Chicago Homes: A City Illustrated by Its Everyday Architecture

by Carla Bruni, Phil Thompson (Illustrator)

A comprehensive, first-of-its-kind book about Chicago’s residential architecture and the stories that shaped it. This is an entertaining and precisely illustrated story of Chicago homes from the city’s earliest days through the postwar era, revealing everything about what makes a home a Chicago home. 

A city famous for its architecture—and for arguing with New Yorkers about who built it first and best—now has a definitive guide to the unique housing types and styles that have inspired so much devotion. This book is for curious Chicagoans and visitors alike—anyone who’s ever wondered how to spot a Foursquare or where to find Italianate homes from before the Great Chicago Fire.

Why are Chicago’s lots so narrow? How many Chicagoans built homes from a kit? What exactly is a “greystone”? The authors combine their decades of experience in historic preservation and illustration to create an evergreen resource that Chicagoans and visitors will turn to for answers to these and other questions about the city’s neighborhoods and the homes its citizens live in, visit, and admire. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art, Architecture

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Preservation and Resiliency Specialist

Carla Bruni is the Preservation and Resiliency Specialist at CBA. She handles all preservation- and sustainability- related fieldwork, inquiries, and educational materials, and is responsible for the creation of our National Register historic districts. Carla also facilitates, and occasionally leads, CBA's seminars and educational videos. Carla holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and is also a Lecturer within SAIC’s Department of Historic Preservation.

Reviews

[Ilianna Kalkatzikou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a beautiful mix of history, design, and storytelling. The writing is warm and inviting (you can tell Thompson really loves the city and its architecture). It starts in the 1800s and walks you through how Chicago’s homes evolved right alongside its people, which makes it more than just a design book.

It’s a wonderful gift for anyone who loves architecture or urban history. The drawings and layouts are gorgeous, but it’s also the kind of book you actually want to read, not just flip through once. A perfect coffee table book that keeps pulling you back in!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, Phil's drawings are just so lovely and the writeups in this were uniformly excellent without being dry.

[Elizabeth Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book that gives a wonderful history of the home architecture and influences through the history of Chicago!

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book 😎 - a must have for anyone interested in Chicago architecture. Incredible illustrations!!

[Rick B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My reviews are only on StoryGraph, as I do not want to help Amazon is getting any larger. the only reason I keep this app is because it has my list and tally of past books read.

[Kristin Cors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book. Lots of amazing graphics but also lots of words - def skimmed at parts I wasn’t too interested in but overall really fascinating. Learned a lot about residential architecture in Chicago. Look up!

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't read books on architecture and I have never lived in Chicago and yet this was a very fun and informative read. As others have said, the visuals are gorgeous and the writing is incredibly engaging.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creating my own walking tour from the stories and history from the book! Had no idea some of the architecture “celebs” were in my very neighborhood.

[Megan Sanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

SWEET HOME CHICAGO! Absolutely thrilled when I recognized a house in my neighborhood that was discussed in this book!

[Peter Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful! If you live or have lived in Chicago, it's especially fascinating but Bruni does an incredible job of telling stories and explaining why architectural history of Chicago would be of interest to others, too. The many illustrations also are excellent. Makes a great gift for Chicagoans and those into archiecture.