In a city so frequently lauded for its architecture, what makes any one building the favorite — or least favorite — of someone who practices the trade? For some of Greater Chicago’s top architects, it comes down to the way the structures mirror their surroundings — for instance, the way Lake Point Tower echoes the bend of the Chicago River, or the plantlike waves of the St. Regis Chicago — or don’t contribute to them, like a windowless parking garage.

Nominations are now being accepted for the Chicago Bungalow Association 19th annual Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards. Homeowners can nominate their Chicago bungalow home improvement projects for a chance to win up to $1,000 in seven categories. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 27.

Built in 1922, Katanya Raby’s South Side home has a classic look: dark brick, white trim and cheeky little attic windows peering out from the roof. But this is not your parents’ Chicago bungalow.

In 2021, Raby enrolled in a study that aims to show that Chicago’s vintage homes can slash their greenhouse gas emissions — and lower their utility bills — by weatherproofing and switching to high-efficiency electric appliances.

Who says bigger is better? One city-sized garden is getting special recognition and paying off for a Jefferson Park couple.

Jessica Grzegorski and Bradon Webb won first place in the 7th Annual Chicago Bungalow Association Garden Contest.

Two Jefferson Park residents recently won the Chicago Bungalow Association’s annual award for the best front garden for bungalows.

Jessica Grzegorski and Bradon Webb moved into their bungalow near Lawrence and Austin avenues in 2019 and spent several seasons replacing their grass lawn with more than 40 types of native perennials and compact shrubs, according to the association.

Jessica Grzegorski and Bradon Webb, who spent two years transforming their front lawn into a native plant oasis, won the Chicago Bungalow Association’s annual garden contest.

In some parts of Chicago, you can walk for blocks and blocks looking at rows of Chicago bungalows, which are as much an icon of Chicago architecture as the more imposing downtown buildings we’ve covered in this series. Walk along the 8300 to 8500 blocks of South May Street in Auburn Gresham and you’ll spot many of the varieties. 

Patricia Mills’ backyard is an oasis of flowers and decorations, with plants so numerous that it’s difficult to keep track. And for her efforts in creating such natural beauty in an urban neighborhood, the Morgan Park resident was recently honored by the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA).

In May, the Trust completed a three-part series on the homeownership gap as part of Advancing Equity, an ideas exchange that brings together various stakeholders to take deeper dives into topics connected to the racial and ethnic wealth gap.

To date, 56 single family homes have been retrofitted as part of ComEd's Whole Home Electrification program, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to convert single family and multi-unit homes to energy-saving, all-electric heating and cooling systems and appliances.

The front porch of John and Kathleen Daly’s brick bungalow was in major disrepair. The first two steps “were in really bad shape,” John said, and the main porch area had a large crack. However, thanks to a year of labor, part of it by John, the porch is now better than ever. John and Kathleen Daly, of Beverly, show their award from Chicago Bungalow Association for the exterior rehab of their porch.

For the first time, people can explore architectural and cultural gems in Hermosa as part of Open House Chicago, an annual festival dedicated to the city’s “architectural discoveries and delights.”

Interested in learning about your Chicago home? Learn about the resources available throughout the city and online with advice from the city’s experts.

The Brunch Bunch airs "It’s Money Monday with L&S Developments!" Today’s guest will be Carla Bruni from the @chicagobungalow and she will be speaking specifically about free services you can get for your home. We will be providing you with resources and hot topics, all day, right on Inspiration AM 1390! 

Chicago’s famed urban historian and an award-winning social justice artist are joining forces to take neighbors on tours exploring the history of Greater Englewood. Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, best known as 6figga_dilla on TikTok, and Folded Map Project founder Tonika Johnson will host the Greater Englewood History Tour this month.

The Brunch Bunch airs "It’s Money Monday with L&S Developments!" Today’s guest will be Carla Bruni from the @chicagobungalow and she will be speaking specifically about free services you can get for your home. We will be providing you with resources and hot topics, all day, right on Inspiration AM 1390! 

New homeowner of an older home? In case you don’t have the innate skills of, say, Norm from This Old House, you may want to look for advice about doing things like getting your electrical system up to date.

Chicago throws a lot at its gardeners: It’s either too dry or too wet. Too hot or too cold. Too sunny or too shady. So a tip of the hat to all the green thumbs who persevere, and a special round of applause to the winners of this year’s Chicago Bungalow Association garden awards, announced Monday. 

This year’s finalists come from every corner of Chicago and their styles run the gamut, from folks who’ve learned how to make the most of their shady lot to new homeowners testing their green thumb for the first time.

In Chicago, many streets are lined with small, brick homes with big windows and wide low-pitched roofs. They’re known as Chicago bungalows. “They are about a third of our single-family housing stock here. There are over 80,000 of them, we think,” says Carla Bruni of the Chicago Bungalow Association.

The longtime Portage Park resident is one of two neighborhood bungalow owners who received awards this month for home improvement work as part of the Driehaus Bungalow Awards.

Chicago gardeners, here's a chance for you to show off your green thumbs. Entries are now open, through June 29, for the annual Bungalow Garden Contest, held by the Chicago Bungalow Association. 

Are all bungalows the same? Let's take a closer look. Although styles vary from place to place, they may not be limited to their original location. But how do these designs differ with cities like Chicago and Detroit only a few hours away from each other?

Since its inception in 2005, The Driehaus Bungalow Awards have been given by the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) with support from the Driehaus Foundation to bungalow homeowners for excellence in seven categories of home renovation, restoration, and improvement. .

In Chicago, there are plenty of reasons for South Side residents to keep Northsiders at arm’s length. This includes the North Side’s nonsensical lack of numbered streets, opposed baseball fandoms, and the outsized power of the city’s wealthier half — an imbalance that has created one of the most striking geographic divides between rich and poor, white and Black, in American urban life.

Nominations for The Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA)17th annual Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards are open to CBA-certified brick bungalows for projects completed in the last five years in Exterior Rehabilitation, Interior Rehabilitation, Interior Restoration, Small Project, Green Project, Landscape Design, and Window Restoration.

The Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) is accepting nominations for the 17th annual Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards for home and landscape improvements in seven categories. Deadline is Oct. 26.

The days of “set it and forget it” homeowners insurance are fading fast. Climate-change-driven weather, deteriorating water infrastructure, and the burst of home improvements driven by the remote-work trend all complicate the calculations for obtaining sufficient insurance for one’s house and its contents.

The Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) will host “Winter is Coming: Weatherize Your Vintage Abode” a virtual seminar, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Welcome to our new series of self-guided Chicago Greeter tours, presented by Bank of America. Each walking tour is created by a knowledgeable local to showcase their favorite hidden gems and fascinating history behind Chicago’s unique neighborhoods.

The Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) will host a webinar, “Great Gardens From Harvest to Holiday,” on Wednesday, Sept. 22, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Barbara Gyarmathy, of Beverly, was runner-up the rear/side garden category in the fifth annual Bungalow Garden Contest held by the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA).

The Chicago Bungalow Association has announced the winners of its fifth annual garden contest, with winners spread across the city’s extensive bungalow belt.

The Chicago Bungalow Association’s annual garden contest, now in its fifth year, has blossomed into a highly anticipated event. This year’s contest is sure to be more competitive than ever, with expanded eligibility and the doubling of winners’ cash prizes.

Chicago is losing its historic homes at an alarming rate. The city places few restrictions on developers with bulldozers and deep pockets.

The Chicago Bungalow Association will host a webinar, “Big Plans for Small Urban Gardens,” on Thursday, April 8, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Twelve Illinois sites were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, including Gage Park’s Historic Bungalow District on the city’s Southwest Side.

People’s houses have been pulling double and triple duty this past year. In the face of these added demands, plenty of folks found their abodes lacking. To reward the efforts of inventive DIY-ers, the Chicago Bungalow Association added a “COVID Creativity” category to its Driehaus Awards, which are handed out annually.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of properties that merit special attention and preservation and features at least one property or historic district from each county in Illinois. 

The Chicago Bungalow Association has an “Energy Savers” program that helps pay the costs of insulation and other energy-saving measures that cut monthly energy bills. Each year, the group helps the owners of about 700 homes.

If you own a classic Chicago bungalow, there are a lot of resources for taking care of it in an aesthetically appropriate manner — from the exterior bricks and steps to the floors, walls, and trim. Every year, the Driehaus bungalow awards are a nice introduction to people who are doing it right.

The Chicago Bungalow Association will host two upcoming webinars.

The Unique Heating and Cooling Requirements of Chicago Bungalows will be held on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

After canceling a Memorial Day parade and run, a bicycle race and a tour of homes, Beverly Area Planning Association officials decided its only communitywide event for 2020 would be an in-person affair, albeit with plenty of room for social distancing. It turned out to be a perfect time for a garden walk.

Making the best out of a bad situation is a way of life in the days of COVID-19, and the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA) is doing just that. After the annual Ridge Run and Memorial Day Parade were postponed from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend, the 40-plus-year tradition was officially canceled recently. The same goes for the annual BAPA Home Tour.

The Beverly Area Planning Association will host the Beverly/Morgan Park Garden Walk from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 13, featuring private gardens and don’t miss points of interest throughout the neighborhood. Tickets are $20 in advance at bapa.org or $25 on the day of the event.

Everything has lined up perfectly for the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA) to host its first garden walk. After several other events had to be canceled because of COVID-19, the inaugural BAPA Beverly/Morgan Park Garden Walk, set for Sunday, Sept. 13, will allow BAPA to showcase the community, bring residents together and support the local economy.

A resident of Morgan Park living in the home where her mother raised her, Maul and her husband, Al Schmitt, were named winners in the fourth annual Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) Bungalow Garden Contest on July 27, taking top honors in the front garden category.

In this virtual conversation, Tonika Lewis Johnson will discuss how she uses her creativity to explore urban segregation in Chicago with her Folded Map™ Project and how it can serve as a resource for understanding, an empathy generator, and a conduit for action. Learn more about the #FoldedMapProject at www.foldedmapproject.com

The handiwork of Chicago’s gardeners has never been more appreciated than during this very weird year, when walks through the city’s neighborhoods have been many folks’ only source of entertainment or change of scenery. The Chicago Bungalow Association is holding its fourth annual garden contest, and you get to be the judge.

From Energy News Network: The Illinois Solar for All program was slow to start in part because of its complexity and consumer safeguards. Having always been “the go-green types,” Debra Earl and her husband last summer decided they wanted to get solar panels on the bungalow where they’ve lived for 22 years on Chicago’s South Side.

“Richard is possibly the only philanthropist who understands the power of ‘home,’ and he believes in the importance of our work, which helps low- and moderate-income homeowners stay in their homes, care for their families, and protect what is often their only financial asset,” says Mary Ellen Guest, executive director of the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA).

Signs of spring are peeking out in Chicago. There’s more daylight—thankfully. Daffodils are blooming in front yards. Magnolia trees are showing their pink and white flowers. Forsythia plants are glowing bright yellow. It might have you itching to go freshen up your own outdoor space. Whether you’re in a bungalow with a backyard or courtyard apartment that has a little deck, there’s a way to get beautiful greenery.

Here's a simple way to celebrate Earth Day while we're all at home.

The Chicago Bungalow Association is hosting their second annual Bungalow Blackout, and giving Chicagoans a chance to win $250 for helping the environment.

In Chicago, the affordable single-family starter home is increasingly rare.

Though the local housing market has been flat for months, options anywhere remotely near the city’s central core remain out of reach for most first-time buyers.

In West Rogers Park, this “bungalow mansion” features an oversized version of the classic Chicago home style. The neighborhood is part of the city’s historic Bungalow Belt where thousands of bungalows were built in the 1910s and 1920s. 

Curious about homebuying in Chicago? A great place to get familiar with what to expect in the city is to follow the experts on social media. While there are lots of brokers on Instagram and Twitter, we’ve hand picked a few who offer more than just feed of their recent listings.

A Portage Park bungalow that came on the market today was built by a female homebuilder, a rarity in Chicago in 1916 (and even now, for that matter). The four-bedroom bungalow on Laramie Avenue “is very striking when you walk in,” said Alex Lucas, who bought the house in 2017 from a family who’d owned the home for more than half a century.

Nominations are sought for the 15th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow awards. Created by the Chicago Bungalow Association with the support of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the awards honor the creativity and efforts of bungalow owners for home improvement and restoration projects both large and small.

Weiner’s Wrigley Field-themed garden, complete with an ivy-covered brick wall, won this year’s best rear or side garden category in the third annual Bungalow Garden Contest organized by the Chicago Bungalow Association.

For the third year in a row, the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) has sought out the best gardens and awarded top prizes to homeowners with particularly green thumbs. There aren’t any landscape architects cultivating these flowery window boxes and verdant yards—that’s what makes the already perfect gardens so charming.

Between 1960 and 1970, the racial makeup of South Shore, the lakefront neighborhood between 67th and 79th streets, went from 90 percent white and 10 percent black to 28 percent white and 58 percent black.

They’re the bungalows, flats, and towers that define the look of this city. Here’s the lowdown on where to find the very best examples.

Carlo Rotella returned to his old neighborhood the other day, another silent Saturday morning in South Shore, the kind of day when the clang of a passing train is the only clamor. The occasion for the visit was his latest book, a portrait of South Shore, “The World is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood.”

The annual Beverly Area Planning Association home tour returns to the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods May 19 with the addition of an expo to connect visitors to contractors knowledgeable in design, home restoration, and eco-friendly services.

Owners of Chicago bungalows and other classic homes in the city are asked to turn off all non-essential lights for one hour - 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. - on Earth Day, April 22. The Chicago Bungalow Association's "Bungalow Blackout" is inspired by Earth Hour, a global event centered on a mass electricity turn off during the same hour once a year.

The Chicago Bungalow Association is offering residents a chance to win $100 for helping the environment on Earth Day.

There’s a reason why the Chicago bungalow is such a popular choice with today’s families. The quaint brick homes, noted for their large front windows and walk-up entrances, have held up as affordable options for buyers who care about character as much as living space. Built en masse between the the World Wars, Chicago bungalows were, and very much remain, a symbol of the city’s burgeoning working class.

“The ubiquitous Chicago bungalow is snug, sensible, ugly and reassuring,” Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp wrote in 1980. “It suggests that treasured old middle-class value systems still survive.”

Troy Bryant knew things had to change when he saw the facade of his South Shore bungalow on a “We Buy Ugly Houses” commercial in April 2018. He watched the spot in the wee hours of the morning with his wife, DeLisa.

We often hear about the white-picket-fence suburban home as the epitome of the mid-to-late twentieth century American Dream, but there was an earlier exemplar of middle-class American – specifically Chicagoan – striving: the bungalow.

Sixteen recent bungalow addition projects in the city of Chicago were recognized this week as the 2018 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Award winners. The winners were selected as part of the annual Chicago Bungalow Association contest that honors the creativity and efforts of homeowners for the work they’ve done in interior and exterior renovations, restoration and landscape design.

Many of Chicago's bungalows pre-date World War Two and targeted the exploding American middle class. The bungalow homes are described as humble and iconic, but recently there has been a clash between keeping their design's heritage and keeping up with the expanding housing demands.

Some owners of older homes in Oak Forest could be in line for thousands of dollars in energy-saving upgrades under a program being rolled out by ComEd and the Chicago Bungalow Association.

We’ve all seen them: Classic Chicago bungalows with “pop out” roof additions that don’t come close to matching the architectural design and distinction of these classic homes, and frequently are lower quality than the original house.

The Chicago Bungalow Association has unveiled their Bungalow Expansion Project, a response to second-story “pop-top” additions on bungalows. Six addition ideas are outlined as ways for bungalow owners in the city to keep their home's historical value while also adding space and convenience.

Two years after declaring a hashtag war against ugly second-floor additions to classic Chicago bungalows, an advocacy group is unveiling a package of design ideas for what it considers better-looking alternatives.

"We're showing that you can maximize the space without dropping a big square box on top of that detailed (single-story) bungalow and ruining the look" of the traditional facade, said Manuel Hernandez.

The little Chicago bungalow might be modest, but nearly 80,000 of these vintage homes exist in the city. Members of the Chicago Bungalow Association offered up some of their best renovations for the 13th Annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards.

It’s time to celebrate Chicago’s historic bungalows and their owners’ dedication to renovating and restoring them with the 13th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards.

Whether tackling small restoration projects or wholesale renovations, Chicago's bungalow owners share a common passion for preserving the city's historic homes. Every year, the Chicago Bungalow Association honors the best of those efforts with the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards, which are handed out in a number of categories.

Bungalow owners in Beverly and throughout the city of Chicago can now enter their home for a chance to win $1,000 as part of the 13th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards created by the Chicago Bungalow Association.

Architectural purists call them "pop tops." Developers call them "deluxe full second-story additions." A reminder of the recession and housing rehabbing frenzy, many vintage streetscapes of Chicago and pre-war suburbs have a house or two that has been remodeled with a complete tear-off of the second floor. Many have a "structurally overwhelming" design, say members of the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association.

Pamela Dallas, of Morgan Park, was named one of the winners of the inaugural Chicago Bungalow Association Garden Contest, taking first place in the rear/side garden category.

Residents of Beverly and Morgan Park are among the winners of the Chicago Bungalow Association's first Bungalow Garden Contest.

A Beverly couple and Morgan Park woman were among the winners of the Chicago Bungalow Association's first ever garden contest. Voting for the contest, dubbed "Bungalow Garden Contest: You Be the Judge!," took place from July 25-28 and garnered nearly 5,000 votes.

The Chicago Bungalow Association is recruiting a few hundred thousand judges for its inaugural garden contest. The association has opened up online voting to the general public through noon Friday. Armchair critics will decide the winners in three categories: front gardens, side/rear gardens and window/planter boxes.

The Chicago Bungalow Association will hold a contest to find the best bungalow gardens in the city. Voting for the contest will begin at noon on Tuesday, July 25 and continue through Wednesday, July 26 according to Angela Pauldine, director of communications for the Chicago Bungalow Association.

One of the features that makes Chicago more unique than any other major American metropolis is its historic homes. In the mid 20th century, bungalows were dominant on the South Side (the Bungalow Belt) and neighborhoods like Beverly remain full of them. So Beverly-Mt. Greenwood Patch has taken on the timeless task of collecting a list of the best bungalows in the neighborhood.

Two recently renovated West Ridge homes were recognized for their architectural excellence by the Chicago Bungalow Association. In the categories of Exterior Renovations and Sensible Additions, the two bungalows took the winning spots in the 12th Annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards.

Maureen Gainer Reilly believes she won an award for the renovation of her Beverly bungalow not for how much she spent but for how little. Gainer Reilly spent just $2,500 to renovate the kitchen of her home near 99th Street and Damen Avenue. Still, she was honored last week by the Chicago Bungalow Association.

Highlighting the very best in bungalow rehabilitation and restoration projects from the past year, while encouraging others to strive for greatness in their own projects, the Chicago Bungalow Association (CBA) presented the 12th annual Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Bungalow Awards.

The Northwest Side is known for its vast rows of handsome single-family homes, and thanks to some crafty residents, many of them are boasting facelifts. The Chicago Bungalow Association announced the winners Thursday of its annual Driehaus Awards, which showcase some of the best rehab work done on cottages and low-lying homes last year.

Whether they tackled wholesale makeovers or smaller projects, neighbors in Albany Park demonstrated a knack for adapting and maintaining their vintage homes. The Chicago Bungalow Association recently handed out its annual Driehaus Awards, which highlight the best in bungalow rehabilitation and restoration.