Open House Chicago

This weekend, October 15 and 16, the Chicago Architecture Foundation is sponsoring a magnificent event called Open House Chicago. Well over 100 sites around town that are normally not publicly accessible, will be open to the public.

Here is their website.

One certainly not to miss building in the Loop is the former Chicago Auto Club Building, an Art Deco masterpiece by Holabird and Root that has been empty for a number of years. It is one of the most elegantly proportioned buildings in Chicago. It is scheduled to become a hotel in the near future, hopefully.

What's really great about this event is that it includes parts of the city that are off the beaten path, neighborhoods such as Garfield Park/North Lawndale, Little Village, Bronzeville/Hyde Park, and Rogers Park/West Ridge. Shuttles will operate in the neighborhoods making frequent stops between the individual sites. The website allows you to create your own personal itinerary.

If you do happen to be up in Rogers Park this weekend, do check out our building, Casa Bonita on Ridge Avenue, a magnificent late twenties Spanish Renaissance Revival apartment building, which is one of the sites.

Stop by and say hello. If you're lucky, you might even get a tour from my ten year old son.