The Kent House, also known as Sydney Kent House or St. James Convent, is a Queen Anne style house located at 2944 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The house was built in 1883 by Burnham & Root for Sidney A. Kent. From 1896 to 1906, it was the home of barbed-wire industrialist and robber baron John Warne Gates

John Warne Gates

John Warne Gates , also known as "Bet-a-Million" Gates, was a pioneer promoter of barbed wire who became a Gilded Age industrialist.-Biography:...

, better known as "Bet-a-Million" Gates for his gambling excesses.

In the early 20th century, it served as the main building for what is today, National-Louis University

National-Louis University

National–Louis University is a private non-profit American university. NLU has campuses in and near Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Wisconsin, Florida, and Nowy Sącz, Poland. Many NLU courses and programs are also offered at-a-distance. The university practices multi-campus, at-a-distance, and...

.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1977, and it was designated a Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

on March 18, 1987.