Open House Contemporary
A NEW STORY OF TIME AND PLACE
Art is all around us.
Open House Contemporary was founded as a radical alternative to the conventional lodging experience. From the urban energy of Chicago to the iconic Midwestern American Football House and the scenic creative getaways of Saugatuck, Michigan, Open House Contemporary hosts guests in welcoming artistic spaces that are designed to relax and escape, adventure and dream.
Open House Contemporary
740 North Ogden, Chicago
Open House Contemporary (OHC) offers a unique vision for the role of art in the life of the viewer, whether at home, in the city, or out in the community. By bringing together a diverse collection of contemporary artworks in short-term rental/residential settings, OHC presents art front and center in the built spaces of our lives, reminding us that art is just as compelling in a living room as it is in a gallery. OHC has evolved to provide a platform, with art at its core, for connection among Chicago communities and visitors in creative and compelling ways.
OHC Blueprint
2181 Blue Star Hwy, Fennville, MI
Ten years after the founding of Open House Contemporary in Chicago, OHC Blueprint opened its doors in Fennville, Michigan. Built on the idea that art, travel, design and music are some of the best things in life, OHC Blueprint takes the best parts of OHC’s flagship project in Chicago and expands that concept to the beautiful shores of Southwest Michigan. Ten minutes south of the popular resort town of Saugatuck, OHC Blueprint has a larger footprint in a rural location, just a stone’s throw from the best beaches Michigan has to offer.
american football house
704 West High Street, Urbana, IL
704 W. High St. is a single-family home nestled on a tree-lined brick street in the historic West Urbana neighborhood of Urbana, Illinois. The white clapboard house, built in 1893, has housed local families and students for over a century from its location just off-campus from the University of Illinois.
In 1999, local artist and 704 W. High St. resident Chris Strong famously photographed the front facade of the house for the front cover of Urbana band American Football’s debut album, and again for the band’s second album in 2016.
In 2023, the property was purchased by the members of American Football, Strong, and locally based Polyvinyl Records in partnership with Open House Contemporary and photographer Atiba Jefferson. The group renovated portions of the house and reopened it as a multipurpose creative space in August 2024.
