Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

A Ferry Hall girl once brought a mouse that she put on a leash made of thread to chapel, which caused quite a commotion in the pews.

Photo courtesy Griffith, Grant & Lackie Realtors.

The Ferry Hall Chapel has one of the most unique histories of any religious site in the area. Built in 1888 in a Gothic style by Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost, the chapel is located on what was the campus of Ferry Hall, an all-girls preparatory school that was in operation from 1869 until 1974, when the school merged with Lake Forest Academy. The chapel was used as a cultural center for Ferry Hall as well as a house of worship, and was a space that hosted speakers, and held events and assemblies. When the all-boys preparatory school Lake Forest Academy (LFA) was located directly next to what was then called Lake Forest University, the boys from LFA, as well as the university students before the construction of their campus chapel in 1898, attended services at the Ferry Hall Chapel and sat on the right side of the pulpit, facing the girls, who sat on the left. Chapel was a fun yet serious time, where students would have the opportunity to socialize and worship.

The chapel is very architecturally significant in that it is an early example of a Gothic chapel built in a campus setting, and represents the beginning of the modern campus-planning movement. The chapel has a tower, a steeple, a tall peaked roof, and stained glass windows. A covered walkway once connected the chapel to Ferry Hall and the South Building of the school. So that students could more easily attend services at the chapel even in incumbent weather, there was an underground tunnel built leading from Smith Hall underneath Ferry Hall, and leading right to the chapel. The tunnel was demolished in 1952. The National Register of Historic Places recognizes the chapel for its architectural significance.The dormitories of Ferry Hall were converted into condominiums in the late 1970s after the merger of Ferry Hall and Lake Forest Academy. The chapel was thought to have no further use as it would now be in such close proximity to the condominiums. However, due to the architectural significance of the chapel, efforts were made to save the building. Original proponents of the idea suggested that the chapel be used as a community space for the tenants of the condos, which had recently been placed on the market, because of the chapel’s history as a community center. Instead of being used for a community space, it was converted into a private, single-family residence. Since its conversion in 1980, homeowners of the chapel have worked to convert the structure into a livable space while still honoring and preserving the original architecture.

House of Worship to House of Family: Ferry Hall Chapel