Albany Park Opened Its Doors This Weekend: Eris Brewery and Carl Schurz High School Starred in Open House Chicago 2026
By Socialhood News · Albany Park ·
Albany Park got its annual moment in the citywide architectural spotlight this past weekend, as two of the neighborhood's most storied structures threw open their doors for Open House Chicago 2026 — and neighbors showed up to explore them.
Open House Chicago, the annual free event hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center, returned this Saturday and Sunday with more than 200 participating locations spread across 30 Chicago neighborhoods. For Albany Park and neighboring Irving Park, this year's lineup featured three destinations that together tell a layered story about the Northwest Side: Eris Brewery and Cider House at 4240 W. Irving Park Road, Carl Schurz High School at 3601 N. Milwaukee Ave., and the Irish American Heritage Center.
The headliner for architecture enthusiasts was almost certainly Eris Brewery and Cider House, which opened its doors on Sunday. The building itself is the draw: it's a former Masonic Temple that the brewery transformed into one of the more dramatically repurposed spaces on the Northwest Side, pairing soaring original ceilings and ornate lodge-era detailing with fermentation tanks and taproom seating. Open House Chicago visits like Sunday's give residents — many of whom have grabbed a pint at Eris without ever fully absorbing the architectural bones underneath the bar lighting — a chance to look up and around with fresh eyes.
On Saturday, Carl Schurz High School took center stage. The school, located at 3601 N. Milwaukee Ave., is 116 years old — a CPS campus whose age alone qualifies it as one of the Chicago Public Schools system's most historically significant buildings. Open House Chicago visits to working public schools are among the event's most meaningful offerings: they make visible the grandeur and the complexity of institutions that neighborhood families interact with every day, often without pausing to consider the history embedded in the brick and stone.
The Irish American Heritage Center rounded out the Albany Park and Irving Park slate, adding a third distinct architectural and cultural register to a weekend that effectively mapped how the Northwest Side has layered identity upon identity across more than a century of Chicago history.
Open House Chicago has been running for over a decade, and its annual return to Albany Park reflects something the neighborhood consistently earns: recognition as a place where the built environment is worth slowing down to understand. Lawrence Avenue's commercial density, the residential bungalow belts, the Brown Line infrastructure threading through it all — these are the textures that make Albany Park a neighborhood and not just an address. The Chicago Architecture Center's decision to include the area year after year signals that the stories embedded in Albany Park's structures are ones the whole city should know.
If you missed this year's Open House weekend, the Chicago Architecture Center maintains a searchable archive of past participant sites and detailed building histories at architecture.org. And if you want to keep the spirit of the weekend alive locally, the North River Commission's calendar at northrivercommission.org is a reliable guide to upcoming community events in Albany Park — there's always something on the horizon worth showing up for.
Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/10/12/heres-what-to-see-in-albany-park-and-irving-park-during-open-house-chicago/