Perry Mansion Cultural Center · A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · American Outreach · Englewood · South Side · Chicago · Reopened May 17, 2025

Englewood · A Queen Anne Victorian · c.1901

The house that refused to fall.

7042 S. Perry Ave. Chicago, IL 60621 Now open to the public

Once the worst drug den in Englewood. Bought, cleared, and burned to a ruin. Then rebuilt by hand into a cultural center for art, music, and healing. A century later, the doors are open again.

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The Perry Mansion, a century-old Queen Anne Victorian house with a wraparound porch and garden in Englewood, Chicago. 7042 S. Perry Ave. · Englewood

The Story

A ruin that became a refuge.

In 2005, founder Sam Smith bought a building that had become the worst drug den in Englewood. He evicted the dealers and set out to bring it back.

Then the building was set on fire. What was left was a burned, abandoned shell. Most people would have walked away. Sam stayed, and using his own carpentry and contracting skills, he rebuilt it himself.

The mansion opened to the public around 2010, its roots reaching back a few years earlier. It closed in 2020 during the pandemic, then reopened on May 17, 2025 with a gala. Survival, rebirth, and the stubborn refusal to fall are written into every restored beam.

The mansion facade during an earlier era, its boarded windows covered with painted African and Egyptian art panels.
Old spaces, new history
  1. c.1901

    Built

    A Queen Anne Victorian rises on Perry Avenue in Englewood.

  2. 2005

    Bought & Cleared

    Sam Smith buys the building and evicts the dealers who had taken it over.

  3. The Fire

    Set Ablaze

    The building is set on fire and left a burned, abandoned ruin.

  4. 2010

    Opened

    Rebuilt by hand, the mansion opens to the public as a cultural center.

  5. 2020

    Closed

    The pandemic forces the doors shut and hits Englewood hard.

  6. 2025

    Reopened

    May 17, 2025: the mansion reopens with a gala. The house refused to fall.

In His Words

One of the things I love to do is take old spaces and create new history in them.

Sam Smith, Founder

Portrait placeholder of founder Sam Smith (awaiting client photo).
Founder · Builder · Artist

The Founder

Sam Smith

Real Estate Developer · Multimedia Artist

Originally from Mississippi and a former resident of West Side public housing, Sam Smith is a real estate developer and multimedia artist who jokes that he is “skilled in everything but painting.”

He collects art from his travels around the world and pours it back into the mansion. The carpentry that rebuilt the burned building, board by board, he learned from his father, a master carpenter and furniture designer.

In 2020 he was struck by a driver and, while recovering from surgery, contracted COVID-19 and had to relearn how to walk. He has carried the work forward through that long recovery, part of why the mansion’s newest chapter centers on community health.

What Happens Here

Programs & exhibits

The mansion is a working cultural center. Classes, performances, and ambitious exhibits meant to stand alongside the city’s great museums.

Art classes at Perry Mansion (placeholder).

Art Classes

Hands-on instruction for all ages, taught in the mansion’s restored studio rooms.

Open mic and poetry nights at Perry Mansion (placeholder).

Open Mic & Poetry

Evenings where Englewood’s voices take the floor, from spoken word to first-time readers.

Jazz nights at Perry Mansion (placeholder).

Jazz Nights

Live music in a historic parlor, carrying on a South Side tradition.

An interior gallery room at Perry Mansion, walls hung with framed artwork.

Exhibits

Work gathered from Paris, Germany, and Italy alongside Black cultural history. Ambitious shows like “The Slave Experience” filled the 2,200 sq ft basement with a full wooden ship.

Flagship Program

Total Wellness 360

Free, and born from the losses Englewood carried through the pandemic. A 360-degree approach to health that meets people online, in person, and on their phones, with a full gym and a state-of-the-art kitchen inside the mansion. Health is a right, not a privilege.

The fitness room inside Perry Mansion, equipped with weights and cardio machines, supporting the Move Safely pillar.
A full gym inside the mansion · Move Safely
01

Eat Well

Shopping for and cooking healthy, affordable meals that are genuinely good to eat.

02

Move Safely

Exercising properly and building strength without injury, at any starting point.

03

Prevent & Manage

Practical strategies for diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

04

Connected Care

Access to trusted doctors, nutritionists, herbalists, and fitness experts.

On Your Phone

Wellness that travels with you

A companion app is in development, designed to put the whole program in your pocket: meal plans, guided movement, condition tracking, and a direct line to trusted care.

  • Affordable meal plans and shopping lists
  • Guided, injury-safe workouts
  • Gentle reminders for chronic-condition care
  • Message nutritionists, herbalists, and coaches
Coming soon Download on theApp Store Coming soon Get it onGoogle Play

Explore Total Wellness 360 →

Plan Your Visit

Find us in Englewood

Address

7042 S. Perry Ave.
Chicago, IL 60621

Hours

Open for programs, tours, and events.

Hours to be confirmed by the client.

Getting Here

On the South Side, in the heart of Englewood. Street parking available.