“A 19th century house in Kenwood with both architectural and historical significance — and a brief role on television — is for sale for the first time in four decades and in need of renewal.

“‘Almost all of its original features are still there,’ said Gabrielle Stewart, whose late mother, Josephine Kamper, bought the house on Greenwood Avenue in 1983. That’s everything from a stone step near the street that was used for stepping up into carriages to interior features like carved wood images above the fireplace, leaded glass cabinet doors and a wood bench that opens to reveal a storage room hidden under the stairs. Plumbing, windows and climate systems are all antiquated as well, and wood floors and other elements are worn out.

“The house ‘needs a full refresh,’ said Stewart, who grew up in the house with her two sisters but now lives in Michigan.

“The asking price is $1.6 million for the turreted brick and stone house, which stands on an extra-large lot, nearly three-tenths of an acre.

“Built in 1888 for Edward Turner, a dry goods merchant, the house’s design was by Solon Beman, an architect who came to Chicago in 1879 to design rail car magnate George Pullman’s company town on the Far South Side. Beman later designed many other Chicago structures, including the Studebaker building on Michigan Avenue, Christian Science churches, and mansions.

“The second owners of the home were Adolphus and Esther Green. Adolphus Green was a Chicago attorney who in the late 1880s led the amalgamation of small local bakeries into the National Biscuit Company, or Nabisco.

“‘The biscuit industry, when Mr. Green entered it, consisted almost entirely of selling crackers in bulk,’ the New York Times later wrote. ‘He conceived the idea of packing the crackers in airtight packages, which would keep the biscuit crisp and fresh.’ The company grew to become ‘one of the largest employers of labor in this country,’ the newspaper reported in 1917.

“Demolition is unlikely, as the property is in the Hyde Park-Kenwood Historic District and in the house, as Stewart puts it, ‘there’s so much that’s original and worth saving.'” (Rodkin, Crains Chicago Business, 2/21/24)

Read the full story at Crains Chicago Business

• Nabisco founder’s Kenwood home for sale in need of rehab, Dennis Rodkin, Crains Chicago Business, 2/21/24
• 4935 Greenwood Avenue Sales Listing 
• Hyde Park-Kenwood Historic Landmark District Report