Queer Places:
1200 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60610
Villa Il Giullarino, Via del Pian dei Giullari, 12, 50125 Firenze FI
Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Guy Hamilton Mitchell (November 18, 1869 - June 14, 1962) was a college friend of Arthur Mario Acton. They moved together in Florence in 1894. Acton would go on and marry Guy's sister, Hortense. Guy Mitchell, less conflicted in his homosexuality as an adult, remained unmarried and lived a private gay life in the Villa il Giullarino.
Guy Hamilton Mitchell was the son of Jane Mary Jewett (1838-1924) and William Hamilton Mitchell (1817-1910), wealthy and influential banker (who made some of his early capital in the 1849 California gold rush). He was born in West Virginia, but settled in Alton, Illinois as a young man. Wiliam H. Mitchell was married three times. A daughter of his first marriage, Mary Anne Italia Mitchell, married Chauncey Justus Blair. Chauncey J. Blair was trustee of the Art Institute from 1897 to his death in 1916. They assembled a vast art collection, most of which was sold by the widow in 1916, via the NY art gallery Kleinberger. William Mitchell had one son from his second marriage, John Jewell Mitchell (1853-1918). John Mitchell was trustee of the Art Institute from 1900 to 1918. William Mitchell’s third marriage brought forth three children: Guy Hamilton Mitchell, Hortense Lenore Mitchell (later Hortense Acton) and Marguerite Mitchell (later Marguerite Sheriff).
Hortense married the British artist and art dealer Arthur Mario Acton in 1893, and they lived in Florence. Their son, Harold Acton was indeed the famous historian and author. They had another son, William Acton, who “died in mysterious circumstances”. The Actons were good friends with James Deering, who visited them often during his European travels. It is said that Villa Pietra may have influenced the design of the Deering estate in Florida, Vizcaya.
Guy Mitchell was independently wealthy via his father’s fortune. He owned a mansion in Florence, Villa Il Giullano, close to his sister’s and brother-in-law’s property, Villa Pietra (now New York University at Florence). Guy Mitchell officially listed his address in Chicago, 1200 Lake Shore Drive, but also, according to various official documents, lived in Berlin around 1890, in Paris for a year in 1917-18, and listed both Florence and Chicago as his residence on other occasions. He officially resided in Florence between 1909 and 1917. In December of 1920 he applied for a passport from the purpose of visiting Japan, Siam, Indo-China, India and China for “Recreation and Study”. On a January 1923 passport application he listed that he had resided “in Asia” from June 1920 to August 1922. He arrived back in Victoria, BC, from Yokohama, Japan in late 1922, and went from there on to Chicago. He made another trip to Kobe, Japan in 1925 (listed as port of destination, he may have traveled on from there). He listed his occupation on various occasions and forms as “capitalist”, “painter” and “writer”. Later trips in the late 1920s and 1930s, up to 1949, seem to have been limited to Europe, Canada and Bermuda. He died in Riverside, California in 1962.
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