House walks and showhouses give visitors a chance to take a glimpse inside some of the most impressive homes in the Chicago area. Here is a roundup of tours planned for this spring and summer.
April
– Parenthesis Parent Child Center will sponsor the Oak Park/River Forest Kitchen Walk Saturday. Visit 12 remodeled kitchens in a variety of Oak Park and River Forest homes. A silent auction will be held. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $20 in advance, $22 on tour day. Call: 708-848-2227.
May
– Every Wednesday through Sunday, tours are available through the Prairie Avenue House Museums of the historic Clarke House and Glessner House Museums. Tours of the Clarke House, Chicago’s oldest residence, provide an in-depth look at the struggles of pioneer life in old Chicago. The Glessner House tour offers visitors a chance to view the near-complete collection of original furnishings and decorative objects of this 1887 masterpiece. Hours: noon to 4 p.m. Admission: $8 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens. Call: 312-326-1480.
– The Latin School of Chicago is planning two house tours. On May 4, homes in the Lincoln Park/De Paul neighborhood will be featured; on May 11, homes on Hawthorne Street in the Belmont Harbor neighborhood will be open. Hours: 10 a.m. to noon. Admission: $30 for one tour, $50 for two. Call: 312-573-4698.
– Chicago City Day School’s eighth annual “City Style” House Tour, featuring six Lincoln Park homes, will be May 5. Begin the walk with bidding on silent auction items and enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres at each stop. Hours: 2 to 6 p.m. Admission: $75 in advance, $85 on tour day. Call: 312-327-0900.
– The Ragdale Foundation offers tours of the historic Howard Van Doren Shaw Ragdale House in Lake Forest every second Wednesday of the month, May 8 through Oct. 9. Hours: 10 to 11 a.m. Admission: no fee but donations are welcome. Call: 847-234-1063.
– Four Glen Ellyn homes will be included on the 12th Annual Housewalk presented by the Glen Ellyn Infant Welfare Society May 10. Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Admission: $15 in advance, $18 on tour day. Call: 708-469-1647.
– “Apartments By Design,” a tour of 12 Oak Park vintage apartment buildings, is being sponsored by the Oak Park Regional Housing Center on May 11. Art and entertainment will be provided by building tenants. Trolley transportation from building to building is complimentary. Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: free. Call: 708-848-7150.
– The Evanston Historical Society’s Annual House Walk has been a Mother’s Day tradition for 21 years and will continue this year on May 12. Enjoy an afternoon tea and raffle in addition to the self-guided tour of five private homes in Evanston. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., tea served 1 to 4 p.m. Admission: $25 in advance, $30 on tour day; tea is $15; raffle tickets are $3 each or $10 for four. Tea is at the Omni Orrington Hotel, 1710 Orrington Ave., Evanston. Call: 847-475-3410.
– The Wheaton History Center’s 16th Annual Heritage Tour of Homes is May 15. The tour features eight structures from the 1800s, a garden program and five exhibits at the Wheaton History Center. Hours: 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission: $12 in advance, $15 on tour day. Call: 708-682-9472.
– Four kitchens in the Geneva/St. Charles area will be included on the third annual Kitchen Walk presented May 17 by Delnor Community Hospital Auxiliary and Past Basket Cabinetry, a custom cabinetry showroom. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission: $19. Call: 708-208-3995.
– The Winnetka Women’s Club annual house walk will be May 17 and 18. Called “Lifestyles,” the tour will feature 15 homes. A Mediterranean-style mansion on Lake Michigan will be open both days; otherwise, each day’s list of homes will vary. Lunch at Walter E. Smithe’s furniture showroom is included in the ticket price. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $45 for one day, $75 for two. Call: 847-446-1830.
– Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra League presents “Symphony of Homes Tour 1996” May 17, 18 and 19. Featured homes include an English Tudor, a Georgian Colonial, a Georgian Colonial Revival, a Transitional Southern and The Oaklands, a special Western Michigan University reception center that was the family residence for two of the university’s presidents. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 17 and 18, 1 to 5 p.m. May 19. Admission: $10 in advance, $12 on tour day. Call: 616-349-7759.
– The Western Springs Historical Society and the Western Springs Community Center Association will hold “Something Old, Something New” on May 18. Tour seven historic and newer homes in the Old Town section of Western Springs and enjoy a historic slide show, a box lunch social and music. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $18. Call: 708-246-1806.
– The Historic Pullman Foundation will sponsor “Friends of the Florence ’96” on May 18. The benefit supports the restoration of the 116-year-old Hotel Florence and promotes the south Pullman district. Visit three Pullman houses that are not usually open to the public, tour the hotel and the district’s visitor center, and enjoy high tea, an ice cream social, a cash bar, an auction and music. Hours: 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Admission: $25 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under. Call: 312-785-8181.
– Milwaukee’s three original settlements, Juneautown, Kilbourntown and Walker’s Point, will be featured on the 15th annual “Spaces and Traces Tour” May 18. Fifteen historical buildings and presentations by local historians will be included. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $12 in advance, $15 on tour day. Call: 414-277-7795.
– Beverly Area Planning Association hosts its 26th Annual Home Tour May 19. Visit five homes, including a restored Frank Lloyd Wright home, a Georgian revival home, a two-story Neocolonial home, a Queen Anne Victorian, a Colonial Revival, and the Morgan Park Presbyterian Church, an English Gothic-style building. Guided bus tours will leave the Beverly Art Center, 2153 W. 111th St., at regular intervals between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and self-guided tours can begin at the Art Center or the 103rd Street Metra station. Guided tours for the hearing impaired are available. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $15 in advance, $20 on tour day; guided bus tour is an additional $2. Call: 312-233-3100.
– The Waukegan Historical Society is holding its annual tour, featuring five homes, May 19. Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Admission: $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and children under 12. Call: 847-336-1859.
– The Frederick Law Olmsted Society of Riverside will hold its biennial house walk May 19. The tour includes the interiors of six homes, a church and a landscape walk. Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Admission: $16 before May 1, $18 after. Call: 708-442-8969.
– The Wilmette Historical Society’s annual house walk will be May 19. The tour features four homes, including an Italianate Victorian, an English Tudor cottage on the lake, a Colonial Revival and an Arts and Crafts-style home. Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Admission: $20. Call: 847-256-6892.
– The Flossmoor Service League hosts its annual “Suburban Stroll” May 22. The house walk includes four homes in Flossmoor and Olympia Fields. Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: $20. Call: 708-798-7118.
– The Woman’s Association of Glenview Community Church will hold “Doorways to Spring” on May 22. Visit five homes decorated for spring, a village market featuring unique foods, and a boutique with things for the home and garden. Hours: homes will be open 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 9 p.m.; boutique and market will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission: $18 in advance, $20 on tour day. Call: 847-724-2210.
June
– The Rockford Woman’s Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a house tour of five homes of architects. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $25 in advance, $30 on tour day. Call: 815-968-5719.
– Galena/Jo Daviess County Historical Society’s Annual June Tour of Galena Homes will be June 8 and 9. The tour includes a church parsonage, a log cabin, a Dutch Colonial Revival home, an 1840s row house, the Avery Guest House B&B and the Daniel A. Barrows House (home of the Galena/Jo Daviess County Historical Society and Museum). Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $10 for adults, free for children under 10. Tickets may be purchased on tour weekend at any of the tour homes; the Historical Society, 211 S. Bench St; the Tourist Information Center (Old Train Depot), 101 Bouthillier St.; and the DeSoto House Hotel, 230 S. Main St. Call: 815-777-9129.
– Tour the recently refurbished Dr. German House, a Victorian home built in 1884 for Morgan Park’s first physician, Dr. William German, during a special showcase sponsored by the Ridge Historical Society June 8 to 16. A bus tour, “A Day in Historic Beverly Hills/Morgan Park,” also is available. Hours: house tour is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 8, 9, 15 and 16; bus tour is 10 a.m. to noon June 8 through 16; hours vary for packages that include lunch and programs. Admission: house tour is $12; bus tour is $17; package prices vary and discounts are available for groups of 20 or more. Call: 312-881-1831.
– The Batavia Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual house walk on June 15. Tour five homes and enjoy informal modeling and tea in the garden of one of Batavia’s oldest homes. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $10 before June 1, $12 after. Call: 708-879-7134.
– Harvard Professional Women and the Harvard Garden Club’s Garden & House Walk on June 26 will feature three homes, three gardens and a tea. Tour begins at 600 Hart St., Harvard. Hours: 1 to 6 p.m. Admission: $10. Call: 815-943-5311.
– The Friends of the Lake Bluff Library will sponsor a walking tour of historic Lake Bluff homes on June 29 (rain date is June 30). Meet at the Lake Bluff Library, 123 Scranton Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. (2 p.m. on the 30th). The tour will last approximately 1 1/2 hours. Admission: $5. Call: 847-234-2540.
– Lakefront SRO, a Chicago-based, not-for-profit organization that combats homelessness, will hold a house and garden tour on June 29. This driving tour will feature 10 country homes and gardens in the southwestern Michigan/Michiana area. There will be two tours offered and participants can choose one or both. Hours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the first tour and 2 to 5 p.m. for the second tour. Admission: $35 for one tour, $65 for both tours. Tours will leave from the Judith Racht Gallery, 1307 Prairie Rd., Harbert, Mich. Boxed lunches will be available. Call: 312-561-0900.
– The Mid-South Planning and Development Commission presents its second annual “Restoring Bronzeville” historic house tour, a tour of century-old mansions and elaborate graystones on Chicago’s mid-South Side, on June 30. The tour features the interiors of eight vintage homes and a visit to the recently renovated Chicago Bee Building, which housed the first African-American newspaper in Chicago, The Chicago Bee. Tour buses depart from Corpus Christi Church, 4920 S. King Drive. Hours: 1 to 6 p.m. Admission: $10 in advance, $15 on tour day. Call: 312-924-1330.
