Eight Uptown Sites Featured In This Year's Open House Chicago

Open House Chicago, where you can go "behind the scenes" at 350+ locations all over the city, just announced its sites for the 2019 event, which takes place the weekend of October 19th & 20th. (It's how a reader got access to the last days of the Agudas Achim synagogue in 2012, documenting its beauty and squalor.)

Uptown is well-represented, as usual. Its sites include:

• 5040-5060 North Marine Drive Condominiums, a 1939 residence featuring Art Deco designs. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-4pm and Sunday, 10/20: noon-4pm
• Buddhist Temple of Chicago, one of the oldest temples in the city with a modern design and altars built by Japanese-Americans interned in camps during WWII. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-5pm and Sunday, 10/20: 1pm-5pm
• Garfield Clarendon Model Railroad Club, a longtime crowd-pleaser with one of the largest operating model railroads in the country. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-4pm and Sunday, 10/20: 10am-4pm
• ICA GreenRise, landmark terra cotta building that has become one of the most eco-friendly places in the city. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-5pm and Sunday, 10/20: 10am-5pm
• Lawrence House. Nearly a century old, it went from posh to faded to dangerously dilapidated to posh again. See its restored lobby, pool, and back patio. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-5pm and Sunday, 10/20: 10am-5pm
• Preston Bradley Center, the site from which Preston Bradley preached his sermons, heard by many millions on radio across the world. See its beautiful 1200-seat sanctuary and its many murals. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-5pm and Sunday, 10/20: 1pm-5pm
• St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, which dates back to 1917. A gilded gold ceiling, Italian carrara marble, and stained glass windows created in Germany. Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-4:15pm and Sunday, 10/20: 11:30am-12:45pm, 2pm-5pm
• St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, with its American Neoclassical design, is restrained when compared to most other Roman Catholic churches in Chicago. Its windows celebrate the cultural diversity of "the Parish that speaks five languages." Open Saturday, 10/19: 10am-5pm and closed to OHC visitors on Sunday.

You can see all the sites in Chicago here. If you love exploring the city and its secrets, this is a weekend not to be missed!