Open House Chicago Is This Weekend — And Rogers Park's Architectural Treasures Are On the List
By Socialhood News · Rogers Park ·
Rogers Park neighbors, this weekend is one of the best times of year to explore the buildings that define your neighborhood — and this year, you have a fresh set of reasons to do it. Open House Chicago, the annual citywide architecture event, is taking place this Saturday and Sunday, and Rogers Park and West Ridge together have five participating sites where residents can walk through spaces that are rarely open to the public.
The event is organized by the Chicago Architecture Center, and this year it features more than 100 sites across the city — with 19 new locations added to the roster for 2026. For Rogers Park specifically, the headliner is St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church at 1709 W. Lunt Ave., one of the neighborhood's oldest and most visually striking houses of worship. St. Jerome was established in 1894 as the second Catholic parish in Rogers Park, and its exterior showcases North Italian Renaissance design, while the interior is layered with Baroque and Art Deco detailing — an architectural combination that tells the story of the church's long evolution alongside the neighborhood itself.
Also on the Rogers Park and West Ridge list this year is Park Castle Condominiums at 2442 W. Greenleaf Ave., alongside three additional sites across the two Far North Side neighborhoods. Open House Chicago's format is simple and accessible: participating buildings open their doors to the public at no charge during the weekend's event hours, making this one of the most low-barrier ways to experience Chicago's built environment as a resident rather than just a passerby.
For a neighborhood as architecturally layered as Rogers Park — where late-19th-century churches, early-20th-century apartment buildings, and new institutional construction all coexist along the same corridors — Open House Chicago is a rare opportunity to understand the full span of what the neighborhood has built over more than a century. St. Jerome alone represents that arc: a parish founded during Rogers Park's earliest years of development, now standing as a neighborhood landmark that most residents have admired from the outside without ever stepping in.
If you're planning to visit, the Chicago Architecture Center's Open House Chicago website at openhousechicago.org has the full site list, hours, and any access details for each location. St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church at 1709 W. Lunt Ave. is walkable from the Morse Red Line stop and sits in the heart of one of Rogers Park's most residential stretches. Make a morning of it — the Glenwood Sunday Market on the west side of Glenwood Avenue between Lunt and Morse is also running this Sunday, October 18, through its final dates of the season, giving you a full Far North Side afternoon between architecture and farmers market finds.
Open House Chicago is a reminder that Rogers Park's story is written in its buildings as much as in its events and businesses. This weekend, five of those buildings are inviting you in.
Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/10/12/heres-what-to-see-in-rogers-park-and-west-ridge-during-open-house-chicago/