Page 2 - Flyer for 999 N LSD 2A
P. 2
Picturesque Views Meeting Exceptional Spaces…
PROVENANCE…
999 North Lake Shore Drive was designed by renowned architect Benjamin Marshall of Marshall & Fox,
architects and completed in 1913.
“The red brick and mansard roofed 10 story structure commands one of Chicago’s most desirable corners, the
short bend of Lake Shore Drive, granting the building unencumbered views both east and north. The three
apartments on each floor have different plans, but each exploits the generous bow windows on the second
Empire façade with its swells and recesses, bows, and (enclosed) balconies, limestone framed porte cochere, it
is the loveliest on this strip of extraordinary buildings.”
Excerpts above taken in part from Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury.
“If you lived in Chicago any time after 1912 and drove a car along the lakefront on the near north side, chances
are you marveled at the red brick building, 10 stories high, sitting like a contented cat on the corner of the city’s
most desirable residential street. If a pool had been taken 100 years ago or 50, or even yesterday asking
Chicagoans to pick their favorite apartment building based solely on looks, this one would have been a frequent
winner. Zipping past it with your foot on the accelerator and your eyes on the road ahead it is not the ideal way
to appreciate 999 Lake Shore Drive. That’s a bit like guzzling Laffite Rothschild from the bottle.
“Walk east past the other great properties, all completed between 1913 and 1929 past the dazzling rows of
flowers knelling at the bases of the buildings, the adorn, past the watchful eyes of uniformed doormen, past the
clean, manicured lawns and the parade of trees, past the small park across the street and beyond it the Outer
Drive and the blue-gray waves of Lake Michigan, until you get to the far end of the block and 999 Lake Shore
Drive, gracefully sweeping around its corner, exposing its broad face to the world.
“Strikingly beautiful up close, 999 Lake Shore Drive does not reveal all its charms in a single glance. Standing
on the corner, you can crank your neck as far back as it will go and not be able to take it all in. The best place to
see it in the context of the entire street is from a blanket on oak street beach. From that vantage point you can
see that the eight buildings on East Lake Shore share a similarity of scale and rhythm, a compatibility of color
and texture and a moment in history when old world elegance reigned supreme. They appear to have been
cultivated to be seen together, like a garden in the gilded age.
“From the deck of a boat you can observe the sun’s love affair with 999. One moment it is blushing pink in the
next a lusty red-violet. The building’s colors vary with the action of the waves, the passage of the sun and the
serendipitous stirring of the clouds.”
Excerpts above taken from “999: A History of Chicago in Ten Stories” by Richard B. Tizdale, a resident of the
th
building, in order to commemorate the celebration of the building’s 100 anniversary.
999 Lake Shore Drive remains today a home to many high profile and prominent Chicagoans who wish to
maintain a low-key, lifestyle within an elegant, intimate, secure, service oriented building to which they can
retreat, relax and entertain family and friends while maintaining their privacy. The building spearheads east
Lake Shore Drive and its position enables incomparable views from every apartment. The old saying, “land is
precious because they are not making any more of it” rings true along East Lake Shore Drive, with its glorious
views of Lake Michigan and premier location.
All information in this flyer is subject to verification.