Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
@chiworkerscottage.bsky.social
The Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative celebrates this housing style, seeking to preserve the unique features of these houses, protect them from demolition, and continue their use and reuse for the next century – https://workerscottage.org/
Brick buddies from different decades of refaced facades on old cottages
November 18, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Brick buddies from different decades of refaced facades on old cottages
The Myron Bachman house was originally built as a 2-story Victorian house or cottage around 1889, remodeled in 1947 to add a recording studio
(1/2) Confluence of '40s Chicago hipster: '47 radio check on WGES of Jimmy Dale Band on Al Benson (pioneer Black DJ). Dale's band was actually paid for by Harold Fox, Chicago purveyor of the zoot suit (store still in biz), recorded by Myron Bachman who had Bruce Goff remodel his house that year
November 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The Myron Bachman house was originally built as a 2-story Victorian house or cottage around 1889, remodeled in 1947 to add a recording studio
Fall sun on a pair of cottages in Mayfair
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Fall sun on a pair of cottages in Mayfair
Unique cottage for sale!
there are so many more post-worthy photos in the set too. the front door is across a bridge from the sidewalk? the whole yard is like a 6 foot deep hole?
November 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Unique cottage for sale!
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
November 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Are there any spooky cottages in your neighborhood? Let us know so we can go trick or treat there!
October 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Are there any spooky cottages in your neighborhood? Let us know so we can go trick or treat there!
Bucktown cottage that was originally a corner grocery
October 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Bucktown cottage that was originally a corner grocery
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
The new "Chicago Homes" book details the history of homes in Chicago, from bungalows to greystones. blockclubchi.co/42Wb1ZB
October 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The new "Chicago Homes" book details the history of homes in Chicago, from bungalows to greystones. blockclubchi.co/42Wb1ZB
Curious cottage: the matching stone sills make it look like the front door has always been down the side of the house instead of the front (and the woodframe first level may be original too)
October 22, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Curious cottage: the matching stone sills make it look like the front door has always been down the side of the house instead of the front (and the woodframe first level may be original too)
Cottage portraits by Julie Sulzen as seen at #openhousechicago, open on Sunday also! www.architecture.org/open-house-c...
October 19, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Cottage portraits by Julie Sulzen as seen at #openhousechicago, open on Sunday also! www.architecture.org/open-house-c...
The Walt Disney Birthplace will be featured again on this weekend's Open House Chicago. In years past there was a long line to get inside, so go early!
October 17, 2025 at 5:51 PM
The Walt Disney Birthplace will be featured again on this weekend's Open House Chicago. In years past there was a long line to get inside, so go early!
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
Book of the Week in my Substack newsletter is "Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture" by Carla Bruni and Phil Thompson, published this week by @agatepublishing.bsky.social:
archidose.substack.com/p/chicago-in...
(Scroll down for another Chicago/Agate book from the archive.)
archidose.substack.com/p/chicago-in...
(Scroll down for another Chicago/Agate book from the archive.)
October 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Book of the Week in my Substack newsletter is "Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture" by Carla Bruni and Phil Thompson, published this week by @agatepublishing.bsky.social:
archidose.substack.com/p/chicago-in...
(Scroll down for another Chicago/Agate book from the archive.)
archidose.substack.com/p/chicago-in...
(Scroll down for another Chicago/Agate book from the archive.)
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
Listen to some John Prine today, who was born on this day in 1946 in Maywood, IL. Here are the places he called home.
Remembering musician John Prine on what would’ve been his 76th birthday. Here’s his childhood home at 1110 S. 1st Ave in Maywood. At the age of 22 he worked as a mailman while taking classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music. He lived at 902 N. 19th Ave in Melrose Park.
October 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Listen to some John Prine today, who was born on this day in 1946 in Maywood, IL. Here are the places he called home.
These S.E. Gross cottages are on our McKinley Park walking tour. The illustration does not show how the houses were built shoulder-to-shoulder on 24' wide lots. Most of the houses have been modified over the years but a few still show the unique brick construction on top of a frame first level.
An 1889 ad for newly-built workers’ cottages in McKinley Park: “for the price, the handsomest, best-built brick cottages in the City.”
October 11, 2025 at 3:07 PM
These S.E. Gross cottages are on our McKinley Park walking tour. The illustration does not show how the houses were built shoulder-to-shoulder on 24' wide lots. Most of the houses have been modified over the years but a few still show the unique brick construction on top of a frame first level.
This workers cottage commemorated as part of Johnson's "Inequity for Sale" project was built around 1894
Englewood’s own Tonika Lewis Johnson is a MacArthur "genius." blockclubchi.co/3Wshd7N
October 9, 2025 at 4:18 AM
This workers cottage commemorated as part of Johnson's "Inequity for Sale" project was built around 1894
Hooray for the Bellinger Cottage, a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire 154 years ago. Legend says that the owner doused the embers landing on the roof with a barrel of cider from the basement, but this is probably just a fun legend
October 8, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Hooray for the Bellinger Cottage, a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire 154 years ago. Legend says that the owner doused the embers landing on the roof with a barrel of cider from the basement, but this is probably just a fun legend
Come to our homeowner workshop at the Den Theater tonight and pick up our newest poster picturing workers cottages in Wicker Park & Bucktown www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual...
October 6, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Come to our homeowner workshop at the Den Theater tonight and pick up our newest poster picturing workers cottages in Wicker Park & Bucktown www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual...
See you tonight at the Den Theater! Still space to join us and meet other cottage owners and repair specialists! www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual...
October 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
See you tonight at the Den Theater! Still space to join us and meet other cottage owners and repair specialists! www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual...
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
The national median single-family home price grew to 5 times the median household income in 2024, nearly matching previous record highs, writes @pjwhit.bsky.social in a new blog post. As a result, homeownership remains out of reach for many prospective buyers.
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
Home Prices Surge to Five Times Median Income, Nearing Historic Highs
Last year single-family home prices continued to climb steadily back to record-high multiples of household income. In our most recent State of the Nat
www.jchs.harvard.edu
October 6, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The national median single-family home price grew to 5 times the median household income in 2024, nearly matching previous record highs, writes @pjwhit.bsky.social in a new blog post. As a result, homeownership remains out of reach for many prospective buyers.
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
I'm quite happy to see this stone-clad house in Roseland returned to livability after a long vacancy, but I think all of the lovely old built-ins may have been removed during the reno :(
www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/U...
www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/U...
October 1, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I'm quite happy to see this stone-clad house in Roseland returned to livability after a long vacancy, but I think all of the lovely old built-ins may have been removed during the reno :(
www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/U...
www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/U...
Today's cottage brought to you by the letter "L"
October 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Today's cottage brought to you by the letter "L"
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
A $15 million homeowner relief fund program aims to assist Cook County homeowners who have experienced a substantial increase in property taxes in recent years, officials announced during a Monday news conference.
https://to.wttw.com/4nsi5W3
https://to.wttw.com/4nsi5W3
Cook County Offering $1,000 to Homeowners With Soaring Property Taxes. Here’s How to Apply
A $15 million homeowner relief fund program aims to assist Cook County homeowners who have experienced a substantial increase in property taxes in recent years, officials announced during a Monday new...
to.wttw.com
September 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
A $15 million homeowner relief fund program aims to assist Cook County homeowners who have experienced a substantial increase in property taxes in recent years, officials announced during a Monday news conference.
https://to.wttw.com/4nsi5W3
https://to.wttw.com/4nsi5W3
Sunflowers for a summer in fall day in Avondale
September 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Sunflowers for a summer in fall day in Avondale
CNN just named Avondale as one of the top 5 coolest neighborhoods in the world. We think its partly because of its workers cottages! Here's our poster of a few of them, available thru our website workerscottage.org/support.html
September 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM
CNN just named Avondale as one of the top 5 coolest neighborhoods in the world. We think its partly because of its workers cottages! Here's our poster of a few of them, available thru our website workerscottage.org/support.html
Reposted by Chicago Workers Cottage Initiative
A very endangered piece of Chicago history, industrial history, and labor history is for sale. This property, vacant for a decade, contains the last remaining confirmed Pullman brickyard cottage. These unplumbed shacks were hidden from fawning PR narratives of the "utopian" Pullman factory town.
11920 S Calumet Ave, Chicago, IL 60628 - 5 beds/2 baths
(MRED as Distributed by MLS Grid) For Sale: 5 beds, 2 baths ∙ 2300 sq. ft. ∙ 11920 S Calumet Ave, Chicago, IL 60628 ∙ $94,000 ∙ MLS# 12356401 ∙ Incredible investment opportunity, 2 houses for the pric...
www.redfin.com
September 27, 2025 at 2:28 AM
A very endangered piece of Chicago history, industrial history, and labor history is for sale. This property, vacant for a decade, contains the last remaining confirmed Pullman brickyard cottage. These unplumbed shacks were hidden from fawning PR narratives of the "utopian" Pullman factory town.