Historic Church Bought by Oprah's Chef

CHICAGO-New ownership of the historic Shiloh Baptist Church on the South Side – a place where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke and gospel great Mahalia Jackson sang – has come in the unlikely form of Art Smith, the personal chef of Oprah Winfrey for the last four years, and his partner, Jesus Salgueiro, an artist. Late in 2002, the two made an offer of $410,300 to nab the building before it was put on the auction block by Sheldon Good & Associates. A year earlier, the church¹s dwindling congregation had decided to sell it.

While the Shiloh congregation has been a Kenwood neighborhood fixture since 1967, the building itself was originally constructed as a Christian Science church in 1904, designed by noted Chicago architect Solon S. Beman (who is best known for the work he did for railroad car magnate George Pullman). Though by all accounts the structure is now in some disrepair, it nevertheless features a Greek revival façade, stained-glass skylights and enough sanctuary space for about 1,000 worshipers.