Do you have specific memories of the McCormick House, its residents, or its move from Prospect Ave? Please contact us if you would like to participate in this ongoing research project.

1952-59: McCormick Family

"One of the attributes of the house is that it gives you the ability to redefine the interior. [...], for instance, there is no dining room in the house. There are several places where you could dine, where you could have people to dine, depending on how many people were going to dine, or who was cooking, or who was preparing, or who was coming and going, or whether children were going to be bouncing in and out. There were different places where these functions could take place."
-Robert McCormick interview, Oct 1992

1961-63: Sladek Family

"My favorite memory is waking up in the morning and my mother saying, Girls—we had four teenage girls in the house—she said, ‘Girls, shut the curtains. The buses are here.’ And sure enough, buses from the Art Institute would come and they’d line up on Prospect Avenue. The art students would get out, they’d take out their easels and they’d sit out front and they’d drawn the house. And that’s when I think I knew, even though I was young, that there was something special about the house."
-Mary Sladek Dreiser, 2019

1963-91: Fick Family

"Mies famously said that ‘God is in the details.' As we settled into our new home, we began to appreciate how carefully and precisely the smallest detail was carefully thought out and executed. Example: every joint line of the ceiling boards was precisely matched to the joint lines of the paneling. A small thing but just an example of the extraordinary quality of the house."
-Letter from Ray and Mary Ann Fick, 2007