BENJAMIN H. MARSHALL was born into a socially prominent family in Chicago’s Kenwood Neighborhood in 1874. His only formal education was from the exclusive south side preparatory school, The Harvard School, also in Kenwood. After graduation he worked for a wholesale clothier helping form the unique personal style he retained all his life. Next, Benjamin Marshall became a clerk in the architectural firm of Marble & Wilson. When Marble died two years later, Benjamin Marshall became Wilson’s partner at the age of 21. Following extended travel through Europe, Mr. Marshall established his own practice in 1902 and later formed a partnership with the construction specialist, Charles E. Fox (formerly with Holabird & Roche).

Benjamin Marshall designed buildings across the United States with the majority located around the Chicago, Illinois area. He not only designed groundbreaking buildings, he was prescient in his participation in their development and financing, making use of the financial tool which would later be called co-operative ownership or co-op.

His buildings include vast country estates, the first palatial multi-unit high-rise buildings, sumptuous hotels, many theaters, innovative commercial high-rise structures, and various other public projects.

A sample of his iconic and much loved buildings include The Drake Hotel, The Blackstone Hotel (recently completing painstaking restoration), the Edgewater Beach Hotel, the South Shore Country Club, the Cuneo Museum (formerly the estate of Samuel Insull and more recently John F. Cueno, Sr), the Mayslake-Peabody Estate, historic Lansdowne Estate, and many of the ultra-luxe residential buildings in Chicago’s Gold Coast and on East Lake Shore Drive.

Benjamin Marshall befriended powerful businessmen, society people, participants in all areas of theater (including best friends the Ziegfelds), and anyone with intelligence, style, and wit. He designed his own clothes and enjoyed the best food, drink, and all his time had to offer. Benjamin Marshall died of heart failure in 1944 at the age of 70.

Benjamin Marshall history and photo — Steven B. Monz
Docent/Lecturer Benjamin Marshall Society | arch.history@mac.com