Roger Brown’s old live-work digs on Halsted are not going anywhere. The Chicago City Council has officially designated the painter’s former home and studio at 1926 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park as a Chicago Landmark, locking in protections for the 1888 storefront building where Brown lived and worked from 1974 to 1995. The move safeguards the structure from demolition and most major exterior changes and also covers the building’s visible rooflines and the faded Chicago Daily News ghost ad on the north wall. Preservation advocates and artists who pushed for the designation are calling it a win for both the city’s cultural fabric and its LGBTQ history.
According to the City Clerk Journal, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks’ recommendation was transmitted to the City Clerk and the proposed ordinance was filed in mid-April, which put the measure on track for committee review and a full council vote. The ordinance traveled through the legislative process as Document O2026-0024658.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks signed off with a final recommendation earlier this spring, and the City Council adopted the landmark designation in May, as reported by Landmarks Illinois. Local preservation groups had pressed City Hall to move quickly once the property hit the market, arguing that landmark status was the only reliable way to keep the building out of the teardown pipeline.
The rush came after a tense stretch over what would happen to Brown’s home and everything in it. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago transferred the Roger Brown Study Collection to the Kohler Foundation and Art Preserve in 2025 and announced plans to sell the house, according to SAIC. The property went under contract in late 2025 to a developer who told the Chicago Sun-Times he was planning a gut renovation but intended to work within any landmark rules, calling it “a really cool project.”
What the designation protects
The new landmark status covers “all exterior elevations including rooflines” that can be seen from public streets and alleys and specifically protects the historic Chicago Daily News painted sign on the north side of the building, according to Urbanize Chicago. With the designation now in place, demolition is off the table, and most major changes to the exterior will need review by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Why preservationists pushed
Brown was a key figure among the Chicago Imagists, and a substantial portion of the work associated with his name was produced inside the Halsted Street studio. When the School of the Art Institute of Chicago announced the transfer of the Roger Brown Study Collection to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in 2025, it described the trove as an important archive tied to the artist’s life and practice. The subsequent listing of the house, including marketing that floated demolition as an option, prompted groups like Preservation Chicago to push hard for a local landmark shield.
Now that City Hall has stepped in, any permit applications for exterior work will face extra scrutiny, and the owner will have to secure approvals from both the Department of Planning and Development and the Landmarks Commission before moving ahead. City officials and preservation advocates say the designation protects a rare, physical piece of Chicago’s art history while still leaving room for an adaptive reuse that respects the building’s quirks and character, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
