Growing up on the Southwest side of Chicago, I delivered newspapers as a child. I remember back them being struck by the appearance of certain homes on my route. Some entry-level homes known as bungalows were plain and ordinary, while others had more elaborate windows or brickwork, more interesting rooftops, and an overall sense of appeal.

As I grew older I became more interested in particular styles of architecture, but it was Classicism that really struck a chord with me. I find that Classical architecture has a mysterious power. It is more organic, more individual, and generally more interesting than modern architecture. For me there is no poetry in modern architecture. There is no feeling or spirit or soul. When historic buildings are destroyed or allowed to fall into disrepair, we lose part of our past. These buildings help us understand how we evolved as human beings and as a civilization.

Can you share the story behind the acquisition of the Nickerson Mansion?

I had just moved my office to the restored Ransom Cable House and was celebrating its grand opening in August of ‘94. At that time R.H. Love Galleries occupied the Nickerson and had a large bust of Abraham Lincoln for sale. I asked my long time friend Reuben “Buzz” Harper, an interior designer from New Orleans to come and take a look at the marble sculpture. As soon as he saw the lobby, he said to me, “don’t buy the bust, buy the building.” Eight years later, I approached the American College of Surgeons, who had owned the mansion for decades, with the idea of buying the building and establishing it as a museum. The college kindly reviewed my request, and even went as far as running it by Mayor Daley for his blessing. Thankfully, both agreed I would be a worthy custodian. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Nickerson Mansion is considered the grandest house ever built in Chicago. What are the unique features of this building?

When this building was built, it was one of the most expensive residences in Chicago. The estimated cost was $450,000, and that today might be about a hundred million dollars. The interiors of the Nickerson Mansion survive today as some of the finest examples of period rooms from America’s Gilded Age. The interiors suggest a masterful combination of Renaissance Revival and Aesthetic Movement design and stand testament to the skill of the designers and craftsmen who created them.

The Dining Room is one of the greatest examples of a carved room from this period surviving in the United States today. Another room of particular note is the Drawing Room designed by George A. Schastey. The room features some of the most elaborate marquetry work and wood carving found in the house. Mr. Nickerson’s Art Gallery, which was redesigned during Mr. Fisher’s occupancy of the house, also deserves mention. Mr. Fisher’s additions to the room include a magnificent stained glass dome that rises twenty five feet above the gallery floor, and a monumental fireplace fronted with a striking Art Nouveau style mural in iridescent glass tile.

This was the house that made the city proud and it still does today, but it’s hard to describe unless you have seen it. I once heard an expression about a room, that once you see it, you will never forget it, but you won’t be able to describe it either. And that’s the experience that you would feel at the Nickerson.

The restoration of the Nickerson Mansion took five years and was a true labor of love. Can you speak about the challenges you and your design team faced.

The restoration of this landmark has been a life changing experience for me, but this feat could not have been achieved without the help of many uniquely gifted artisans and craftsmen, and the artistic vision of the project’s director, Dr. Kirby Talley Jr. Two particularly difficult challenges included the installation of a new HVAC system throughout the building and the cleaning of the building’s façade. Since the building was to become a museum it required a state-of-the-art HVAC system. While some closet space had to be sacrificed to install the system, nowhere in the historic rooms of the house can any evidence of the system be seen. The façade of the building was cleaned by laser, the first time the technique has been used for an entire building in the United States.

Can you discuss the efforts that were made to integrate the artwork with the Museum’s interiors? Please highlight a particular example of this.

Ironically this is not a museum where any one object stands out. It’s more about an experience, rather than a priceless object. This is about the whole. The restoration of the Nickerson House was not meant to result in an “archaeological” recreation of the house as it appeared in Samuel Nickerson’s day, but rather to create an authentic presentation of Gilded Age interior decoration. Surviving original furnishings have been returned to their former settings, and objects from my period art collection have been used to compliment these furnishings in the spirit of the décor. We avoided a cluttered look, since it would detract from the magnificent interior architecture itself. A prime example is the restoration of Mr. Nickerson’s Art Gallery on the first floor of the house. Mr. Fisher remodeled the room in 1900 as his trophy gallery in which he displayed his collection of game animals. It was decided to return the room to its original use as a gallery, now devoted to sculpture.

What are you hoping to achieve with the opening of your Museum?

I hope that visitors to the Nickerson Mansion will think about the importance of the built environment and what it means to their lives on a daily basis. I hope that the museum will influence the way people value, experience and learn from historic architecture and design.

The Museum recently announced an expansion of its hours. The Museum’s popularity must be particularly gratifying since Chicago is such a bastion of Modern architecture.

The public reception of the museum has been overwhelming. While modern architecture has become totally homogenized and uninteresting, the Driehaus Museum offers something different to its visitors. The museum immerses visitors in the culturally and historically significant setting of one of the grandest residential buildings of 19th-century Chicago. I believe the public’s interest in the Museum reinforces the idea of a renewed interest in historic preservation.

What are the museum’s plans for future exhibitions? Will the museum be making acquisitions?

Later next year the former bedrooms of the house will become galleries to house exhibits from my collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century decorative and fine arts. Over the last three decades, I have been collecting artwork of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My collection has grown to include major holdings of the work of decorative designers such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Emile Gallè, Rene Lalique and Louis Majorelle, along with graphic artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Paul Berthon and Eugene Grasset. My Tiffany collection will play a key role in the displays at the museum. The museum will also over time make acquisitions of key pieces of artwork to further its educational mission.

When did you start collecting? What is the appeal of late 19th and early 20th century decorative arts? How did you develop the knowledge to build your collection? Can you describe your collecting philosophy?

I began collecting Art Nouveau posters over thirty years ago, and from there my collection grew. What appeals to me about 19th and early 20th century decorative arts and my collecting philosophy go hand in hand. Louis Comfort Tiffany once claimed that his work was dominated by a “quest for beauty.” and I collect artwork from this period for that very reason. The 19th century speaks to me in an organic, natural and harmonious way. Design today is just not as heartfelt.

You have one of the largest collections of Tiffany objects in the world. Can you describe a favorite piece?

The centerpiece of my collection is undoubtedly the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Tiffany’s dominance of the decorative arts scene in the United States during the latter 19th and early 20th centuries was unparalleled. His oeuvre was vast and varied, including stained glass windows and lamps, jewelry, ceramics, furniture and other objects of virtù.

One of my collection’s favorite pieces is a rare nautilus shell centerpiece lamp. The lamp base is inlaid with mother of pearl and features eight real nautilus shells. The shade itself is composed of panels of pearlescent shell instead of stained glass, and is completed with a fringe of chain mail tiles in amber iridescent glass. While there are a small number of other Tiffany lamps that share similarities with this one, there is no other quite like it.

What is driving you to be so philanthropic? I find it pretty amazing that you are giving back so much to the community and also to the world of art.

Well, this is the way I was raised. I went to a Roman Catholic grammar school, St. Margaret of Scotland. The nuns at the school taught me the basics, reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they also taught me the following three important lessons – you have to continue to learn your whole life, you have to be responsible for your own actions, and you have to give something back to society.

What about your architecture prize, The Richard H. Driehaus Prize and its impact?

I am interested not just in the world of finance, but the world that lives outside - architecture, performing arts, collecting and design. The goal of the prize is to foster community and build beautiful environments that stand the test of time, while simultaneously honoring the classical tradition. The Driehaus prize embodies these ideals.