Infant Welfare Society’s Holiday Housewalk and Market returns

Since 1916, the Oak Park and River Forest Infant Welfare Society (IWS) has been supporting children and families with health and wellness services. One of its biggest fundraisers, the Holiday Housewalk and Market, returns to Oak Park and River Forest the first weekend of December.

The market, held at the IWS Children’s Clinic on Madison Street in Oak Park, provides a great opportunity to tackle your holiday shopping list. The housewalk provides inspiration for getting your own home decorated for the holiday.

This year’s housewalk features four homes with distinct architectural styles and incredible holiday décor. 

In River Forest, a house on Thatcher harkens back to an earlier era. Built between 1916 and 1918, the house recently underwent a multi-year restoration. The interiors marry the best of the home’s original features with a newly designed kitchen and butler’s pantry, among other renovations.

The front door sparkles year-round with inset stained-glass flowers. The home’s original frescoes span the entry ceiling, and the home is decked out with two trees and fireplace mantles decorated for Christmas.

The home includes a separate coach house and shuffleboard room. Originally connected to the home via an underground tunnel, the shuffleboard room is now connected to the home via a sunroom addition.

During their renovation the homeowners shored up the shuffleboard room, restoring the stone fireplace and remediating water damage. They salvaged the original blue and brass chandelier, which the homeowner says weighs roughly 300 pounds.  The chandelier hangs above a long table set with Christmas china for the family’s Christmas dinner.

Another River Forest home on the walk was designed in 1915 by architect H. G. Fiddelke. In 1925, architects White & Weber converted the home’s third floor to a Moose Lodge ­— complete with a log cabin interior and moose hung above the fireplace.

The current owner restored the stairway to the third floor and says the interior of the lodge remains almost all original. From the real log walls to the original sconces and fireplace, the room even includes some period furniture. The cozy setting makes a great part of the family’s holiday celebration, and the adults in the group can visit the original speakeasy bar built into a room at the rear of the lodge.

The homeowner shares many traditions with her four children, including an ornament tradition that started when she was a child. Her mother and grandmother gave her an ornament every year throughout her childhood and then gave her the ornaments for her own tree when she left home. She is carrying on the tradition with her four children. 

She decorates with three different sets of stockings for her children, and each year they have to wait until Christmas morning to discover which ones have been filled by Santa.

In Oak Park, an architect and his family have restored and renovated a home designed in 1909 by architect E.E. Anderson. The home blends the Victorian and Prairie Styles with modern updates, and the homeowners have decorated the home to provide a symbolic journey through the Advent season.

Another Oak Park home hails from a different time period, and the homeowner has gone all-in to match her décor to the home. Commissioned in 1965 by mobster Chuckie English, the Mid-Century Modern home has a Rat-Pack Christmas theme, with décor and collections that reference the 1960’s.

Beyond the twinkling lights and the sparkling trees, the Holiday Housewalk and Market have a deeper purpose that’s in keeping with the season. The event raises vital funds for the IWS Children’s Clinic, which provides necessary medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare for thousands of children from underserved families across the Chicago area.

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