In 1952, former Navy cooks Marvin Hammack and Ray Schimel were running a successful restaurant in Michigan called the Holiday House. The following year, they relocated to Kankakee, where they opened a restaurant that would be known for more than 30 years as Yesteryear.
The catalyst for that change was Kankakee businessman Edwin P. Bergeron, who had stopped for a meal at the Holiday House while on vacation with his wife, Alice. While talking with Hammack and Schimel, he learned they hoped to someday open a larger and more elegant restaurant.
Bergeron, as fate would have it, owned a property that would be ideal for their purposes. In late 1951, he and Alice had purchased a large riverfront house in Kankakee that was both elegant and historic. The building, erected in 1901, was the first of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie House designs. The Bergerons had decided the 6,000-square-foot house, located on a one-acre lot, was too large for their needs.
It would, however, prove to be ideal for the restaurant envisioned by Hammack and Schimel. They purchased the property, and on Feb. 1, 1953, opened the doors of Yesteryear at 701 S. Harrison Ave.
Guests found the building's entrance tucked away under a sheltering porte cochere, then ascended several steps into a small reception area. Directly ahead of them, a long hallway led to a cocktail lounge overlooking the river. The lounge had once been part of the home's master suite.
To the left of the reception area was the expansive dining room (the former living room of the house) with a band of art grass windows outlining a deep bay facing Harrison Avenue. On the west wall of the room was a large fireplace faced with Roman brick. The former dining room of the house served as an extension to the main meal-service area.
At the back of the house was a large kitchen with two pantries and stairs leading to basement storage areas. From 1953 until 1969, the original kitchen was used for all food preparation. A large commercial kitchen, extending westward from the back of the house to the south end of the adjoining stable building, was completed in 1969.
Advertising proclaimed the restaurant offered "Gracious Dining at the Sign of Yesteryear, Harrison at the River, Kankakee, Illinois." A typical luncheon menu offered 15 entrees, including a broiled lamb chop, boneless breast of chicken cordon bleu, pan-fried brook trout, aristocrat crabmeat thermidor and a sauteed baby veal patty.
The food and the historic Wright-designed setting generated newspaper reviews and magazine articles that drew a steady stream of diners. While there was a loyal local following, numerous patrons — couples, small groups, even busloads — came from Chicago and surrounding suburban areas. The owners built upon their success by opening a gift shop, a travel agency and six inn rooms for overnight guests in the stable and a connected two-story structure.
Health problems caused Hammack and Schimel to sell Yesteryear after 30 years of operation. In late May 1984, Richard Murray, of Kankakee, and a Minnesota investor, assumed control of the restaurant. The new management was not successful, and was forced to declare bankruptcy in February 1985. Less than a month later, the restaurant's operation came to an abrupt end when the lights went out as lunch was being served. The utility company had cut off power for nonpayment of its bills.
At a bankruptcy auction in 1986, some of the house's furniture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was sold. One item, a library table/desk, went for $20,000; two years later at another auction, entertainer Barbra Streisand purchased it for $176,000.
Throughout the next 25 years, the house would be renovated and devoted to office use by one group of owners, then restored (along with the adjoining, deteriorated stable) by a new architect/owner to its original 1901 configuration.
Since 2010, the property (now called the B. Harley Bradley House after its original occupant) has been owned and operated by a local nonprofit group, Wright In Kankakee. The house is open to the public, with guided tours offered Thursday through Sunday. The organization also sponsors many educational, artistic and other types of events.
Jack Klasey came to Kankakee County as a young Journal reporter in 1963, and quickly became hooked on local history. In 1968, he co-authored “Of the People: A Popular History of Kankakee County.” Now retired from a career in the publishing industry, he remains active in the history field as a volunteer and board member at the Kankakee County Museum. He can be contacted at jwklasey@comcast.net.