The Albany Park in Chicago today stands as the city’s most diverse neighborhood. And housing the varied ethnic shops and restaurants along Lawrence Ave are a number of commercial buildings constructed in the 1920s and 1930. And what makes these buildings special is their extensive use of terra cotta ornamentation. Here are a few I visited.
L. Fish Furniture Company
3324 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL
Built in 1931 as a showroom for the L. Fish Furniture Company, this building is an absolute blue and white terra cotta gem, bedecked with fish imagery. Designed in an Art Deco style by Schmidt, Garden, & Erickson (the successor to Schmidt, Garden, & Martin who did the Montgomery Ward warehouse at 600 W Chicago) it stands out on Lawrence Ave for 1) being white and 2) being Art Deco.
The L. Fish Furniture Company was founded downtown by David Fish in 1858, before the Great Fire. The ‘L’ is his wife Lotta’s initial. It eventually grew to 13 locations throughout the city, and this building was their ninth. Although this address was shuttered in 1942 and the business closed all their Chicagoland stores in 1999, L. Fish Furniture still exists as a subsidiary of Heilig-Meyers.
As of April 2026 the retail space on the ground floor stands empty.
Willis Building
3221-3227 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL
The Willis Building was built in the 1920s and designed by Jens J. Jensen, Sr (1891 -1969). (BTW, he is not the Danish-American landscape architect Jens Jensen, who confusingly also worked in the Chicago area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.) This Jens Jenson also designed the Spanish Baroque Revival Style Pioneer Arcade on N Pulaski Rd near W North Ave, another terra cotta confection. The Willis Building is more subdued and classical, with Renaissance touches. But oh, that gorgeous green foliage!
Capitol Motor Sales Company
3041-3043 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL
Currently Richard’s Body Shop, this building was originally a showroom for Capitol Motor Sales Company, a Chrysler dealership owned by Isadore and Isaac Burnstine. Built in 1925, it was designed by R. Bernard Kurzon in the Gothic Revival style — here a mix of Classic and Venetian Gothic. The opulent cream and pink terra cotta was made by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, Chicago’s leading architectural terra-cotta manufacturer in the early 20th century.
And the opulence continues inside! I happened to run into someone who works there and he allowed me a few photos inside. I appreciate the fact that there’s still an automobile-related business in this building. It needs a bit of paint, but otherwise it’s in great shape.
The Burnstines and Kurzon also built another near-twin Chrysler showroom in Edgewater — the Riviera Motor Sales Company Building at 5948-60 N. Broadway. Kurzon also designed 2611 W. Chicago, built in 1930 for the Crystal Pure Candy Company. All three of these are marked as Orange (possesses potentially significant architectural or historical features) in the 1993 Chicago Historic Resources Survey, which gives them a 90 day demolition delay. But only the Riviera has been fully landmark protected.
Other Terra Cotta
The half-mile of Lawrence Ave between Sacramento and Kimball is just full of these gorgeous commercial buildings with terra cotta fronts.
And it’s not just the architecture that’s worthy of the trip. There is all kinds of restaurants & shops, as well as a park area near the North Branch of the Chicago River. You could make it an afternoon outing.
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