The Palmer House Hilton Hotel Photo credit: Alan Brunettin
The Marquette Building Photo credit: Alan Brunettin
William Holabird and Martin Roche were both working for William LeBaron Jenney when they struck out together to create their own firm in 1880. Holabird & Roche became one of the leading Chicago School designers, perhaps best known for the landmark Marquette Building.
The firm designed many iconic Chicago structures: Soldier Field, the Chicago Hilton Hotel, and the Palmer House Hotel among them.
After the deaths of both Holabird and Roche, the firm was reformed as Holabird & Root, named for William Holabird’s son, John Augur Holabird, and his partner, John Wellborn Root, Jr. (the son of Daniel Burnham’s partner, John Wellborn Root). That firm continues today, operating out of offices in the Marquette Building.
