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By Joan Stewart, Class of 1995

When the magnificent mansion at 3656 S. Martin Luther King Drive first intrigued me, it was known as the “King of the Boulevards”.  Even the AIA Guide calls it “The King of King Drive”.  The mansion is on the Highlights by Bus tour route, so I have been able to talk about it often. Initially I talked about its uniqueness, later about its deterioration, and finally I tried to convince the busload of architecture enthusiasts that one of them should save it before it fell down.

Grand Boulevard (later renamed South Park Way, then Martin Luther King Drive) is part of the boulevard system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Grand Boulevard was intended to connect the Olmsted-designed South Side parks with downtown Chicago.  It quickly became one of the most desirable addresses in the city, where many of the wealthy and elite built their mansions.

Known as the D. Harry Hammer House, it was designed by William Clay in 1885.  Clay was a flamboyant architect who designed many of the most notable mansions and other large buildings on the South Side, but much of his work has been lost.  In 2019, Preservation Chicago included the house on the “7 Most Endangered” list.  They advocated for either landmarking the house itself or as part of a King Drive/Grand Boulevard Chicago Landmark District, or both.

The Queen Ann style mansion has 40 rooms occupying 12,000 square feet.  Located on a corner lot, it has two different gabled sides. plus an angled tower on the corner. The façade is brownstone and brick with terra-cotta ornamentation.  Upkeep of the house became expensive, so it suffered from long-term “deferred maintenance”.  At some point, the interior was divided into apartments.

The house was built by D. Harry Hammer and his wife, Mary Amaryllis Hammer.  Judge Hammer was a noted attorney, founder of the Drexel State Bank, a city alderman, and a real estate developer.  Mary was listed on the Chicago Social Register, founded clubs, and sat on boards.  Mary did not approve of the man their daughter Hazel married, so she was cut off from the family fortune.  Harry died in 1904.  The fortune passed to his wife and son but was lost in the stock market crash of 1929.  Mary died penniless in 1934.  Ownership of the house after Mary’s death was murky and prevented its sale for many years, but it appears that Hazel’s daughter, Hazel Lou Humphrey, was probably the absentee owner.

A second prominent Chicago couple, Lutrelle “Lu” and Jorja English Palmer, purchased the house in 1976.  The Palmers were noted African American community activists and instrumental in drafting Harold Washington to run for mayor.  Lu Palmer was a columnist for several Chicago newspapers and a popular radio show host.  The couple lived in the house until Lu died in 2004.

After Jorja Palmer died in 2005, Elzie Higginbottom acquired the property.  It then sat mostly vacant and was deteriorating very quickly.  But hopefully the plight of this one of a kind mansion is about to change.

The seriously deteriorating mansion was purchased by The Obsidian Collection in April 2021 for $1.25 million.  Founded in 2017, their website states, “The Obsidian Collection is a hub of resources for Black journalists, content creators, media outlets and archivists who define the narratives of our community – past, present and future”.  The house is now known as the Lu Palmer Mansion.  It will house the physical archives of Black historical journalism while also serving as a museum and private membership club.

Work has started on the restoration and conversion of this deserving building.  I anticipate that there will be an opportunity to visit it and have a happy ending to its long tale as told on the Highlights tour.

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