Bourbon Tile & Marble, Inc.

Bourbon Tile & Marble

Just before the turn of the century, our great-grandfather began working for a now defunct contractor, McWayne Tile. He learned the trade that would become our family endeavor over the next one hundred years. At the same time, he became a charter member of the helpers union, Local 67, which was formed in response to the depression of the late 1880's - early 1890's. Years later, his daughters Catherine and Genevieve married two brothers who emigrated to Chicago from Canada. They were Edward and Raymond Bourbon. Edward was taken under the wing of his father-in-law and started his career in the tile business shortly before the first world war. He too worked for McWayne Tile. Just before the Great Depression, Edward convinced his brother Raymond to quit his job as a Chicago Police Officer and come to work in the better paying tile industry. Ironically, Raymond hardly worked through the great depression while police were among the few people who were known not to have massive layoffs and received steady paychecks throughout those hard times. Edward Bourbon passed away in 1954, but not before he was able to obtain jobs in the tile industry for three of his four sons; Leonard, Wilbur, and Donald and one of his sons-in-law, Wes Williamson. Leonard and Wilbur worked for the late Arthur DiAmbrosia Senior's company, Illinois Tile, for forty years each, retiring in 1980 and 1990 respectively. Donald was a setter for McWayne, and Wes Williamson was an Estimator for McWayne until it closed it's doors after a hundred years or more in 1979. Subsequently, Donald and Wes opened the first family shop, Williamson Tile, in 1980 and kept it open until their retirement in 1990.

Wilbur and Donald both introduced their children to the tile industry, along with a few of their nephews. Wilbur's child Lawrence and his wife Nancy started a small company out of the dining room of their Chicago apartment in 1990, shortly after his uncles, Wes Williamson and Donald Bourbon, closed the doors to their shop, Williamson Tile. This was the beginning of Bourbon Tile and Marble. About twenty years later, we have grown from a two-person outfit to a shop that employs forty to fifty-five union tile setters and helpers at any given time, with jobs ranging from large industrial to light residential. Nancy and Larry have worked hard to make this company live up to the reputation in the tile industry of all the family members that have come before them. It is important to note that there are new products being introduced every day in the fields of ceramic tile and marble. We are proud to say that, through generations of learning the "ins and outs" of the business being passed on to us, we feel we are better able to handle fundamental through complex issues that arise on a job site pertaining to the installation of ceramic tile and marble. We feel we have a better grasp than our competitors on "the whole picture" as pertaining to the final look of a completed job, and the satisfaction of customers. It is rewarding when you've grown up in the industry, and you walk around the Chicagoland area and see existing work, done by generations of your family members, still decorating the floors that so many people have walked across and stared at. People who may be wondering when and how it was done. The reward is the fact that we know.

This page contains useful information, which can be used as a reference, to show our record of quality and craftsmanship in all the work we perform. Here you will also find frequent updates regarding our bids and ongoing projects, we invite you to check back soon.

If you have any questions please contact us at (847) 229-9694.