Scientific Museum Housed Within a Historic Lakeside Mansion

This historic lakeside mansion that is now a museum was constructed in 1917. The elegant structure was designed to follow the historic lines of Le Petit Trianon, a French chateau on the grounds of Versailles completed in 1770 by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, and remembered as the playhouse of Marie Antoinette. The architect Howard Van Doren Shaw was hired to design the mansion with modifications including a fourth floor and a carriage drive. Original interior finishes of polished limestone, Italian marble, decorative plaster, brass fixtures and hardware, eight stone fireplaces, and a gilded metal staircase are among the features which have been preserved. One of the few remaining lakefront mansions in Chicago, and the only one open to the public, the building received historic status in 1988, and is listed in the National Register and the Illinois Register of Historic Places and is a City of Chicago Landmark. The mansion is one of “Seven Houses on Lakeshore Drive,” a grouping of seven historically significant Chicago mansions on the lakefront. All venue rentals include the use of all four floors of the Museum. Pricing & Availability The Museum is available for production use seven days a week. Evening production can start at 6:00 PM with set up starting at 4:00 PM. Rentals starting before 6:00 AM or ending past midnight are at a rate of $1,000 per hour. Accessibility The Museum has two indoor ramps and an elevator. A wheelchair accessible entrance is located on the north side of the building.