Charnley Conversations – An Artful Endeavor: The Architecture of Joseph Lyman Silsbee (online option available)

About this event

Join us for the next installment of the Charnley Conversations lecture series, An Artful Endeavor: The Architecture of Joseph Lyman Silsbee, hosted by the Society of Architectural Historians and the Charnley-Persky House Museum. This lecture will be hosted at the Charnley-Persky House and streamed online.

In-person tickets

Online tickets

About the event:

Author Christopher Payne will speak about the career and work of Joseph Lyman Silsbee (1848-1913), including his work in Chicago’s Gold Coast, his background, artistic interiors, shingle-style suburban houses, industrial work, and inventions, as well as his crowning achievement: a palatial hunting retreat in New Mexico. Silsbee was an early employer of George Grant Elsmlie, George W. Maher, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Christopher Payne has been an architect for over 25 years and a partner at SGW Architecture & Design. He has been studying Silsbee’s work for about 35 years and has literally followed his career as he was born in Syracuse, did graduate work in Buffalo, and got his first job in Chicago. He is also a genealogy buff. He discovered that both he and Joseph Silsbee are distant relatives through Northampton Massachusetts founder, Elder John Strong.

Join us for glass of wine, refreshments, and light bites at 5:30 p.m., followed by the presentation, and more conversation afterwards. Proceeds will support the Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation.

Venue:

This lecture takes place at the Charnley-Persky House Museum, a National Historic Landmark building located in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Designed by famed Chicago architect Louis Sullivan with assistance from his at-the-time junior draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright, the Charnley-Persky House (1891-1892) is recognized as a pivotal work of modern American architecture. We look forward to welcoming you into this unique space for an enlightening talk about preservation. In the meantime, take a virtual tour of the house.

From Society of Architectural Historians