Ayer Estate

This was the residence of Edward Everett Ayer while he was closely associated with the Newberry Library. considered by some to be "perhaps the finest gathering of materials on American Indians in the World."

According to the Newberry Library's website,as a member of the first board of trustees of the Newberry Library, Ayer donated over 17,000 pieces on the early contacts between American Indians and Europeans-and was thus the first donor of a great collection to the Newberry Library. The Ayer collection is rich in printed and manuscript accounts of the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the Americas.

The house was designed in 1885 by Burnham and Root and the medieval character of the house is typical of their work during the 1880's.