Enjoy museum ambience and private lodging at Solar Lodge. Old Chicago vintage charm aligns with modern amenities. This is not your standard Airbnb! You will enjoy a private apartment for your exclusive use, stocked with a master bedroom, library, kitchen, dining room, den, and bathroom with bathtub and full-sized shower. Located minutes away from the CTA Brown Line and seconds away from the Montrose 78 bus line, you will have direct access to the CTA to take you anywhere you like in the city.
The space
A vintage Chicago building updated with modern amenities retains all the original accoutrements: This is the Solar Lodge, located on Chicago’s north side neighborhood of Albany Park. You’re only a seven minute walk to the CTA brown line to take you anywhere you like in the city. Bus route 78 and ride share are also easily accessible.
Your rental is a full sized two bedroom apartment with kitchen and dining room and living room that doubles as a library with over four thousand books of unique titles and handpicked collections. All interests and mysterious and common studies alike are represented in a selection curated by the hosts’ international and eclectic taste. Strange and arcane studies are represented here: fans of Joe Frank and Art Bell will be delighted. Feel free to lose yourself in a book while reclining in the overstuffed leather furniture, surrounded by house plants on the inside and trees just outside the full sized windows. Old time radio and classic silent cinema aficionados will be especially pleased. Our dream guest is the ghost of Edward Gorey.
Our library is modeled to make you feel like you just walked into an occult bookstore from the 1920’s - classic and modern popular titles are easily found, along with a robust collection of mysteries, science fiction, and of course, ghost stories. There is an entire section dedicated to the strange, occult, and arcane. Rarer showcase items are displayed in all glass illuminated bookcases. All books are sourced from local Chicago bookstores and private collectors from the hosts’ past. Recline in our overstuffed leather furniture with a book and adjust the lighting and climate control and music as you like.
Solar Lodge also features a vast collection of vintage audio (cassette, vinyl, CD), which you are free to spin on the turntable as you relax and turn back time to a slower pace of life. These analogue audio signals will be fed into state of the art Sonos speakers, which stand ready to stream whatever audio you like via Spotify Connect or Apple AirPlay via our guest WiFi network. A real 1930’s radio on the third floor landing, stamped with Chicago call stations from 1947, is stuffed with Sonos audio, positioned immediately aside a suite of armor.
Savor all wood original furniture from Old Chicago stock such as Marshal Fields and Montgomery Ward, while enjoying the queen sized four poster bed, surrounded by all the high tech comforts of modern society harmoniously entwined with antique features. Your host has designed this space to combine all modern amenities with the vintage aesthetic charm of Edwardian and old Chicago curiosities.
All rooms have full service WiFi and complete music streaming services via Sonos speakers, most rooms have hard wired Cat 8 Ethernet wired connections. Wall mounted space heaters complement air conditioning and heat pumps, along with original steam radiators. Individual use space heaters are also found in the hallway closet. A high tech bidet is ready on the heated toilet seat, with plenty of toilet paper on call to back you up. Two flat panel giant TV’s accept every streaming service imaginable with hard wired Ethernet fast broadband connections and screen mirroring for Android and iOS. A guest printer stands ready in the dining room. A work desk of solid wood with overhead lighting and USB ports is ready for you in the master bedroom. There are multiple forms of wired and wireless charging on either side of giant hotel class plush bed. Cell phone charging is available in every room. The host’s private collection of LP’s is ready for your enjoyment, as well as a hand picked selection of BluRays and DVD’s found in the media den with a Blu-ray player. The original lamp fixtures have been refitted with Phillips Hue WiFi intelligent lighting with dimming and 360 million colors. You will be able to control these lights like any standard lamp, but will also find button pads in every room to rotate through a variety of mood lighting scenes.
Your safety is ensured with WiFi programmable touch pad smart locks, tuned to your personal phone number for the duration of your stay. The apartment is on the second floor, behind a series of ornate but impenetrable all wood doors. The public areas are monitored by security cameras for everybody’s safety, but there are no cameras whatsoever in your private space. A series of 100 year old glass doors have been rebuilt by hand by eminent local Chicago glass artist, Ashley Pedone, who also crafted the 100 glass-blown orbs of the chandelier found in the lobby of the John Hancock Tower downtown.
The den features a full sized leather futon that folds out to become a second Queen sized bed. The chesterfield oversized leather couch in the library may be more comfortable than any bed you’ve ever slept on, rivaled only by the brown leather lazy boy set up right next to it.
Your outdoor porch is also a balcony overlooking our rear garden, complete with fire pit, outdoor dining set, and stone fountain and eight foot fencing for quiet privacy. (Weather permitting - if you’ve never been to Chicago before and don’t like the weather when you get here, just wait five minutes; it’ll change!)
Our grand staircase doubles as a private museum of vintage original Chicago art: all posters are original print runs, made by local establishments and local artists and long forgotten Chicagoan designers. Your host sourced the lamp fixtures from 100 year old Russian naval surplus, but rebuilt them with WiFi intelligent LED lighting. Take in the fossil imprints of the plaster board hidden in the wainscoting. Enjoy our antique Indian incense temple bought at a surplus sale at the Field Museum. Take your time walking in - there’s a lot to see!
(Be advised that this unit is on the second floor - two flights of stairs with the conventional standard count of steps must be climbed to reach the apartment. Because this is a vintage building, there is no elevator and the unit is not wheelchair accessible. Please be mindful that steps are involved if anyone in your party has mobility issues.)
The front yard is the pride of the neighborhood: our six foot obelisk fountain is the best kept secret in Chicago!
Albany Park is Chicago’s most diverse neighborhood, but also safer than Wrigleyville according to latest crime statistics. International cuisine of every origin is equally represented within a few blocks. (You name it, we got it: Japanese, Mexican, Cuban, African, Thai, Indian, Colombian, American, Middle Eastern, Korean, big name brand chain, local chain, Chicago hot dog, deep dish pizza, and Italian beef —- and if you don’t want to go out, it’s all available for delivery to your front door.)
Our hosts have curated a number of local businesses to keep you entertained in the neighborhood and are ready to advise on a whim. There are a stack of local businesses represented with a card display in the entryway, but feel free to ask us for a recommendation!
International travelers please take note: we supply a variety of international power plug converters on site for your convenience.
The Solar Lodge is not simply a beige cookie cutter rental unit in someone’s home; this is a premium vintage hotel experience for your exclusive use.
Be mindful that this is a genuinely 100+ year old building with character: The floors and woodwork are original and creak slightly. The stairs are noisy, and some of the wood is worn. This house has old bones but a good heart. Some wearing in and obsolescence is evident. We did not wish to strip away the pedigree with a gut rehab to make it match modern tastes (or lack thereof), so all our renovations were made in the effort to save as many original pieces as possible. While most AirBNB’s in the city seek to offer a beige experience stocked with decor purchased at Target, the Solar Lodge is something completely different and specific, that you cannot find in any common listing: every article in our handpicked collection is genuine and has a personal story to us.
Statement From The Hosts Concerning Ethical Use of AirBNB: “We are aware of certain political sensitivities regarding short term vacation rentals in general and AirBNB specifically. As hosts, we are mindful about the potential impact of “STR”’s in the neighborhood and seek to make every visit count, every guest feel special, and to take every hosting occasion as an opportunity to bring business into the neighborhood as well as showcase the best features of Chicago (In light of recent portrayals of Chicago in the national media) - AirBNB allows us a vehicle to afford and fund our property, pay our taxes, and take good care of our asset while maintaining ethical and responsible business that celebrates the culture in our local neighborhood, instead of replacing it. The space you’re occupying is a private unit inside of our personal home; you will enjoy the same respect as guests that we afford any personal friend or family member who may also use the guest suite. We are thankful and gracious for the great experiences we have had with our clientele thus far, as all our guests have been respectful quiet folk like ourselves… who have been interested in our very diverse and culturally informed neighborhood of Albany Park. As children, we were raised by international professors who travelled the world - when we were in a foreign country for immersive learning, we most often stayed with families in hosting properties for the best immersion possible … now that we are middle aged, we can reverse this experience and host the international families in our own home. We do not operate a cliche and austere AirBNB - we provide an informed and intent hosting experience that educates visitors about the culture, history, and diversity of America’s most international city. We celebrate the opportunities that this affords us, guests and hosts alike.”
Don’t forget to sign our guestbook before you leave, we love to host travelers from all over the world - Welcome to Chicago!
“Solar Lodge: Singular Accommodations for the Distinguished Traveler.”
Guest access
Guests will be able to access their apartment directly at any time of day or night via a series of doors, all protected with WiFi capable smart locks. The first large exterior door opens to the mail room. The second glass mail room door on the right will let you into the staircase museum. Ascend to the second floor and you will find the main door to your private apartment. These doors all use smart locks, along with the rear balcony door. Please firmly close and lock each door as you pass through: it’s house rules that all doors be closed and locked at all times to ensure everyone’s safety. You will be issued lock codes based on your phone number to verify that you don’t forget your code. Your passcode will expire at the end of your stay. Feel free to contact your host with any questions or assistance with entry or parking when you arrive. If any trouble, pressing the Ring door bell button will alert the hosts to assist you.
(Be advised that this unit is on the second floor - two flights of stairs with the conventional standard count of steps must be climbed to reach the apartment. Because this is a vintage building, there is no elevator and the unit is not wheelchair accessible. Please be mindful that stairs are involved if anyone in your party has mobility issues.)
Other things to note
CTA Kedzie Brown Line train stop (Chicago “EL”) located three blocks north. CTA 78 bus line one block south. Free street parking is easiest to find before the late evening hours. Paid street parking also available on nearest cross street (Montrose). The space is located on the second floor walk up and unfortunately, we are not wheel chair accessible.
The Solar Lodge: Singular Accommodations For The Distinguished Traveler
Registration Details
R25000130447
