the Supper Club

Opened in 1963, Astor Club (Maxim's) was a replica, in both looks and cuisine, of the famous Parisian restaurant, which still operates in Paris today. Astor Club (Maxim's) celebrates the opulence of Art Nouveau. Astor Club (Maxim's) was once the only 5-star restaurant in Chicago. The award-winning restaurant was ranked among the top six gourmet restaurants in the country by Life Magazine. It brought haute cuisine to the city and attracted a dedicated following of Chicago's high-society.*

From "Some Like It Haute" by Don Rose, March 19th 1982.

Owners

1963 to 2000 - Bertrand and Nancy Goldberg - Original owners and operators of Maxim's de Paris Chicago.
2000 to 2022 - City of Chicago - The space was gifted to the City by Geoffrey Goldberg and operated as the Nancy Goldberg International Cultural Center.
2022 to Present - Victoria and Adam Bilter - The original interior was saved from deterioration. Now carefully restored, its legacy is restored. Thanks to the Bilters, the amazing space's history is preserved.

Some previous confirmed visitors to Astor Club (Maxim's) and Astor Tower:

Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Elton John, John Travolta, Rosemary Clooney, John Belushi, Muhammed Ali, the "Kennedy Family", Joe Walsh, Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Adam West, George Burns, The Beatles, George Harrison (Beatles), The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, Warren Beatty, Dan Akroyd, Truman Capote, Kirk Douglas, Marc Bohan (Dior), Princess Christina (Sweden), Leonard Nemoy, Bette Davis, Countess Pat Albertinni, Dizzy Gillespie, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eva Gabor, Milton Berle, Johnny Mathis, Julia Cameron (Scorsese), Buddy Hackett, Carol Channing, George Hamilton, Ann Margret, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, David Cassidy, Milton Berle, Peter Jennings, Candice Bergen, Phyllis Diller, Bob Crane, Sigrid Valdis, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Leslie Caron, Joan Fontaine, Norman Wallace, Carl Stohn Jr, Virginia Mayo, Robert Shaw, Don Matheson, "Killer Joe" Piro, Stephen Birmighham, Jan Sterling, Edia Adams, Joan Bennett, Hedda Hopper, Carmelita Gibbs, Adele Simpson, Lucia Perrigo Meyer, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Franchot Tonę, Hurd Hatfield, Alexandra Stewart, Godfrey Cambridge, Charlotte Ford Niarchos, Shekky Green, Mrs Oscar Hammerstein III, Studs Terkel, Peter Max, Ward Donovan, Hugh O'Brian, Lanie Kazań, Julie Harris, Barbara Rush, Mark Herron, Joan Van Ark, Raymond Bompart, Lillian Carter, Patsy Kelly, Rafael Herrera, Mort Sahl, Jill St John, Dennis Day, Sarah Vaughan, Princess Margaret, Harry Caray, Chubby Checker, David Merrick.

the Clubhouse

The "Blair Mansion" at 1516 N. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago is a historic 1916 Gilded Age home designed by William Kendall of McKim, Mead & White for Edward Tyler Blair. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it served as the International College of Surgeons headquarters and museum from 1951 before its 2021 sale and restoration into a single-family home. 1516 North Lake Shore Drive boasts a French-chateau-inspired stone main house with four stories and nearly 20,000 square feet including a 2,400 square foot two-story coach house.

Owners

1912 to 1951 - Edward Tyler Blair - Original owners.
1951 to 2021 - International College of Surgeons - The home was used as part of their international headquarters and museum.
2021 to Present - The home was purchased by J. Michael Whitted in 2021 at which time he started a meticulous renovation and restoration. In 2026, Victoria and Adam Bilter partnered with Whitted to open the home as "the Blair", Astor Club's new daytime clubhouse.

More:

The mansion is one of only seven remaining Gilded Age mansions on Lake Shore Drive. The four in the 1200 block of the Drive are residential, and for the past several decades all three in the 1500 block have had institutional uses. The surgeons group also owns 1524, and 1530 has housed the Polish consulate since 1974. Together, the seven mansions make up a city landmark district declared in 1989. The mansion was designed by New York architecture firm McKim Mead & White and built for Edward Tyler Blair and Ruby McCormick Blair. He was the son of an early Chicago hardware merchant, and she was a niece of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the mechanical reaper. Their son William founded what’s now Chicago-based financial services firm William Blair. The location provides breathtaking, uninterrupted views of Lake Michigan and is just steps away from Lincoln Park and a short distance from the heart of Chicago. Classic details and features are found throughout this magnificent space including beautiful millwork, marble staircases, stained glass windows, stone walls, rich wood paneling and herringbone laid hardwood floors.