788 Walden

The beautiful eclectic home at 788 Walden may not look old, but the original structure is actually one of Winnetka’s oldest. This house was first build in 1875 by developer E. Ashley Mears, who has quite an interesting history on the North Shore and beyond.

Mears was born in Vermont in 1840. He moved to Chicago at a young age, where he first became a stove manufacturer before attending law school and later, diving into banking and real estate. In 1869, Mears married Margaret Everts and had 6 children.

By the time his children were born, Mears had made a fortune. He saw an opportunity to enhance his wealth in Winnetka, which was on the cusp of a real estate boom. In the early-to-mid 1870s, Mears built 14 imposing Victorian mansions in the northwest part of the Village.

While impressive in stature with unique architectural features on the outside, none of the mansions were complete by the time they were sold. Most of the mansions were sold as a shell of a house, and a poorly constructed one at that. According to Village engineer Frank Windes, the mansions were “cheaply constructed and could hardly stand by themselves when a stiff wind struck them.” Mears had a hard time selling some of the houses and many of the homeowners that purchased a Mears mansion could not afford to complete the construction. Several had to sell or vacate the house due to a lack of insulation during Winnetka’s bitter cold winters.

Records show that Mears, under scrutiny for his “loose” business practices and “shaky” banking methods, left Chicago and opened several banks in North Dakota. There, he was investigated for fraud and after losing much of his fortune in the Panic of 1893, moved his family to Minneapolis. Mears died in Minnesota a poor man on May 4, 1912.

Many of Mears’ Winnetka mansions, knowns as the “sham mansions,” fared little better than their developer. Some stood vacant while others were torn down, or worse – engulfed in fire (at least 3 suffered this fate).

Thankfully, 788 Walden escaped such a fate. It was purchased in 1881 by Lucy Fairfield Furness, a wealthy Chicagoan from New England who married prominent attorney William Eliot Furness and became one of the founding members of the well-known Chicago Women’s Club.

Just a few years later, in 1885, the house was purchased by the Heinig family, who owned the property until 1954. Perhaps the best-known member of the Heinig family was Frank Heinig. Frank was a tailor who won a prestigious award at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition for his Promenade Suit design. Julius Heinig, Frank’s brother, lived at 788 Walden until 1894, when he moved to Colorado. The house first passed to Julius’ son Herman and later, his oldest son Bernard, who worked as a wagon manufacturer in Chicago. Bernard remained in the house until 1954, keeping it in the Heinig family for almost 70 years.

Thanks to the Heinig family’s long-term care, and the passion of its owners since, 788 Walden is now the only Mears mansion that remains. In contrast to the other ill-fated “sham mansions,” 788 Walden has benefitted from the care of its owners, and will hopefully remain standing in Winnetka for many years to come.

Stylistically, 788 Walden’s features are as unique as its long history. While described by some as an architectural “puzzle,” it may best be characterized as an eclectic Victorian with some Second Empire features, such as the tall, square original structural shape, the various narrow and tall windows, and the original mansard roof. The house has been heavily renovated, but these original features can still be seen on the original structure of the house.