Joanne Cleaver –

Barns on the Allerton Park complex, which has long been owned and operated by the University of Illinois.

Folk schools want to be more inclusive. Here’s how the 1st one in Illinois plans to make it happen.

March 7, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

A folk school is budding in the prairie west of Champaign. It's a first for Illinois, and it comes at a time when folk schools are seeing an uptick in...

Jessica Bortman, of Garfield Park, Illinois, travels down the stairs to Town Line Beach carrying a new inflatable float in Union Pier on June 23, 2022.

Looking to buy a vacation rental? Thanks to soaring demand, your investment may pay for itself over time

July 3, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

In a stroke of lucky timing, North Shore resident Pam Levy and her family bought a vacation house in Union Pier, Michigan, in 2019. The last two years, they've barely...

Lily Perry, 11, eats a blueberry pie during the Kids Pie Eating Contest at the 2019 National Blueberry Festival in South Haven, Michigan, on Aug. 10, 2019.

Michigan’s blueberry coast is ripe for the picking

June 29, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Blueberries needed a champion, and Tiffany Balk was more than up to the task. Fifteen years ago, Balk went to send a gift to a friend in Chicago from her...

Aerial views of 18th Street in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago as seen on Oct. 15, 2020.

The hot housing market and rising interest rates have forced homebuyer assistance programs to adapt

May 22, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Maryia Bahdanovich thought owning a home would be good for her financial future, and her young son. But she wondered if it was possible for a single mother to land...

Roaring good time awaits at Indianapolis children’s museum newly expanded dinosaur exhibit

May 12, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

It's a long walk back to the time of the dinosaurs. Down past the sauropod skeletons, their necks snaking along a mural of an ancient plain, feathery foliage bursting from...

Licensed real estate broker Amy Olson, left, details the amenities of a home to potential homebuyer Johanna Lara, of Chicago, as homebuyers arrive on March 30, 2022, to an open house in Northbrook.

Women reassessed their careers during the pandemic, but for many, one goal remains unchanged: homeownership

April 10, 2022 at 8:58 a.m.

At 56, Dina Cale just bought her first house. It's a vintage Cape Cod, solidly built in the 1940s of brick, in a Skokie neighborhood bordering Chicago. It has everything...

Joe Kotoch stands inside a rehabbed Lakeview two-flat on Feb. 15, 2022. "Sure, you can do some of the work, but you're not going to get the premium you think you're going to get," Kotoch said.

Investors are a growing force in the residential real estate market, but how should sellers evaluate these offers? Here’s what you should know.

March 7, 2022 at 7:42 a.m.

Joe Kotoch knows what sells houses, and it's not cracked linoleum, Brady Bunch-era kitchen appliances and stained ceilings. When Kotoch, 40, makes an overture to a homeowner or, in the...

Molly Ralph, 12, and her mother, Randi, share a laugh as Molly works on her computer at their Vernon Hills home on Feb. 15, 2022.

Today’s home sellers have to figure out how to handle amenities they added for the COVID pandemic. It’s harder than it sounds.

February 25, 2022 at 11:42 a.m.

What to do with the kids' virtual classroom that used to be a playroom and started out as a living room? Randi Ralph is figuring it out. Ralph, 42, and...

Semoore Fencing employees from left, Frank Parker, Jonathon Brooks and Larry O'Neal drill holes for fencing for a client in Bellwood on Dec. 7, 2021.

With contractors and repairmen in short supply, many homeowners are turning to do-it-yourself videos, with mixed results.

December 23, 2021 at 9:11 a.m.

Michael McKinney needed a new backyard fence. Nothing fancy. Just a sturdy wooden fence to corral family gatherings. Surely he could install it himself. McKinney said that he considers himself...

Elgin resident Jean Bednar finishes sanding a solid oak cabinet door original to her home. The Bednars renovated their kitchen during the pandemic.

Despite an erratic supply of building materials and labor, home renovations are booming

November 26, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.

The walls were closing in, so Lori Green knocked them down. "We were sick of a house we didn't like," Green said. For a decade, she and her husband had...

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