- Michael Gebert
- Decorators Supply Corp. in Bridgeport
As far as I’m concerned Open House Chicago, held this weekend, is one of the great events of the year for inveterate snoops and spies like myself. You get to go inside dozens of buildings all over the city whose insides you don’t normally get to see, and see how all kinds of other halves live, work, or lived and worked a century ago. The list of sites expands every year and ranges from grand old office buildings in the Loop to art deco apartment buildings with cool basement swimming pools in Rogers Park to factory buildings in Pullman. It’s a great way to explore the city from the inside out.
- Michael Gebert
- Edgewater Beach Apartments
EdgewaterNew on the list this year, Edgewater’s offerings include the pink Edgewater Beach Apartments, a building that has the Anna Held flower shop and soda fountain on its first floor. There are also a couple of mansions and a restored vintage firehouse to tour. Hit DAK for Korean chicken wings or Cookies & Carnitas for farm-to-table comfort food.
Prairie AvenueThis neighborhood has old mansions, needless to say, plus the Gothic revival Second Presbyterian Church; for food there’s good south-side pizza and pierogi at Flo & Santos, or a Nepalese-Indian buffet at Nepal House. Chinatown, though not on the list this year, is close by.
