One of the best ways to get to know a city is to find all the cool coffee shops. These spots are often where local artists and tastemakers hang out, after all—especially freelancers who don’t have standard nine-to-five desk jobs. As a cold-weather destination, Chicago has always been home to an array of cozy bars, cafes and lounges. But in recent years, Chicago has welcomed a new crop of indie-owned cafes to the coffee scene that infuse their owners’ backgrounds and personal history into the food and drinks.
Whether you’re hunting for a coffee spot to plop down with a book and a solid latte, looking for a place to get some remote work done (wifi required) and stay caffeinated, or perhaps just seeking somewhere to meet up with friends, Chicago is home to several coffee shops that not only offer unique interiors and fun design, but are entirely homegrown. You’re likely to see the owner slinging shots at the espresso machine or moving their wrists with poise to craft Instagrammable latte art with the milk pour. These Chicago-based coffee shops are also neighborhood-driven, tucked into areas outside of The Loop, and truly cater to locals. And remember, it doesn’t have to be a blustery Windy City winter day to hunker down in a coffee shop—iced-drink renditions hit the spot for a chilled buzz.
Below, we’ve curated a list of nine indie, local coffee shops in Chicago that are worth a visit. Each one is a unique concept with Windy City roots, and two of these cafes even sell books on-site, just in case you crave a new read and want to dive into its pages right away.
Hoping to skip the snow this spring break? From an island off the coast of California to the sandy beaches of Hawaii, a sunny spring vacation out west is the perfect way to say goodbye to dreary winter weather. Though there are plenty of family-friendly options, spring break isn’t just for kids or college students. Whether you’re craving a romantic escape for two or plan on taking the whole crew, these are the best destinations for a sunny spring break out west.
Andaz
Between its temperate warm days and cool nights, Scottsdale is a dependable spring break destination that boasts a beautiful desert landscape, high-end hotels and renowned hiking trails. Looking to beat the heat with some time indoors? Embark on a wine-tasting journey on the Scottsdale Wine Trail, where you’ll try local vinos and learn more about Arizona winemaking. Architect enthusiasts should also take the time to tour Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home. When it comes to food, enjoy innovative New American cuisine at FnB or fill up on hand-made pasta at Fat Ox.
Where to Stay:
From lounging by the pool to hitting the spa, The Phoenician Scottsdale offers a relaxing desert oasis experience. There are 645 accommodations in total, ranging from cozy guest rooms to modern casitas. The bungalow-style rooms at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort are perfect for couples seeking more privacy and space. The on-site restaurant, Weft & Warp, also serves up some of the best Mediterranean-inspired bites in the area.
Zane Grey
Catalina Island transports travelers worlds away despite being a mere hour-long ferry ride from Long Beach. From lounging with a cocktail in hand at Descanso Beach Club to taking in the vibrant sea life from a glass bottom boat tour, there are a plethora of outdoor activities to enjoy on Catalina. Other can’t-miss excursions include the popular Bison Expedition, the award-winning zip-line eco tour and a VIP visit to the Catalina Island Casino. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, sit down for fresh seafood and harbor views at Bluewater Grill.
Where to Stay:
Though it originally opened in 1920, Hotel Atwater has since undergone a full renovation that has resulted in a bright, airy and inviting property that is adorned with tropical decor and antique accents. For killer views and timeless luxury, book one of the panoramic harbor-view rooms at the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel.
Four Seasons Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.
Hawaii is a quintessential spring vacation destination for beach lovers of all kinds. Though each island has its own charm, Oahu is home to the state’s capital of Honolulu, offering more diversity in regard to restaurants, shopping, hotels and nightlife. Waikiki is one of the most happening neighborhoods and is a haven for surfers, shoppers and first-time visitors to Hawaii. It is a premier spot for families, but couples and even solo travelers will feel right at home. From swimming at Kuhio Beach to hiking Diamond Head Crater, there are plenty of outdoor activities that connect tourists to the true beauty and history of Hawaii.
Where to Stay:
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach boasts some of the most breathtaking hotel views on the island. The open-air lobby sits at the center of three renowned restaurants, two pools and a rejuvenating spa. Though the hotel isn’t on the oceanfront, the beach is only a short stroll away, and you’ll get to pass through a beautiful park on your walk. If you’d prefer to stay near Honolulu but away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, consider the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.
Hotel del Coronado
Located on the coast of San Diego, Coronado Island is a unique and iconic destination that has been visited by the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable and even Thomas Edison. The beaches on Coronado are considered to be some of the best in Southern California, but it is also a beloved place for golfers and bikers hoping to tackle the coastal trails. Whether you’re planning to take surf lessons or simply get a tan in the sand, this is the ultimate destination for travelers hoping to beach all day, every day. When it comes to restaurants, Il Fornaio serves up premier Italian cuisine, along with stunning ocean views at sunset.
Where to Stay:
Deemed one of the most legendary hotels in the Golden State, Hotel del Coronado is known for its eye-catching Victorian architecture and massive size. Along with 757 recently renovated guest rooms, the property also features 28 suites, 70 junior suites and 79 spacious cottages and villas. There are different sections for guests within the hotel, such as the Beach Village and The Victorian, ensuring that every type of traveler has the best accommodations for their trip of choice.
The Parker The Parker Palm Springs.
Palm Springs is the perfect place for adults seeking a grown-up spring break filled with pool-side cocktails around the clock. No matter what hotel you book, a pool is non-negotiable, because how else will you beat the desert heat? If you’re looking to add some outdoorsy time to your travels, take a short drive over to Joshua Tree National Park. From rock climbing and hiking to simply driving through and taking in the sights, it’s well worth crossing off your bucket list. In the evening, head to Bar Cecil for cocktails. Though there are plenty of libations to choose from, the Fifty Dollar Martini is a splurge-worthy experience that is made with Jean-Charles Boisset Vodka and served alongside a caviar-topped deviled egg and sunchoke chips.
Where to Stay:
The Parker Palm Springs is a classic property that frequent desert travelers love to visit. The colorful decor creates a vibrant and upbeat ambiance, while the grounds are abundant with greenery, fruit trees and herb gardens. Ace Hotel & Swim Club is a more modern and youthful property that is perfect for spring breakers open to letting loose and living it up while still enjoying high-end accommodations and amenities.
One of the last homes designed by one of America’s most iconic architects sold for $6 million, falling $2 million short of its first asking price.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Tirranna,” the 7,000-square-foot home at 432 Frogtown Road in New Canaan, Connecticut, was the largest residential home he ever built, CT Insider reported.
Coldwell Banker Realty agents Marsha Charles and Albert Safdie first listed the home for $8 million in May, before dropping the asking price to $7 million in October. Chau Ngo Prutting of Douglas Elliman brought the buyer.
Tirranna is one of the more than 1,000 structures Lloyd Wright designed in his 70-year career. An icon of 20th century American architecture and pioneer of the Prairie School style of design, his most famous works include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, and the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles. His first home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois is now a museum.
Built in 1955, the New Canaan house spans seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, one half-bathroom, and includes a tennis court, wine cellar, pool, barn and playhouse on its 14 acres, the outlet reported. Landscape architect Frank Okamura designed the grounds.
Tirranna sold for a premium by New Canaan standards, where the median home price is $1.6 million, Realtor.com shows.
Lloyd Wright houses regularly trade in the millions. Last year, descendents of artist Della Walker sold the family’s longtime Lloyd Wright home in Carmel-by-the-Sea for $22 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Mrs. Clinton Walker House, as it is known, is a 1,400-square-foot beachfront house overlooking Carmel Bay. A firm headed by Monaco-based Patrice Pastor bought the house, according to the Journal.
In 2022, the legendary architect’s Socrates Zaferiou House in New York’s Hudson Valley sold for $1.5 million. That same year, Richard E. Weintraub, head of the Malibu-based Weintraub Real Estate Group, bought Lloyd Wright’s Freeman House in the Hollywood Hills for $1.8 million, with the stipulation it be preserved.
The home takes in views of the slopes at Breckenridge Ski Resort.
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
Forbes Global Properties
This architectural home in Breckenridge, Colorado, is a standout with distinctive steel truss construction and metalwork accents. A pivoting front door and custom cold-poured steel walls set the dwelling’s design further apart in the resort town.
Outshining the mountain contemporary itself, however, is the location. “Second to none,” says listing agent David Levinson of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate. “Next to a national forest easement with a trailhead across the street.”
Decks off the back of the mountain contemporary expand the living space outdoors.
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
The home’s site provides access to hundreds of miles of hiking trails on which to explore pristine forests. Downtown Breckenridge is a three-block walk away.
Views from the three-level house at 201 South Pine Street take in the surrounding mountains, ski slopes and old Victorian section. The colorful late 1800s buildings preserved in the Breckenridge Historic District are filled with quaint shops, places to eat and galleries.
Steel trusses and ceiling beams carry throughout the great room.
Silfer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
The pine-sheltered dwelling now for sale is the work of Allen-Guerra Architecture.
“The steel trusses provide an aesthetic that carries throughout the house,” Levinson says. They are topped by vaulted ceilings that define the open-plan living area. Another truss is in the main floor primary bedroom.
A metalwork accent wall surrounds the fireplace.
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
A collapsible glass wall folds away to connect the great room to a deck with southwest exposure. A custom metal wall surrounds the sleek fireplace across from the center island kitchen.
One floor down, a glass-enclosed wine wall and wet bar outfit the family room, which features a wall of the same metalwork. The below-grade level also has three ensuite bedrooms.
A center island with bar seating sections off the kitchen.
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
There are a total of five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two powder rooms within the 4,011 square feet of interiors.
This includes the top floor, which Levinson describes as “a lock-off ADU” (accessory dwelling unit), that can be used as the fifth bedroom or an office. Accessed by an exterior steel staircase, the studio-like space has its own kitchen, washer/dryer and deck. “The best views in the whole house are from the deck,” he says.
A custom metal wall creates a backdrop for wine storage and a wet bar downstairs
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate
Levinson describes the high-end neighborhood as “a legacy subdivision, one of the few that face westerly—extremely quiet with a high-end aesthetic.”
Most buyers in the area hail from Colorado, Texas or Florida, he says, with the bulk of the market action in the $2 million-to-$3 million range. “There’s not much available at this price point and quality,” Levinson says of the US $5.1 million listing. “It’s either a primary residence or a phenomenal secondary home.”
Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties, a consumer marketplace and membership network of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes.
SPRING GREEN, Wis., September 8, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Taliesin Preservation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation are virtually unveiling a new plaque at the architect’s 800-acre estate in the rural Driftless Hills near Spring Green, WI, celebrating the site’s inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The virtual public streaming watch party will feature special guests, including Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) recognizes landmarks or sites for cultural, historical, or scientific relevance.
The public is invited to be a part of this free virtual event at noon CST on Taliesin Preservation’s Facebook, YouTube, and at taliesinpreservation.org. We’re pleased to bring this historic moment to the world in a virtual format and share it with all of Wright’s fans.
The inscription for Wright’s works was announced on July 7, 2019, during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee. Wright’s buildings are the first U.S. Modern Architecture to be included on the United Nations’ list of the world’s most significant cultural and natural sites, representing American design for the first time on a global stage. Taliesin was chosen to be a part of this honor as a great example of an organic connection to the surrounding landscape of the driftless region. The inscription is an honorary distinction that provides additional protection of the properties.
“This is an incredible moment for Taliesin Preservation, our sister organization The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and our incredible community of friends, partners and donors. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we are now officially recognized worldwide for bringing outstanding cultural and natural heritage to humanity—and we pledge to continue this as a laboratory for living in the 21st century.” – Carrie Rodamaker, Executive Director, Taliesin Preservation
“This designation is a great source of national pride, and while eight buildings are included in the inscription, it recognizes the importance of Wright’s work, embodied in every one of his buildings and designs. These sites are not simply World Heritage monuments because they are beautiful. It’s so much more than that. These are places of profound influence, inspiration and connection.” – Stuart Graff, President & CEO, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Taliesin Preservation produces innovative cultural and educational programming at Taliesin. Taliesin has served as a living laboratory for over one hundred years, exploring and advancing organic principles in everyday life, where home, community, farm, the arts, education and the environment are deeply connected and work as an integrated whole.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, based in Chicago, IL, spearheaded the serial nomination of eight major works by Frank Lloyd Wright. The serial inscription also includes Unity Temple, the Frederick C. Robie House, Hollyhock House, Fallingwater, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, Taliesin West and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and brings greater awareness to and appreciation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s complete body of work.
Unveiling Ceremony Will be Celebrated both virtually and in person on September 15
Press Release –
updated: Sep 1, 2021
SPRING GREEN, Wis., September 1, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Taliesin Preservation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation are unveiling a new plaque at the architect’s 800-acre estate in the rural Driftless Hills near Spring Green, WI, celebrating the site’s inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The in-person media event and virtual public streaming watch party will feature special guests, including Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) recognizes landmarks or sites for cultural, historical, or scientific relevance.
Media Partners are invited to attend the plaque unveiling in-person at Taliesin on September 15, 2021, at 9 a.m. Please RSVP to Aron Meudt-Thering at athering@taliespreservation.org. The public is invited to be a part of this wonderful event at noon CST on Facebook, YouTube, and at taliesinpreservation.org.
“This is an incredible moment for Taliesin Preservation, our sister organization The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and our incredible community of friends, partners and donors. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site we are now officially recognized worldwide for bringing outstanding cultural and natural heritage to humanity—and we pledge to continue this as a laboratory for living in the 21st century.”- Carrie Rodamaker, Executive Director, Taliesin Preservation
“This designation is a great source of national pride, and while eight buildings are included in the inscription, it recognizes the importance of Wright’s work, embodied in every one of his buildings and designs. These sites are not simply World Heritage monuments because they are beautiful. It’s so much more than that. These are places of profound influence, inspiration and connection.” – Stuart Graff, President & CEO, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Taliesin Preservation produces innovative cultural and educational programming at Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s 800-acre estate in the rural Driftless hills of Wisconsin. Taliesin has served as a living laboratory for over one-hundred years, exploring and advancing organic principles in everyday life, where home, community, farm, the arts, education and the environment are deeply connected and work as an integrated whole.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, based in Chicago, IL, spearheaded the serial nomination of eight major works by Wright. The inscription includes Unity Temple, the Frederick C. Robie House, Hollyhock House, Fallingwater, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, Taliesin, Taliesin West and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
The inscription for Wright’s works was announced in 2019, during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee. Wright’s buildings are the first US Modern Architecture to be included on the United Nations’ list of the world’s most significant cultural and natural sites, representing American design for the first time on a global stage. Taliesin was chosen to be a part of this honor as a great example of an organic connection to the surrounding landscape of the driftless region. The inscription is an honorary distinction that provides additional protection of the properties.
