LFLB History Museum

Asher Carter was born in 1805 in New Jersey. He arrived in the young city of Chicago in 1849, self-taught to assist architects as a building supervisor. Carter formed a partnership with Augustus Bauer in 1855. Together, the firm designed many commercial and residential buildings and they were deeply involved in church work.

In 1856, Carter helped draw up the papers for the 7,300 acres of land that would form Lake Forest. Carter was also a part of the Lake Forest Association, a group that was formed to oversee the development of the town.

Local structures included the Lake Forest Hotel in 1858. It was the first public building in Lake Forest, on the current site of Triangle Park. Carter also designed the first building used by Lake Forest Academy, in 1858. Both structures are now gone.

Two residential commissions attributed to Asher Carter are “The Homestead,” for Devillo R. and Ellen Hubbard Holt at 570 N. Sheridan Road (1860), and 660 N. Sheridan Road in 1861 for Harvey M. Thompson, Lake Forest’s first mayor. In 1863, Carter went into partnership with William E. Drake. He retired in 1873, four years prior to his death.

Asher Carter: Architect of Early Lake Forest