A Lake View house tied to Chicago's preservation movement is up for landmark status. The Council has never rejected one this term

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks considers 3152 N. Cambridge Ave., home of architect John Vinci, today. If it moves forward, the City Council has the final say, and our records show it has passed all 31 designations since 2023.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Nov 5, 2026

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks is set to decide today whether to recommend preliminary landmark status for a 133-year-old house at 3152 N. Cambridge Ave. in Lake View, the Sun-Times reported. It's the home of architect John Vinci, 89, who founded his firm there in 1969 and is known for his work restoring and saving Chicago buildings.

Why it matters: landmark status protects a building's designated features from demolition or major change without City review. A preliminary recommendation starts a process that ends with a City Council vote. It would make Vinci one of very few Chicago architects to see their own home landmarked while living in it, the Sun-Times reported.

The house

According to Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bey:

Built in 1893 as a two-flat with a corner tower and arched first-floor windows.
Vinci bought it in 1969 and set up his firm, then called John Vinci-Lawrence Kenny, there with his partner.
The proposal covers the home's exterior and a 1981 brick garage Vinci designed after the original frame garage burned. He also replaced the front porch and steps with a steel design of his own in 2009.
The history: the designation would also recognize Vinci's preservation work. Preservationist Richard Nickel, killed in 1972 while salvaging pieces of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, was a frequent visitor.

The house is in the 44th Ward, represented by Ald. Bennett Lawson, according to our ward map.

What our records add

The Council's record on landmarks. Since the current Council took office in May 2023, our records show 31 ordinances designating individual landmarks or districts. All 31 passed. Only one drew a no vote: the St. Adalbert Parish Complex in Pilsen, 49 to 1 in June 2025 (SO2024-0010378). Most passed within about a month of reaching the Council: the median was 35 days from introduction to final vote. St. Adalbert took the longest, nearly a year.

Other homes. The Council has landmarked several houses this term, including the Roger Brown Home and Studio at 1926 N. Halsted St., 50 to 0 in May (O2026-0024658); the Fred C. Beeson House No. 4 in Austin, 44 to 0 in November 2025 (O2025-0019665); and the Phebe and John Gray House at 4362 W. Grace St., 48 to 0 in March 2024 (O2024-0007798).

How each ward voted

50 yea · May 20, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay

O2026-0024658: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

Most recent. The Council's latest designations, on Sept. 23, were the Bryn Mawr Avenue District in Edgewater (O2026-0027059) and the Shop Building at Altgeld Gardens (O2026-0027058), each 50 to 0.

Going the other way. One landmark is the subject of a repeal proposal: Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) introduced an ordinance in September to remove the designation from the Cortland Street Bridge (O2026-0027856). It is in committee.

How it works from here

Landmark ordinances reach the Council as transmittals from the Commission and go to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards before a full Council vote, our records show. A preliminary recommendation today would come first; the Commission makes its final recommendation later, after further review.

What's next

Today: the Commission's vote on a preliminary recommendation. We'll update this story with the outcome.
After a final recommendation: an ordinance goes to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, which next meets Nov. 17, and then to the full Council.

The 44th Ward page tracks Lawson's legislation and votes.