BRONZEVILLE! HISTORIC CHICAGO GRANDEUR! *CATALOG UPDATES NIGHTLY! STAY CLOSE!!

This house has presence. All the architectural history buffs will love the soaring turrets, carved stonework, the humongous stained glass windows, the dramatic roofline, the incredibly wide staircases-all the intricate details that make mansions on Chicago's Dr. Martin Luther King Dr so special!

Your Estate Sale Goddess is especially enamored with this estate not only because its chocked full of VINTAGE EVERYTHING, but we appreciate the character and construction. We looked at the plat of the house and our jaws dropped when we discovered the walls are eighteen inches thick. EIGHTEEN INCHES THICK. IYKYK.

From the photographs we've determined this turn of the century home held MAJOR events. It harkens back to a day where there was a full staff of cooks, housekeepers, drivers and ladies maids. See below...

BRONZEVILLE HOUSE STAFF

*And a special shoutout to all the folks that took time to reminisce with us about Bronzeville. Some of the comments, made us very nostalgic. The old Gladys restaurant was a mainstay! Some debated whether her mac and cheese was better than her baked chicken and dressing! They’re still discussing the happenings in the historic First Church of Deliverance church, the Lou Palmer mansion and his historic radio show on WVON and how King Dr was first named Grand Blvd, then South Park Way before being named after Dr. King in 1968. Many spoke of the Jitney, a Marathon cab that rode along King Drive picking up passengers for 25 cents. The high schools, elementary schools and the teachers of Bronzeville! First apartments and relationships on the Boulevard. ALL the celebrities and historians, politicians that live/lived there-not to mention Bronzeville being the jumping off point of the Great Migration!

From French "Flow Blue" to Mid Century Modern. We ask ourselves, in a house such as this, how does that happen? 

In our travels we've discovered many families may nest together. Hence all the different decades of furnishings, clothing, jewelry, books, vinyl records and home decor. That's exactly what happened here! Take a look at the ephemera and records. The hats and dresses. Did you spot that green and white "elephant legged" jumpsuit?!! Just one of many treasures...

Killer Johnson was his name! Joe Louis’s trainer and the owner of the Archway Lounge (aka Archway Supper Club) over on 61st and South Parkway which is now Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Iconic club performers: Carmen McCrae, reported Harold “Killer” Johnson, launched her career. He loaned her the money to join the musicians’ union and gave her a 2-week audition that stretched into a 17-week residency!

Did you know the old Archway Supper Club over on 356 East 61st Street appeared in editions of the Negro Motorist Green Book from 1961 through 1964? It was a guide that helped Black travelers find establishments (restaurants, hotels, rooming houses, lounges, clubs, organizations, churches) that welcomed Black people PERIOD during segregation. 

Before there were velvet ropes and VIP lists, there was Bronzeville. Chicago's Black Metropolis! Where jazz was king, elegance was everything, and history was being made every single solitary night.

Ben Webster & Jimmy Witherspoon, legendary tenor saxophonist and the famous blues singer shared co-billing at the venue in the early 1960s. Anthony Jackson, Jack DeJohnette, Muhal Richard Abrams also performed there! As jazz enthusiasts, historians we are excited to offer this important Chicago artifact to you! The elite crowd from Hyde Park, Washington Park and Bronzeville all attended. The cocktails were the usual fare of the period, Martini’s, Manhattans and Old-Fashions. The menu? Steaks, chops and a little seafood Mama! Mr. Johnson also ran the Sutherland Lounge over on 47th and Drexel Blvd. There he booked our main man, Miles Davis, the great Dizzy Gillespie and the suave Duke Ellington!

3 things: 1.”BRONZEVILLE” estate sale, November 14/15th. 2. The Archway Lounge/Supper Club is documented in THE GREEN BOOK. 3. Will drop videos nightly, or in the morning AFTER coffee. 😉 *Must rewatch the film GREEN BOOK and follow along to see what cities, people, locations of the past we remember.

This Bronzeville event is more than just an estate sale, its a invitation into a world of jazz, glamour, Black excellence, nightlife, ambition, and extraordinary Chicago history.