Before Big Red, Hubba Bubba, Juicy Fruit and the Cubs’ friendly confines, William Wrigley Jr. was a teen hustling soap in Philadelphia.
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By 1891, he arrived in Chicago with $32, a young family and a knack for salesmanship. Merchants didn’t love his father’s soap, so Wrigley sweetened the deal with umbrellas, baking powder and, eventually, chewing gum. The gum stole the spotlight, and within two years, Juicy Fruit and Spearmint became household names.
By the early 1900s, Wrigley’s gum empire was pulling in over $1 million annually, and the family moved from modest Near North Side apartments to grand homes that still captivate Chicagoans today.
Most Chicagoans may connect the Wrigley family to the famed Wrigley Building on North Michigan Avenue or the ivy-filled ballpark in Lakeview, but the family has a long history of owning impressive architectural real estate, built brick by brick with the profits from its minty empire.
“The Wrigley family lived extravagantly,” said Robert Sharoff, author of “The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon.”
“Chicago at the turn of the century was on fire, a go-go economy, and they rode that wave,” he said. “They always wanted to make a big statement, and architecture was one of the boldest expressions of their identity and status.”
Here’s a look at some of the Chicago family’s glamorous properties, including many vacation homes.
1401 N. Astor St.
Following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, developers set their sights on transforming the swampy North Side into what would become the glittering Gold Coast. To attract affluent buyers, they invoked the prestige of businessman John Jacob Astor, lending his name to the newly paved Astor Street. In 1882, magnate Potter Palmer cemented the neighborhood’s elite identity by erecting a towering Gothic mansion at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive, adorned with his wife Bertha’s prized collection of impressionist art.
Wrigley, his wife Ada, daughter Dorothy and son Phillip moved into 1401 N. Astor St., a Romanesque Revival home that reflected the opulence of the Gilded Age, in 1896. They remained until 1910, the year Wrigley began expanding his chewing gum empire internationally, into Canada.
The home is currently listed for sale for $3.4 million.
Theurer-Wrigley House
As Wrigley’s chewing gum empire soared, so did his real estate profile. In 1911, his family settled into a Renaissance Revival mansion at 2466 N. Lakeview Ave., near Lincoln Park’s North Pond. Designed in 1896 by Richard E. Schmidt, the ornate home featured baroque terra cotta details and a copper roof.
This lavish 15,000-square-foot estate included eight bedrooms, a ballroom, a solarium and even a walk-in, Prohibition-era safe. It sold in 2018 for $4.6 million.
Wrigley Building
Built between 1920 and 1924 as the corporate headquarters for the Wrigley Co., the two-tower Wrigley Building, with its four-faced clock, was William Wrigley Jr.’s architectural love letter to Chicago. Designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the Spanish Colonial Revival structure at 400-410 N. Michigan Ave. was inspired by Seville’s Giralda Tower, with French Renaissance flourishes and a gleaming white terra cotta facade that brightens as it rises, revealing six shades of white as it stretches upward.
It cost $8 million in the early 1920s, a staggering sum at the time. Despite its grandeur, the Wrigley Building was never profitable.
“It was a statement,” Sharoff said. “Even when elevator automation became the norm, they insisted on employing uniformed, old-fashioned elevator operators. Not for efficiency, but for experience. It was a costly choice, yet it reflected their belief that refinement and personal service mattered.”
Though it’s no longer headquartered here in the first major office building north of the Chicago River, the Wrigley Co. is now part of Mars Wrigley Confectionery and maintains its presence at the Global Innovation Center on Goose Island.
Wrigley Field
In 1921, William Wrigley Jr. acquired controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs and their ballpark, then known as Cubs Park, not only as a strategic business move for his expanding brand, but also as a reflection of his love for the game. He renamed it Wrigley Field in 1926.
Built in 1914 by Charles Weeghman for the short-lived Chicago Whales of the Federal League, the ballpark is beloved for its ivy-covered outfield walls, hand-operated scoreboard and iconic red marquee entrance.
Designed by Zachary Taylor Davis, considered the Frank Lloyd Wright of baseball, it redefined early 20th-century sports architecture.
1500 N. Lake Shore Drive
In the 1920s, as Wrigley gum output neared 10 billion sticks annually, William and Ada moved into a nine-bedroom duplex high above Lake Shore Drive.
Their son, Phillip, had married and was traveling the world as his role in the company expanded. Their daughter, Dorothy, who was also married, lived in her own home at 1400 N. Astor St., near their earlier residence at 1401.
The limestone-and-brick building on Lake Shore Drive, designed by New York architect Rosario Candela, boasted luxury touches such as coffered ceilings, silver vaults and a marble-clad lobby. The building set a new standard for high-rise living, with all 57 units selling before the Depression hit.
The family lived here until 1977. The unit remains privately owned.
Green Gables, Lake Geneva
After the Great Chicago Fire, the city’s elite fled the smoke and soot. Thanks to a convenient train line, the shores of Geneva Lake in southern Wisconsin soon became known as the “Newport of the Midwest.” Garden parties, operas, fundraisers and sailing races lit up the lakeside social calendar.
Built in 1892 for sportsman C.K.G. Billings, Green Gables became the flagship of the Wrigley family’s estates in the town of Lake Geneva when William Wrigley Jr. bought it in 1911.
In 1966, the mansion was updated with mid-century luxuries, including electric flagpoles and automated draperies. Phillip Wrigley was living here at the time of his death on April 12, 1977. The estate is now privately owned.
Hillcroft, Lake Geneva
Originally named Gay Lynne, Hillcroft was built in the 1880s as a hunting lodge and was acquired by William Wrigley Jr. in 1927. The estate has 415 feet of lakefront and spans nearly 20 acres. Philip Wrigley’s heirs sold the property in 1981.
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Wychwood, Lake Geneva
Bought by the Wrigley family in 1958, Wychwood was built in 1902 for Charles Hutchinson, a banking magnate and founder of the Art Institute of Chicago. Named after the native witch hazel plants on its grounds, the estate added depth to the Wrigley presence on Geneva Lake. The Wrigley family still owns the Wychwood estate.
Northwoodside and Shorewood, Lake Geneva
Built in 1876 for railroad executive Henry Strong, Northwoodside was acquired by Philip Wrigley in the 1970s to prevent subdivision. The Wrigleys restored the home and built Shorewood next door, echoing its style. Nestled beside Green Gables, these sister estates remain in the extended Wrigley family, preserving Lake Geneva’s untouched shoreline.
Tournament House, Pasadena, California
Wrigley’s 1914 purchase of this 1906 Pasadena mansion placed him on “Millionaire’s Row.”
Encircled by Wrigley Gardens, with over 4 flower-filled acres dotted with 1,500 varieties of roses, camellias and seasonal blooms, the estate features 21 rooms, a grand dining room and a solarium. Ada Wrigley adored watching the Rose Parade from the mansion’s front porch. After her death in 1958, the Wrigley heirs donated the estate to the City of Pasadena, with the stipulation that it become the permanent headquarters of the Tournament of Roses.
Free guided tours run May through August.
Mount Ada, Catalina Island, California
On Santa Catalina Island, about 22 miles off the coast of Southern California, you can sip cocktails by the beach, hike through coastal sage scrub and oak woodlands, and set off into the sunset on horseback, past a resident bison herd, all in one day.
William Wrigley Jr. bought nearly the entire island in 1919. The family’s retreat, Mount Ada, named after the Wrigley matriarch, was built between 1919 and 1921.
Designed by Wrigley Field architect Davis, the Georgian Colonial Revival mansion sits at the highest point on the island and was strategically placed to capture the first morning light and the last rays of sunset. From its perch, it commands sweeping views of Avalon Bay and the town below. Wrigley himself watched the Cubs’ spring training in the valley below from its terrace.
Wrigley fell in love with the island’s natural beauty and wanted to protect it. His descendants donated 88% of the island to the Catalina Island Conservancy, ensuring its preservation for future generations.
Today, Mount Ada operates as a luxury bed and breakfast.
Wrigley Mansion, Phoenix
Built in 1931 on the southern slopes of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, within the Camelback Corridor, the Spanish Colonial-style Wrigley Mansion was a gift from William to Ada.
Though the Cubs didn’t start holding spring training in Arizona until the 1980s, Wrigley’s Phoenix estate offered a convenient midpoint between Chicago and California, and it became a gathering spot for players and company executives.
William Wrigley Jr. died while living here on Jan. 26, 1932, at age 70.
Today, guests can dine at the in-house Geordie’s Restaurant and take guided tours of the historic home.
Amy Bizzarri is a freelancer.