The Truth Behind Chicago’s Real-Life ‘Up’ House

Have you ever been in Chicago and noticed this little house squeezed in between two skyscrapers? It has a pretty fascinating story to tell.

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My kids went through a stint where they watched Disney-Pixar's "Up" several times every week, and each time we watched it I thought to myself: "There is NO WAY somebody would actually let a house stand like that."

Turns out I was wrong, because Chicago has let one stand since the late 1800s!

Chicago's 'Up' House

This little house, located at 154 West Superior Street in Chicago's River North neighborhood is actually the lone survivor of a series of row houses that is believed to date to around 1888.

As the other houses came down and high rises were built in their place, this tiny brick house continued to fight for its place.

An article from the Chicago Architecture Center says:

154 W. Superior was saved by Gregory Cooper, who bought the home in the 1980s and turned down offers from developers over the decades.

After Gregory Cooper's death in 2015, the little house's future became uncertain.

Then in 2016, things got REALLY interesting.

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A developer had plans to buy the property, tear down the house and build a 12- or 13-story tower in its place. But there was a problem: the lot was just too narrow. The developer eventually abandoned those plans.

Basically, this little house wasn't just protected by stubbornness. It was protected by its tiny little piece of Chicago real estate!

Chicago Architecture Center says:

Panter Associates Architecture purchased the building and converted it to office space for their client, Ceres Partners. Not much of the interior could be saved due to several interior renovations over the years, but the architects took care to salvage what they could for future use in the space.

I absolutely love stuff like this because Chicago is famous for its skyscrapers. The city is literally one of the birthplaces of modern skyscraper architecture. But every once in a while, there's a little piece of the old Chicago that refuses to disappear.

And 154 West Superior Street is a pretty spectacular example.