Throwback Thursday – Poronto Residence

For this weeks Throwback Thursday trip through the Epstein archives we take a trip back to 1930 for one of the oddest one-off projects in our history the family estate for the Poronto family. Located in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago, this grand residence was designed and engineered by Epstein for Halsey Earl Poronto, who in 1930 was the president of United States Cold Storage as well as a trustee for the Central Manufacturing District, both entities for which Epstein designed and engineered numerous industrially focused projects.

In our nearly 96 year history we havent designed many single family homes but this particular project was the direct result of the relationship our founder, Abraham Epstein, had with Mr. Poronto and the confidence Mr. Poronto had in our company to complete this personal project from the exceptional work our firm had performed for his company and the CMD in the first decade of our existence.

This large single-family home constructed by the E.W. Sproul Construction Co. featured a striking entrance hall featuring rich wood paneling, multiple day & living rooms, a sun room with fireplace and water fountain, a modern (for 1930) kitchen, numerous bed rooms and a private office for Mr. Poronto.

Lastly, the project was so well received that it was featured in a 30s special edition of Architecture & Design magazine.