast Cafe and Wine Bar, especially popular for its weekend brunches; outlets of Big Bowl and the Original House of Pancakes; and Ashkenaz, a Jewish deli long ago associated with the Rogers Park neighborhood.

Within the classic Ambassador East Hotel, in the heart of the Gold Coast (scenes from Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" were filmed in the hotel), there's the venerable Pump Room [now closed], which from time to time changes concepts -- so check first to see if the concept of the moment fits and that it isn't undergoing renovation.

Famous restaurants, residents and shopping aside, this is a neighborhood that provides some of the city's best walking, with or without the seemingly requisite little dog. (The Gold Coast must lead the city in pampered small pooches -- so watch your step.)

Like some of the attractive streets in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side, State and Dearborn Parkways, plus Astor Street, plus their connectors, are streets lined with Victorian townhomes and mansions, their sidewalks shaded by trees and brightened by gardens, all light of traffic and heavy with a sense of grace.

Here and there, newer construction -- including outsized apartment and condo buildings -- interrupts the flow, but not for long.

The fun is in observing the details

Notice the carved faces in the red doors at 1515 N. Dearborn Pkwy. (Former Illinois governor and senator Adlai Stevenson III and family once called this place, built in 1891, their home.) Or the statues on the east wall of the former Three Arts Club (1914), built as a women's residence. Not far, below the cardinal's house between State and Astor, is a wooden alley (1909), made of cedar blocks -- unusual enough to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There's nothing quite like the stained-glass trimmings at 1325 N. Dearborn (1887).

Compare the mix of Sullivanesque ornamentation and Prairie-style cleanliness of the Madlener House (1902) at 4 W. Burton Place to what the Sullivan-Wright partnership actually generated nearby at the Charnley-Persky House (1892), 1365 N. Astor St. Compare both with the c. 1893 house at 1436 N. Astor, because there are similar elements -- and because you can.

Ponder what architect Stanford White was thinking when he designed the monster mansion at 1500 N. Astor for Elinor "Cissy" Patterson in 1893. (Cyrus McCormick bought it later.) But before you do, read a quick bio of Stanford White. And keep walking north to 1525, onetime home of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's son -- steps away from the start of Lincoln Park.

Then finish off your tour with a true Gold Coast experience: Grab a corned beef sandwich at Ashkenaz and try on a tiara.

For more information about the Gold Coast, please contact the North Dearborn Association (312.632.1241) or the Oak Street Council.