This is one of those small museums only open part of the year. Summer of 2023 they're only open the…read moresecond and third Saturdays from May-September. There are about 10-11 rooms, and apparently each season they have a theme; this year's is "Vacations We Have Taken," so the rooms are full of souvenirs from various 1890-1920s destinations. This house museum is more modern than most of the others in the area; the kitchen downstairs is set to about 1941 (which is still a lot more primitive than I had expected). Most of the people living in the house were women; there is a lot of lacework (doilies; tatting framed on the wall; fancy edges on the tablecloth and towels) and some really lovely beaded purses laid out in the rooms upstairs (some in-progress beadwork is included in the upstairs sewing room). The bedrooms are completely roped off, so you'll get a better view of the other rooms which have at least some access. The house is renowned for its garden; apparently the West Chicago Garden Club was brought back into existence to bring it to its original glory, which they've certainly done. House is smack in a residential district, and there is parking with room for maybe 3 cars in the back (go up the narrow driveway and follow the sign).

The grounds are really pretty, unfortunately we didn't see the inside. We arrived after 11 on a…read moreSaturday when they stated they would be open, but the doors were locked. We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the view, tried the door again and left. We would have loved to go inside and see all that they had. Hopefully it was just a fluke that they weren't open.

My husband and I went to the Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden with some friends. This is…read morelocated in a forest preserve in Geneva along the Fox River. This entire land used to be owned by George Fabyan and his family. It was given to the town of Geneva and the Cook County Forest Preserve after his death. Tours of the mansion are available only on certain days and certain times. The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is very interesting to see. I recommend going on the guide lead tour to learn more about the history and the family that lived there. There are a lot of artifacts to be seen throughout the mansion. The Japanese garden is definitely worth the visit. The grounds are well maintained with many varieties of flowers and trees to see. There are a couple of different paths you can take and a challenging bridge to traverse. For a fun afternoon out, I highly recommend Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden!

The Villa Museum was closed when we visited early April. However the grounds is still a pleasant…read moresite to walk around.

The historical society / museum is in the old Butler School, with a wooden sign out front you'll…read moresee only after you miss the turn. So when you get close and see "Butler School," turn. It's the brick school building and you enter from the side, from what looks like the handicapped entrance. The people there seemed a bit surprised to see me, but were happy to have the archivist (90 years old, been there 25 years!) give me a tour. The archives are on the ground floor where you come in; the main displays are up two flights of steps on the top floor. There's a room on the start of white settlement in the area, with a small section on the Indians who lived here before - lots of arrowheads. There is a small schoolroom section, with a small display on the old Rabbit Hill School that Butler replaced. Then a section on local worthy Michael Butler, who produced the American version of HAIR, a couple of boards of photos of local buildings and restaurants, and then the tour went into more local worthies. At this point I started getting my local families mixed up. The Butler family was very wealthy from a paper factory and Paul Butler, who founded Oak Brook (which only dates back to 1958) pal'd around with movie stars (there's a photo album; he dated Audrey Hepburn for a while; the album includes casual snaps with folks like Rock Hudson) and there's a file on when King Hussein of Jordan visited. Butler apparently donated all his papers to the museum; there are a couple of big oil portraits, and then a whole room of polo memorabilia (you can pick up a polo ball), with photos of people getting prizes from the Queen of England, and a photo of the current King of England from when he visited. The library includes books on folks with a local connection (including, to my surprise, renowned skirt / serpentine dancer Loie Fuller); there's also a book with photos of every known Oak Brook veteran, including the docent (Korean War). Back in the main part of the schoolroom there's a vitrine on the local police; a sleigh (it was December); a display on how Oak Brook was founded (in pieces in haste as the local Oak Brook Terrace Mall was going in); and a rather charming vitrine showing some of the Christmas cards that Paul Butler sent *every single resident of Oak Brook* every year. I learned a lot, though to be honest I knew nothing about Oak Brook's history (polo??) before I came. The docent was very generous and even walked me briefly through the archives (this never happens). If you want to know about Oak Brook, like snapshots of 1950s movie stars, or just want to know about the local polo connection, stop by.

This was the first time that we visited the Elmhurst Art Museum.  Our daughter was invited to…read morepreview the exhibition "Picasso: Fifty Years Later" before it opened to the public, Hubby and I were her guests.  The exhibition focuses more on the influence of Picasso fifty years after his death.  So, other than some nice prints from Picasso, there was artwork from his colleagues and contemporary artists as well.  Interestingly, some of the work from other artists might appear to be even more "Picassoesque" than Picasso's work in this exhibit.  All in all, it was a good show and professionally done.   We met the Executive Director John McKinnon as soon as we entered the museum, who was very friendly and professional, and enthusiastically gave us a brief introduction of the exhibition.  John was also the co-curator of the show.  Katie, the publicist of the museum, was also very friendly and welcoming.  She talked about how proud the artists must have been to be able to have artwork exhibited alongside Picasso's art, and that the Director John even improved the air system in order to meet the requirements of the lenders of the Picasso collection!  I like that both John and Katie are very passionate, enthusiastic, and professional about what they do!   The museum itself is rather small.  It's very clean with professional setup.  It would have been nice if the rest of the museum was opened to explore when we visited on the preview day.  However, nothing was opened except for the Picasso exhibit, even the small gift shop was closed.  There is a sculpture named Skycube in the museum courtyard that is worth visiting.  It is a great spot to take interesting selfie.  All in all, Elmhurst Art Museum provides a good opportunity for art museum-goers in the suburbs to visit without driving all the way to the city, and you don't need to worry about parking, as it provides ample free parking as well!

We didn't end up going inside because of a rain storm, but we did enjoy the art on the outside of…read morethe building. Located next to the Elmhurst public library. They have a beautiful outdoor setting. The building is welcoming and from the outside looking in, it looks like a great place to explore some local artists creations. Hope to come back one day and see more.

Take a trip back to the 50's in the RM Museum, furnished and seasonally decorated for the time…read more Lots of fun, particularly for those who grew up in a home just like this! Call for a guided tour.

This museum has a lot of prainting and sculptures from past decades. It is designed to give people…read morea brief history of the past. This museum is not too big, so it doesnt really have a lot. However, the items it does have is pretty nice and interesting.

This is a nice little local history museum located in an old church in downtown Lemont…read more The museum itself is downstairs in the bulding, the church itself can be rented for weddings and baptisms. Though I haven t been wed there, I do think it would have been beautiful with it s old charme. They even have a little garden at the backside of the church, where pictures can be taken. I really think of it ideal for a romantical wedding. It s a little hidden gem. :-) The museum downstairs has lots and lots of exhibition pieces and the nice lady from the museum can give you a great informative tour. I think the museum is also great for kids of all ages. It s worth the trip, because it s not expensive at all! They just ask for 1 Dollar admission for kids of the age 12 and older and 2 Dollars for adults. You can get lots of great books there too and even get a little book on the history of most buildings in downtown Lemont, which itself is already a nice little place, where you really feel like 50 years back in time! :-) It s even possible to do some research on your ancestors in the archive of the museum. But you have to get an appointment for that. It s possible to drop by and just ask or even call them for that. I ve been volunteering there and going through local history by checking old newspapers and yearbooks is lots of fun. Hope for lots of people to find this on yelp, because the museum and all the volunteers there are so nice and helpful. :-D

In a historic building just off Dundee Avenue or Route 25 the museum is easy to get to. The first…read morefloor is dedicated to the origins of Elgin and its founders. More interesting to me is the second floor that emphasizes manufacturing in Elgin, some old Elgin High School memorabilia and more. There are Elgin steel kitchens, Elgin Outboards, Elgin Coffee, Elgin bandsaws and the Elgin Watch Company represented there. Some exhibits are permanent some look like they change. I didn't make it to the third floor to look at old photos. For the $3 admission I'm sure I'll be back.

This is easy to find; you turn into the park, and it's right there, under a tent. They are open…read moreonly specific Saturdays; there's a list at http://www.vikingship.us/tours-of-viking/ . For your entry fee, you get a little slideshow about the history of the ship, a functional reproduction that was displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition (after the Norwegians sailed it across the ocean!), then a tour of the ship itself. You walk around it, then get to look into it; the various parts of the ship are labeled, and there are posters on the walls giving more detail on the history the docent provides. Outside the tent there are (sometimes? often?) interpreters dressed in period clothing with a small display of Viking clothes, musical instruments and weapons, and there's a small gift table in the tent, featuring jewelry by the woman who supplies the Vikings TV series; postcards and mini-posters, a coloring book, embroidered polo shirts, and two small histories of the ship, one written by one of the 12 Norwegians who sailed her. It's an interesting visit with a piece of local history, and it's probably your best chance to get this close to a Viking boat, unless you've been to Scandinavia. After the Exposition, the ship spent decades moldering in an open display in Chicago; it's now sitting in what looks like a plastic-tarp covered greenhouse with a bunch of box fans. The Friends of the ship are desperately fundraising to put the ship in a proper humidity-controlled building; when they do, they'll get the fancy dragon-head figurehead and tail back from the Field Museum, where they are safely in storage. I wish them well.