The Charnley-Persky House is among the At Home in Chicago historic house museums. From the At Home in Chicago press release: At Home in Chicago celebrates the unexpected connections shared by more than twenty museums in and around Chicago.
More than twenty historic house museums have banded together to tell Chicago’s story in a new way.
In 2011 these museums founded At Home in Chicago, with a mission to celebrate the rich and varied architectural, cultural, geographical, and historical fabric they share. And today, At Home in Chicago proudly announces the launch of its unique and distinctively “homey” new website, chicagohousemuseums.org.
Through carefully preserved architectural structures and the artifacts of home life, the historic house museums of the Chicago region bring a unique moment in history to vivid life. Appealing to everyone from loyal locals to curious tourists, art lovers, history enthusiasts, and design buffs, these museums are stewards and storytellers of those who shaped—or were shaped by—the region.
Their buildings range from colonnaded Greek Revival-style homes to quaint Queen Anne Victorians, urban row houses, vernacular storefronts, Italianate mansions, magnificent country estates, and Prairie residences, to name a few. They were once the homes of activists, artists, architects, politicians, industrialists, and everyday Chicagoans. Today they are houses of living memory, and they belong to the public.
The new At Home in Chicago website offers practical resources for planning a visit. It is also a creative space for visitors to explore the unexpected threads connecting these likeminded museums. Furnished with illustrations by Chicago artist and illustrator Lille Carré, the website includes easy-to-access profiles and tour information for each house museum; a section for discovering museums according to what they share in common, including family stories to architectural style; and a unique map for exploring by location.
The website is made possible by the generous support of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. The site’s design was created by Chicago-based design firm Studio Thread, with editorial oversight and content strategy by Lindsey Howald Patton.
About At Home in Chicago
Founded in 2011, At Home in Chicago is a consortium of more than twenty historic house museums in and around Chicago.
Sharing a geographical and historical landscape, each site expresses singular histories through buildings, collections, and the expertise of inspired and knowledgeable staff and volunteers.
At Home in Chicago exists to disseminate information about area house museums, to encourage the exploration of common threads connecting these diverse places, and to promote a broad range of available resources.
