Andrew / October 3, 2008 12:28 AM

Question courtesy of Brad. If you've got a question for Fuel, email us at inbox@gapersblock.com.

m / October 3, 2008 8:44 AM

hm not sure if its my favorite, but i love the apartment complex on lake shore with the bricks that remind me of a piano. there are a lot of gorgeous homes in uptown, and a few other great homes on hawthorne, just west of LSD.

Carrie / October 3, 2008 9:17 AM

There is a house on Pierce, almost to Leavitt-- it's stunning. Huge front porch, sits on at least a double lot, the yard is well kept. I love it. I always stare.

There's another one on Damen between Haddon and Thomas. There are always (fake) candles lit up in the windows and the lack of curtains in the front room allows you to see the most beautiful wooden archway.

And finally, the old Edgewater Hotel is beautiful. I looked at a condo in there a couple of years ago and while that particular unit needed a little love, the buidling itself was great.

leah / October 3, 2008 9:51 AM

Yes, Edgewater beach is one of my favorites in the city, too! It's so, so dreamy and romantical.

Also this building at about 230 S. Ashland. Walkup to the first floor, ground level garden unit, mint green and mauve highlights and wood trellis in front. Also romantikul.

Gaigen / October 3, 2008 9:57 AM

There are/were some top floor apartments on a row of short buildings just west of the Old Town Ale house. Big windows... i always imagined a big wall of books and one of those iron spiral staircases that lead up to a landing where i could work/read.

Or the top floor of a building right on the corner of Sheridan Road and Glenlake. Same thing...

annie / October 3, 2008 10:05 AM

@ Carrie, that is one of my favorites too. It's called the Steamboat Mansion b/c it looks like a steamboat. Across the street from that house is another home with a huge side lot with a garden, gazebo and pond. Pretty much the entire stretch of Hoyne from North Avenue to Division is amazing. It's the called the Brewer's Row b/c back when Chicago was making lots of beer, this is where all the brewers lived. I hate that so many homes have been demo'd in Wicker Park but the remaining gems are some of the city's finest. I grew up in Morgan Park and there are also some really kick ass houses on Longwood drive and Seeley. Beverly has great housing stock too. The city has tours through the Department of Cultural Affairs to see these homes, I've been on a bunch and I'm never disappointed. Oh, and let's not leave out Hyde Park. OK, I know we were supposed to say favorite, but that is way too hard.

Soup / October 3, 2008 10:16 AM

I just moved to Hyde Park last month and I've quickly fallen for a few homes on Kenwood, Cornell, and Woodlwan between 55th and 49th. But they are all somewhat lumped together in my head just now.

Otherwise, I have a strong fondness for the Stone Soup Cooperative at Ashland and Wilson. When my best friend David moved in there a year ago, I was scared for him to move into the former convent. The building and bedrooms had been designed for devout nuns and not so much for happy- wacky-social justice seeking- liberals. (read: spartan) But I was quickly won over by the interior's peaceful vibe and the members' use of space. An average Chicagoan might pass their yellow brick building daily and never know whats behind their antiquated walls.

Mucky Fingers / October 3, 2008 10:32 AM

There is too much I love to single out any one building or even any one type of building. There are so many different neighborhoods that possess their own unique architectural flavor.

Steven / October 3, 2008 12:26 PM

Mine. It's not particularly attractive -- built in 1968 by a company named Dunbar -- and some people have said they think it's ugly. But my quite spacious living room has a 10-foot wide sliding glass window that opens onto a 30-foot wide balcony facing south over Hollywood Beach with the Loop in the distance. I haven't seen many apartments -- well, affordable apartments -- with such a large outdoor space that allows you to walk "into" an uninterrupted view of the horizon. Who cares what it looks like from outside. The view from inside is fantastic. But to answer the question as it was intended, I love the new dorm designed by Helmut Jahn for IIT. I'm a sucker for stainless steel and birch trees.

mike / October 3, 2008 1:37 PM

I can't pick a *favorite* house in particular, but I love taking people for the first time to the Alta Vista Terrace, the Villa and through Lakewood Balmoral. And I think it's cool to live by the Gauler Houses designed by Walter Burley Griffin.

It's not an apartment building, but I love the Wacker Tower.

R / October 3, 2008 3:23 PM

Pullman homes, of course! FYI, there's a house tour coming up Oct 11-12.

snuh / October 3, 2008 3:34 PM

As a young lady who still lived in the 'burbs and would take the train into the city for work via the Union Pacific West Line, there was one building right on the tracks that I just loved. Still do; it's just such the epitome of the Chicago 3 flat. And, it's PURPLE. PURPLE BRICK! It's on Hubbard, between Ogden and Halsted.

Gaigen / October 3, 2008 3:44 PM

Oh, and Marina Towers. And that building near Sheridan and Thorndale, just to the south of that tiny park because that's where Bob Newhart lived on his psychiatrist show.

Jasmine / October 3, 2008 4:18 PM

The gorgeous homes I got to peep at during the Pullman House Tour a few years ago.

The Victorians and old graystones on Harper and Blackstone Avenues, 5700 block down to 5900, in Hyde Park.

A pink house on Aldine between Broadway and LSD that I pass everyday on the way to my bus stop.

Certain U of C dorms like Hitchcock-Snell and Burton-Judson, which I coveted during college. My own dorm was a symphony of cinder block.

flange / October 4, 2008 1:19 AM

pilsen has some amazing buildings. i think my favorite is a four-flat with a lamb's head coming through the wall between the third and fourth floors. unfortunately it's right next to an ugly satellite dish... they really ought to put that on the roof.

kate / October 5, 2008 10:38 AM

Also love Beer Baron's row. Walk through there every day... stop & stare every day.

6 story condo building sorta near North & Ashland. They've got a roof deck. The building is meh, but the view is fantastic.

Those creepy studio/1 br buildings in East Lakeview. They're depressing and roach-y on the inside but tend to have a pretty rockin' facade.

Cheryl / October 5, 2008 1:13 PM

I live in Ravenswood Manor,and there are many lovely, rather large (for the style) bungalows in the neighborhood. Particularly on Francisco and Mozart Streets.

Lori / October 5, 2008 9:18 PM

There is a tiny, very old brick house on Central, just south of 90, on a little street called Goodman. It looks pre fire, and sits on a little triangular lot. It's FSBO if anyone is interested. I love it.