Agency House Gut Rehab

Have you ever fallen in love at first sight? My husband, Jerry, and I did — with an abandoned Brutalist building in Chicago's Irving Park. Built in 1980, the multi-level, commercial, concrete-core structure with floor-to-ceiling sawtooth windows had seen better days.

A former Zumba gym, lumber yard, beauty salon, and, in its final incarnation before we bought it, a church with a shelter in the basement for the unhoused, the building had been vacant for years. It had no electricity, HVAC, water, or plumbing. One of the beautiful sawtooth windows was missing. And there was mildew in the walls. Our realtor couldn't believe we dragged him to this dump. "It'll be a huge project to turn this place into a live/work space. You'll have to rezone. Hire an architect. Do a complete gut rehab. Are you sure you two are up for it?!?" he asked.

Jerry and I exchanged glances. Clearly, this wasn't going to be a rational decision. But the building just felt right, you know? Despite being on the corner of a busy intersection, all that concrete made it calm and quiet inside. The lighting from the sawtooth windows was heavenly (I mean, it was a former church...). Its proportions were spacious and cozy at the same time.

We gave each other knowing smiles. "We'll take it," we said. We named our new space Agency House, making it sound like a posh English manor instead of a down-on-its-luck fixer-upper.

We knew this project was going to be a marathon, not a sprint, so Jerry and I decided to divide and succeed. He would be the project lead for "tangible" aspects of the renovation (demolition, managing contractors, ordering appliances, etc.). I would be the project lead for "abstract" work streams (construction loans, rezoning permits, property taxes, etc.). We'd pick furnishings and finishes together.

We hired an architect, our friend William Reece, to draw up plans to transform the commercial space into live/work. Jerry would have his shop in the former storefront on ground level. We would live on the first floor. And I thought the basement with its 12-foot-tall ceilings would make a great art gallery or performance space, eventually. I worked with the commercial bank that held our new mortgage to secure a construction loan. To save money, Jerry and our friend, Jonathan Mueller, started demolition, removing 15 tons of debris over three months (even I learned how to wield a SAWZALL). We put out RFPs to construction companies, quickly discovering few wanted or knew how to convert a concrete-core commercial space into a home. Eventually, we found MK Construction, who was more than up for the challenge. Next up: working with our Alderman to get our commercial space rezoned and a property tax attorney to see if we could get the exorbitant taxes down. Weeks, months, a year-plus went by. Our real estate agent was right: this was an endurance test, not for the faint of heart. (Did I mention I was also working on IDEO Chicago's studio redesign project and running Camp ChIDEO while doing renovating Agency House? Yeah. I'm a glutton for punishment.)

We finally started construction in November 2019. Progress! Things were looking up.

Then, in March 2020, COVID hit. Office workers like Jerry and I were sent home to work remotely. We feared what this would mean for our in-progress construction. We were so close (-ish)! Luckily, the space was big enough and there was ample ventilation, so the construction crew and all the trades were able to work. And even though we had to pick out appliances and finishes online, not in-person in stores, the supply chain issues that would soon plague the construction industry hadn't yet started.

By August 2020, Jerry, myself, and our two Frenchies were able to move in. Waking up that first morning in our new home, in the cool quiet with the sunlight streaming through the sawtooth windows, we knew we made the right decision. Agency House was now our home.

Since then, we've been making improvements here and there: adding a roof deck and landscaping, drawing up plans for a garage, etc. We continue to experiment with creative ways of using the space like Agency Art, a pop-up gallery in our living room windows (see project page for more info), and renting out our space for photo shoots to FILORO Cashmere, Crossroads Trading, and InSinkErator, among other companies.

It took longer than we expected to domesticate our feral Brutalist bunker, but now that I have a few construction projects under my belt, I find myself binge-watching "Fixer Upper" wondering when — not if — we do it all again.