Beard House (1955) by Ed Dart Built for the owner of the manufacturer responsible for the pipe organ at St. Michael’s Episcopal, this house once had a custom pipe organ brick alcove and two Steinway grand pianos.

Bennett House (1941) by George Fred Keck

Sersen House (1958) by Ed Dart, maybe my favorite of the whole Barrington bunch.

Welch House (1952) by Harry Weese. Built for Weese’s sister Jane and his brother-in-law, Dr. William Welch. The bottom floor of the house was originally a doctor’s office for Welch with a separate entrance for his patients.

Northgate 21 (1955) by Ed Dart

Don Tosi House (1949) by Don Tosi. At the time of this home’s construction, Tosi was working for Bruce Goff. Because the 25-year-old Tosi was unlicensed at the time, Goff signed off on the plans. The house was fully rebuilt in 1967 after being destroyed by an F4 tornado.

Even better than the courtyard is the indoor pool which looks like it should be in Hollywood, not West Ridge.

Finally got to go inside of Louis Sullivan’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral (1903) during Open House Chicago yesterday!

The former Community Bank of Lawndale (1982) by Ben Weese. The first Black-owned bank in the neighborhood, the building was recently renovated and is now home to North Lawndale Employment Network.

Rockefeller Chapel (1928) by Bertram Goodhue with additional decoration by legendary artists like Lee Lawrie, Hildreth Meière, and Alois Lang.

Got the chance today to tour an unbelievably cool Keck & Keck house in Highland Park, built in 1962. The oval home is centered around a swimming pool that sits underneath a retractable roof.

This clown doesn’t deserve a single good thing in his life, let alone the chili cheese fries at The Hat

Went in expecting a 3 hour wait and was pleasantly surprised it was only a cool hour and 40. Get out there and vote!

Stepping away from here for obvious reasons—plus preserving my own sanity—but please find me on IG @/maxesmael or at maxchavez.bsky.social (I promise to be more active on the latter)