A combination of home-style generosity and orderly AirBnB protocols will welcome you to the Far North Side with Michael and Rox. This 32-night-minimum accommodation is not frequently listed, as there is a private suite within the unit for short-term visitors to Chicago. You will find no trace of smoking materials of any kind here, as all manner of smoking is prohibited. The space Attractively appointed ground-floor bedroom and bathroom with central air and heat are all yours in a large condo owned and occupied by a playful couple – a freelance professional (journalist/professor/former concierge) and her well-read husband Michael. Free wifi, antenna TV in bedroom with Fire Stick, laundry in unit. Zoned street parking is tight. Ask for daily passes. Great for persons using public transportation or a bike. Take a bus a few minutes' walk from the house to get to a variety of CTA trains/buses, or walk one mile to numerous transport lines going south to downtown or north to the North Shore suburbs. A commuter rail station was introduced to the neighborhood in the spring of 2024. Metra schedules are strict, and departures infrequent, so learn before you go. The last guest who used that fast train to downtown said it took him six minutes to walk to the station. Kitchen and great room are shared with the hosts. You may be invited to our table when timing works out. Target store with full grocery 1/2 block away. Richly cultural Pakistani/Indian commercial strip a short walk away on Devon Avenue. The place is actually NOT in Rogers Park technically and definitely not "West Rogers Park" as the auto-fill says. It's a neighborhood of apartment buildings, homes, and tree-lined streets. ............................................ Roxane works from home. Michael had a career as a legal analyst, now writes and corresponds from home on other projects. Ideal situation here is for person requiring privacy to work alone or needing only a place to sleep and to safely store belongings during work or tourism. But living room lounging or cooking at home are certainly welcome if you understand we're in and out going about our own business in the same space like roommates and sometimes conversing pleasantly as hosts and guests. KITCHEN GROUND RULE: Leave nothing but the smell. Some appliances are 2 decades old but look newer because they're cleaned after every use. See also HOUSE RULES ............................................... Lots of spices and condiments for your use. Owner is eager to offer suggestions and possibly an occasional ride to the train to make it a smooth and trouble-free stay in the City of Big Shoulders! ................................................. Broken Spanish and marginal French spoken here. I can sing in Italian and German if you can play piano! ..................................................... Pianists are encouraged to play and practice here, though a tuning is needed. For that matter, musicians of all kinds are welcome to play or sing unplugged. ...................................................... ABOUT BREAKFAST Self-serve hot drinks and simple snacks as available Guest access The master suite, study and storage areas are off-limits to guests except where accommodations have been pointed out specifically (such as a drawer and portion of the clothes closet in the guest room). During your stay The guest accommodation is very much in the flow of the household, so we expect to interact with guests in passing, sometimes engaging in longer exchanges about the guest's Chicago experience or even further into topical discussions. We have a history of socializing with guests who happen to enjoy our company as new friends, but basic pleasantries would be all that's expected. Guests are free to greet and go, but it becomes less amiable if the home is treated like a hotel or commercial guesthouse. While Roxane has worked in hotels and could see a more transactional experience as possible, Michael regards people staying as house guests and responds to Rox's hospitality cues by being genuinely open, warm and welcoming. He is naturally curious and is exuberant when hosting, eager to hear of your Chicago experiences day by day as well as your work or creative life back home. Other things to note **ID will be required at check-in for each individual who will be staying in the lodging, regardless of who booked the space.**.............LONG STAYS and GUESTS JUST BEGINNING TO STRIKE OUT ON THEIR OWN IN LIFE: A conversation about how the kitchen functions smoothly for sharing should happen when concentration is good and details are absorbed with sincerity. Rule of thumb about clean-up: Leave nothing but the smell. Cookware should be washed by hand and put back in place. Dishes in dishwasher. Stovetop and microwave as you found them. Sinks, counters, cutting boards cleaned, sanitizing every surface touched by chicken or liquids from chicken packaging. If you drip oil, sauce, batter, milk, water on the floor or down the front of the cabinets, clean it. ..........................................Ask for specifics about what goods are free to use up and what you should replace. Guests are asked to let us know when something runs out, not just discard the empty container................................ALSO: Whoever cooks it, cleans it, regardless of who is invited to partake. Cooking is an art project. The artist does the heavy lifting. Everyone can help clear dishes, but pots, pans, cutting boards, mixing bowls, measuring cups, bakeware, stovetop, microwave, floor and counters are the responsibility of the cook. We do most of the sharing but will graciously accept an occasional invitation to break bread, especially if we've bought the groceries. If invited, we'll help clear -- even do most of the clearing. But pots, pans, meal prep supplies and servers are the responsibility of the creative chef. Likewise, no guest invited by us to a meal will be expected to scrub pots afterwards........................Short-stay guests are not expected to wash bed linens. If you're staying longer, you're welcome to the use the household laundry facilities to keep tidy at your own usual pace. Please consider kitchen cleaning and emptying your waste basket and recycling as part of your own check-out procedure. Of course, we clean the bathroom, launder the linens, vacuum and mop, and sanitize surfaces for the next guest or our friends and family coming to stay. But kitchen clean-up is on you. The air is fresh and climate-controlled to your liking, and the water is filtered. We have the wonderful South Asian strip nearby, with the affordable Ghareeb Nawaz restaurant closest – a favorite for takeout. Feel free to bring home cooked meals from Devon Ave. and microwave your curried favorites for a few days in a row. But the daily use of curry in our home spaces over the course of weeks is not permitted. You will be charged a steep cleaning fee if that is discovered during or after your stay.