Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation

09/29/2026

Join us for the next Charnley Conversations lecture, Advancing Women's Education: Symbols in the Architecture at Vassar College, on October 8 at the Charnley-Persky House! Architectural historian Martha Frish will explore the most stylistically innovative buildings and spaces on campus at Vassar College, which tend to be great illustrations of their architects’ work elsewhere.

Join us for glass of w**e, refreshments, and light bites at 5:30 p.m., followed by the presentation, and more conversation afterwards. This lecture is co-sponsored by The Charnley-Persky House, The Society of Architectural Historians and The Chicago Vassar Club.

Reserve your tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advancing-womens-education-symbols-in-the-architecture-at-vassar-college-tickets-2000311308972?aff=Facebook

09/23/2026

We've added a virtual option for tonight's lecture beginning at 6 p.m.!

Register now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lost-houses-of-chicagos-gold-coast-online-tickets-2001240486166?aff=Facebook

Just a few tickets remain for our next Charnley Conversations lecture on September 23 at the Charnley-Persky House! Architectural historian Andrew Elders will discuss some of the Gold Coast houses lost to apartment development in the mid-20th century, which represented the work of some of Chicago's top architects and housed some of Chicago's most prominent citizens.

Join us for a glass of w**e and light bites at 5:30 p.m., followed by the presentation, and more conversation afterwards. Proceeds support the Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation.

🎟️Reserve your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lost-houses-of-chicagos-gold-coast-tickets-1999434499411?

09/08/2026

Just a few tickets remain for our next Charnley Conversations lecture on September 23 at the Charnley-Persky House! Architectural historian Andrew Elders will discuss some of the Gold Coast houses lost to apartment development in the mid-20th century, which represented the work of some of Chicago's top architects and housed some of Chicago's most prominent citizens.

Join us for a glass of w**e and light bites at 5:30 p.m., followed by the presentation, and more conversation afterwards. Proceeds support the Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation.

🎟️Reserve your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lost-houses-of-chicagos-gold-coast-tickets-1999434499411?

09/03/2026

Happy birthday to Louis Sullivan, who was born on this day in 1856 in Boston. 🎂 Sullivan first came to Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to join in the rebuilding effort before studying architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

In 1879, Sullivan joined the respected engineer Dankmar Adler, who had been practicing in Chicago since 1866. For fourteen years, this relationship produced buildings distinguished by both their design and engineering innovations. Sullivan and Adler’s work contributed to the development of the uniquely American building type, the skyscraper, and their partnership produced such remarkable structures as the Auditorium Building (1886–1889) in Chicago, the Wainwright Building (1890–1891) in St. Louis, the Chicago Stock Exchange (1893–1894, demolished 1972), and the Guaranty Building (1894-1895) in Buffalo, New York. Their most renowned residential design was the commission for James Charnley on Astor Street in Chicago, the Charnley-Persky House, which was completed in 1892.

Photo 1: Sullivaniana Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago. Digital File # 193101.LHS_Portrait_1876
Photo 2: Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri. Photo courtesy of Warren LeMay, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Photo 3: Guaranty (Prudential) Building, Buffalo, New York. Photo by David Schalliol.
Photo 4: Charnley-Persky House, Chicago, Illinois. Photo by James Caulfield.

09/01/2026

Tickets are on sale now for our biggest party and fundraiser of the year! ✨ Join us at SAH Celebrates on November 13 in Chicago for an unforgettable evening dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of the built environment. Your attendance and contributions directly support the stewardship of our historic headquarters at the Charnley-Persky House and aid SAH’s scholarly research and educational programs.

Learn more and reserve your tickets: https://sah.org/programs/sah-celebrates/

08/21/2026

SAH Celebrates, the Society's most anticipated party and fundraiser of the year, will take place on November 13 at the Fortnightly of Chicago to support the stewardship of our historic headquarters at the Charnley-Persky House and aid SAH’s scholarly research and educational programs. Even if you can't attend, you can still bid on thematically- and geographically-diverse experiences in the SAH Celebrates online auction, which will open in early November and close during the in-person event.

Auction items include:
🔸 Frank Lloyd Wright Treasures of the Avery Library Tour with Dr. Barry Bergdoll
🔸 Eames House Private Interior Tour in Los Angeles
🔸 Private Tour of the Notion and Claros Archeological Sites in Western Turkey
🔸One-Week Stay at "Turtle Ridge" Villa in Barbados
🔸and much more!

Preview all of the auction items on the SAH website: https://sah.org/programs/sah-celebrates/sah-celebrates-2026-online-auction/

Images 1-2: Courtesy of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Image 3: The living room of the Eames House (1949). Photographed by Chris Mottalini, 2025. © 2026 Eames Office, LLC. All rights reserved.
Image 4: Courtesy of Notion Archaeological Project
Image 5: Leslie St. John Photography

07/15/2026

Looking for some indoor activities during this heatwave? ☀️ Book a tour of the Charnley-Persky House for an up-close look at the details that stand as evidence of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright’s creativity in collaboration.

Tours are held on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Reserve your tickets now on our website: https://charnleyperskyhouse.org/visit-the-house/

Photo by Eric Nordstrom

06/16/2026

On Sunday, we wrapped up the first season of our Charnley Conversations lecture series with an Astor Street walking tour led by historian Sally Sexton Kalmbach. Attendees learned about the history of several examples of residential architecture in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, ending with a reception at the Charnley-Persky House.

Stay tuned for more lectures at the Charnley-Persky House this fall! Sign up for our email list to receive updates on upcoming events: https://sah.informz.net/sah/pages/CPHEmailForm

06/08/2026

Happy birthday to Frank Lloyd Wright, who was born on this day in 1867 in Wisconsin. In 1887, architect Louis Sullivan hired Wright as a draftsman to assist with construction drawings for the Auditorium Building (1887–1889). As a junior draftsman, Wright also assisted with residential commissions, including the Charnley House. Today, the Charnley-Persky House is among the very few of Sullivan’s residential works that survive intact, and the only surviving one in Chicago built during the period that Wright worked in the Adler and Sullivan office.

Read more on our website: https://charnleyperskyhouse.org/about/

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society, WHI-M96-188

06/02/2026

Summer is approaching! ☀️ Make a visit to the Charnley-Persky House part of your summer bucket list to see an extraordinary example of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright’s creativity in collaboration.

Tours are offered three days a week:
📆WEDNESDAYS (free!) at 12 p.m.
📆FRIDAYS at 12 p.m.
📆SATURDAYS at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Reserve your tickets today: https://charnleyperskyhouse.org/visit-the-house/