A vintage Georgian-style mansion on North Astor Street on the Gold Coast that once was the home of Rosemary Baur — known as Chicago’s “richest girl” because she inherited a reported $2.5 million on her 18th birthday, in 1929 — sold on July 28 in an off-market transaction for $4.25 million.
Records show that the sellers of the six-bedroom, 8,545-square-foot mansion were Richard and Sonia McArdle. The buyer is an opaque land trust.
Built about 1910 and designed by architect Arthur Heun, the four-story mansion was constructed for Monon Railroad President William H. McDoel, who died in 1916, and his daughter, Mary McDoel Kenly. Mary Kenly then sold the house for $85,500 in 1922 to longtime Republican national committeewoman Bertha Duppler Baur, the widow of soda fountain equipment pioneer Jacob Baur.
Bertha Baur had become a wealthy woman after taking over her late husband’s firm, Liquid Carbonic Co., upon his death in 1912, and she also took a huge interest in Republican politics. She made unsuccessful bids for Chicago mayor in 1922, and for Congress in 1926 and again in 1936.
In 1929, the Baurs’ daughter, Rosemary, turned 18 while a college student at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. At that point she inherited two-thirds of the estate left by her father, or $2.5 million, according to a 1929 Tribune article that described her as “Chicago’s richest girl.” Two years later, Rosemary Baur married a Canadian-born member of British parliament, Bartle Bull, who lost his seat in parliament in 1945 and died in 1950. Rosemary Baur Bull later lived in New York City before returning to Chicago, and she resided in the Astor Street mansion after her mother died in 1967.
In 1969, Rosemary Baur Bull sued the Otis Elevator Co., seeking $100,000 in damages after she said she had been trapped in the elevator of her Astor Street home for 113 hours after it became stuck between the first and second floors while her household staff was on vacation.
Rosemary Baur Bull died in 2006, and the following year, her estate sold the Astor Street mansion to the McArdles for $4.3 million. In total, Bull’s family owned the mansion for 85 years.
Now, an unidentified buyer has purchased the Astor Street mansion. Because it was not listed publicly, there are no details about its features.
Richard McArdle did not respond to a request for comment.
The mansion had a $91,835 property tax bill in the 2021 tax year.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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