By Ben Joravsky
Constructed in 1894 by Judge Lambert Tree and his wife Anna, the daughter of Marshall Field, it runs along the east side of State Street between Ohio and Ontario, just behind the Medinah Temple. The 50 studio apartments along a quiet courtyard were designed with stained glass windows, elaborate light fixtures, intricate carvings, and lovely bay windows. “If its walls could talk the secrets they would share,” says Barton Faist, a painter and art dealer who lives there. “This is a home that nurtures arts. Everything about it is ideal for art–the high ceilings, the big bay windows, the light. When the sunlight streams in it’s just precious.”
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In a city more respectful of its past the Tree Studio probably would have been landmarked years ago and opened for occasional tours. The guides might point to the rooms that housed J. Allen St. John, who illustrated Tarzan books, Robert Florsheim, who spurned the family shoe business to become an artist, and Marya Lilien, an eccentric Polish-born architect who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright and was the subject of an Antoni Michalak portrait, Lady of the Blue Gloves.
“I didn’t move on the building for landmark designation because the Shriners were against it,” says Natarus. “You see, owner’s consent is very important to me. I think we should think long about having the government tell a property owner what he can and can’t do with his property. In the case of the Tree Studio, it was just sitting in limbo after the commission recommendation. As long as there were no specific proposals to sell it or tear it down, there was no controversy.”
But with just a few months left to landmark the six remaining buildings, the preservation effort seems to be running low on steam, particularly with regard to the Tree Studio Building. For one thing, few aldermen want to alienate the Shriners, a popular and well-connected organization. For another, the Tree Studio sits on hot property, coveted by many powerful and prominent developers. “To push this through means taking on the Shriners and downtown developers,” says Jim Romano, an artist, antique dealer, and Tree Studio tenant. “That’s tough. That’s very tough.”
Natarus says the Shriners have been meeting with city officials to work out some sort of compromise. Neither Guthman nor Natarus will reveal what the Shriners are seeking in exchange for landmark designation, but the alderman says, “I’m confident that within the next two or three months something will happen.”
