Sunday In the Park Tour

If you are looking for something to do this Sunday and are a lover of gardens and architecture, I strongly recommend you come to Lincoln Park.  I will be giving a tour at the Lincoln Park Conservatory and other architects and docents will be talking about their work in the Park.  Even if you've been to Lincoln Park a hundred times, you've ever seen it like this. 

Sunday in the Park: A Lincoln Park Field Trip

Sunday, June 26, 2011

10:00 a.m.

The Pleasant Home Foundation invites you to join a Sunday field trip in Lincoln Park on June 26. During the walk, architect Christopher Payne will discuss the Lincoln Park Conservatory (J. L. Silsbee, 1890 - 1895); the Lincoln Park Conservancy will lead tours of the Lily Pool (Alfred Caldwell, 1936 - 1938); Paul Steinbrecher, AIA, Interactive Design/Eight Architects, will describe the Comfort Station/Carlson Cottage (J. L. Silsbee, 1888) restoration project (2008); and Harry Soenksen, AIA, Studio Gang, will interpret the Nature Boardwalk (2010).

This walking tour is a benefit for the Pleasant Home Foundation that operates the George W. Maher-designed John Farson House in Oak Park as a house museum. The group will gather at the entrance to the Lincoln Park Conservatory at 10 a.m. and end around 1 p.m. at Cafe Brauer. This walking tour will be held rain or shine (no refunds).

Cost is $25 per person. Space is limited and advanced reservations are required.

Call Pleasant Home Foundation at 708-383-2654.

Get Your Goth on at Rosehill Cemetery

Mark your calendars! Just in time for the Halloween season, Pleasant Home Foundation is presenting an awesome program at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. It will be awesome because yours truly will get to blab on to no end about his favorite architect while showing slides of some awesome Gothic architecture.  This will occur in one of the finest buildings in Chicago. Does it get any better? Yes it does! There will also be cider and donuts and a walk to the grave site of one of Chicago’s greatest architects!

On Saturday, October 24, Pleasant Home Foundation offers a unique program to explore Joseph Lyman Silsbee’s Horatio N. May Memorial Chapel (1899) and the George W. Maher Family Grave Site. The chapel is almost never opened for guided tours and in my opinion is one of the hidden gems of Chicago architecture.  It is a beautifully crafted building with mouth-dropping carved wood detail, glass and marble mosaic and remarkable interior tile and terra cotta.

For folks that don’t know, Silsbee & Maher were Chicago architects that practiced at the turn of the century. Maher worked for J. L. Silsbee in 1887-88 along with Frank Lloyd Wright, George Elmslie; all architects that were instrumental in the development of progressive architecture in the Midwest. No one ever hears much about Silsbee.  When they do, the information is usually incomplete or just plain wrong. This is a chance to get some insight into the life of this somewhat elusive figure and to see works never presented before: his monuments, memorials and mortuary chapels. If you are interested in this era of architecture, this is a unique must-see event. 

This program will feature a presentation on Silsbee by me. Following, architectural historian and Maher scholar Kathleen Cummings will discuss Maher’s family and their burial place located a short walking distance from the chapel. The one-and-a-half-hour program will feature a rare interior tour of the May Chapel and a visit to the Maher family gravesite.

It will begin at the May Chapel located in Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 N. Ravenswood Avenue and will begin at 1 p.m. Cemetery Parking is available at the chapel or in the cemetery's parking lot located inside of the Ravenswood Avenue entrance. Cost is $15 for the program. Space is limited so registration in advance is strongly suggested at 708-383-2654.

All proceeds benefit the Pleasant Home Foundation. Pleasant Home, a National Historic Landmark, is also known as the John Farson House and is located in the heart of Oak Park, Illinois. Pleasant Home is an architectural treasure designed in 1897 by noted Prairie School architect George W. Maher for investment banker and philanthropist John W. Farson. Pleasant Home Foundation, established as a non-profit organization in 1990, is dedicated to preserving and restoring this 30-room architectural jewel.

What the hell have you been up to?

It is the eve of bungalow weekend here in the OP. We have a great program of events lined up for the weekend if you want to come and “get inspired” – as stated by the folks over at House in Progress.

Tomorrow morning is the Restoration Forum at Pleasant Home FREE and open to the public. Many building professionals, government officials, architects, homeowners, and other dignitaries will be there to share their knowledge. It runs from 9 until noon.

While at the Forum, sign up for the evening benefit for Pleasant Home: a lecture and reception (complete with food and booze) at a fantastic George Maher home in the OP. You can also sign up for our annual Bungalow Tour on Sunday. Inside tours of 6 awesome homes will be featured on Sunday.

Since I have been working hard on these events, I haven’t been doing much to the Tiny Bungalow. I should report that the warm weather has fostered the arrival of our second batch of raspberries. Last year, I watched an Indiana farming show on PBS where they said you should mow your raspberry bushes to the ground each season to guarantee two batches of raspberries: one smaller batch in July, and a larger one in mid September. Well, we did what they said and had a not so great crop in July. I think this was due to our late frost in May. Now it is the first week of October and we have been picking huge sweet raspberries, about a pint an evening, for the past 5 or 6 days. Awesome. I am glad it has stayed warm enough for these things to ripen.
It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend so if you have the time and love old homes, come on out to the OP.

One Month to Beautiful Bungalows Weekend

For the third year, Pleasant Home Foundation presents Beautiful Bungalows: A Celebration on Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7. Beautiful Bungalows features events celebrating Oak Park’s bungalows, their variety, craftsmanship and modern use. Three special events make up the weekend, with the highlight being the bungalow house interior tour on Sunday. New this year is a Restoration Forum at Pleasant Home, free and open to the public. A benefit fundraiser for the restoration of Pleasant Home will also be held in a private George Maher-designed home in Oak Park. Details on all of the events follows:

Pleasant Home Restoration Forum
Saturday, October 6
9 am - 12 noon
Find lots of ideas for your own renovation and restoration projects at this free open forum of local preservation experts and resources at historic Pleasant Home, 217 Home Avenue, Oak Park. Free, open to the public.
Exhibits will include:
- Furnishings
- Financing restoration
- Lighting

- Green materials
- Getting a permit
- Kitchen design
- Art glass: new and old
- Using the Internet
- Researching your home
- Color analysis
- Historic fences
- Planning an addition
- Historic windows
and more.

Maher’s Bungalows – A Pleasant Home Benet Reception
530 North Euclid Avenue, Oak Park
Saturday, October 6
6 - 8 pm
Join us at George W. Maher’s wonderful Erwin House for a special evening benet reception featuring cocktails and hors d’ouevres, and a presentation on Maher’s bungalows by architectural historian Kathleen Cummings.
$25 (advance registration requested)

Oak Park Bungalow Tour
Sunday, October 7
11 am – 4 pm
Enjoy this unique opportunity for docent-led interior tours of some of Oak Park’s most spectacular bungalows, most never before open to the public, and a self-guided walking tour of their historic neighborhoods.
No tickets will be mailed. Check-in, ticket/map pick-up and day-of registration begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7 at Pleasant Home, 217 Home Avenue.
$35 (advance registration), $40 (day of the event)

To register, call 708-383-2654 or visit http://www.pleasanthome.org/.

Kenilworth Tour - a reminder

Pleasant Home Foundation Presents:

Maher, Silsbee, and Burnham: A Look at the Early Architecture of Kenilworth

Join architectural historians Kathleen Cummings and Bill Hinchliff to explore the early buildings of Kenilworth, Illinois. The afternoon program will begin with a visit to the Kenilworth Historical Society's current exhibit and a brief talk about the character of the early village. An exterior walking tour of houses by George Washington Maher, Franklin Burnham, and Joseph Lyman Silsbee will follow.

Sunday, May 6th 2:00pm

Kenilworth Historical Society

415 Kenilworth Avenue

Kenilworth, Illinois

PHF puts on awesome events involving architectural history, tours, old homes, etc. The program admission is $20 and all proceeds benefit the Pleasant Home Foundation, whose role is to oversee renovation of the National Landmark, Pleasant Home. If you are in the Chicagoland area this Sunday, this program should be great. The weather is supposed to be spectacular - perfect for walking around one of the nicest neighborhoods in the country.

Here are a couple teasers for you:

If You Love Bungalows

If you love bungalows and old homes, you need to mark your calendars. Sunday, October 7th will be Pleasant Home's 3rd annual Beautiful Bungalows tour. It features interior tours of 7 historic bungalows and we always have a great selection of homes. We will also be hosting lectures and presentations on old home restoration. Stay tuned for details. It is a great place to get restoration ideas, to learn about historic architecture, and to see the inside of some fantastic homes. If you are interested now, don't hesitate to put your name on the mailing list for Pleasant Home by calling (708) 383 2654.

Here are some of the homes we have featured over the past two years:

If you are into old homes, here are a couple of events you shouldn't miss

If you are in the Chicagoland area, there are a few events sponsored by Pleasant Home Foundation you should seriously consider attending. PHF puts on awesome events involving architectural history, tours, old homes, etc. Each of the 2 tour programs is $20 and all proceeds benefit the foundation, whose role is to oversee renovation of the National Landmark, Pleasant Home. I'll try and update this later with photos to hopefully make it more enticing.

The tour portion of the May 6th program should be great. Yours truly will be speaking about Silsbee in front of the only surviving home by that architect in the town. One of the reasons for the tour is to shed light on the earliest structures in Kenilworth. It seems critical given it's designation as an endangered place by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Maher, Silsbee, and Burnham: A Look at the Early Architecture of Kenilworth
Join architectural historians Kathleen Cummings and Bill Hinchliff to explore the early buildings of Kenilworth, Illinois. The afternoon program will begin with a visit to the Kenilworth Historical Society's current exhibit and a brief talk about the character of the early village. An exterior walking tour of houses by George Washington Maher, Franklin Burnham, and Joseph Lyman Silsbee will follow.
Sunday, May 6th 2:00pm
Kenilworth Historical Society
415 Kenilworth Avenue
Kenilworth, Illinois

The next program gives you interior access to two amazing Prairie Style homes by George Maher (and some wine and cheese to boot).

Preserving the Prairie School: A Future Orientation
Vincent Michael, director of the historic preservation program at the School of the Art Institute and a member of the board of directors for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will give a poignant lecture to help us understand why and how to save important Prairie School structures, in one of five structures in Oak Park by leading Prairie School architect, George Maher.
Friday, May 18 6:30 pm
Unity Church (G. Maher’s J. H. Taylor Home)
405 N. Euclid Avenure
Oak Park, Illinois
A special reception at G. Maher’s Caldwell House will immediately follow the lecture.

If you have any questions or want to register, follow this link to Pleasant Home.

Finally, (and I saved the best for last) mark your calendars for this event coming in June. More details will follow regarding times and fee.