In 1886 a little-known architect was hired by an undertaker’s family to design a Queen Anne-style residence at 303 W. Eugenie. Adam Boos, according to the Real Estate and Building Journal of May 15 that year, would be constructing the three-story building out of brick and stone.
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“He thought this would be a better job,” recalls Chris Birren, a fifth-generation embalmer. “Usually funeral directors were furniture makers first, but one day Henry hung out a sign–there were no licenses back then.” Birren Brothers was one of Illinois’ oldest family-run businesses when Smith-Corcoran bought it out in 1985.
John Birren and his wife, Elizabeth, lived at 303 W. Eugenie only briefly. In 1892 they sold the house to a music teacher. By 1910 a saloon had opened one door east and across the street was A.B. Fiedler & Sons, a block-long manufacturer of dress trimmings. The music teacher turned 303 W. Eugenie into apartments and rented them to immigrant laborers.
