“Unveiled amid towering Victorian Gothic walls and stained-glass biblical figures at a Near West Side church, was an oil portrait of the late architect who designed them — John Mills Van Osdel.

“On Thursday morning, the portrait was donated at the Church of the Holy Family by Van Osdel’s great-great-grand-nephew, Burtram Collver Hopkins II. The church, which was designed in the late 1850s, will share the portrait with St. Ignatius College Prep, neighbors with the church at 1080 W. Roosevelt Road. The painting will hang in a newly built gallery connecting the two buildings.

“During his 60-year career, Van Osdel designed more than 800 churches, seminaries, synagogues, apartments, hotels, schools, theaters, fraternal buildings, courthouses, banks, prisons, warehouses, factories, offices and residential structures in the Chicago area and throughout the Midwest and Arkansas, according church and school officials.

“Hopkins, a retired architect himself, said he knew about Van Osdel, but got really interested in him 25 years ago. The portrait also is the cover of Hopkins’ new book, ‘John Mills Van Osdel, Architect, and his Chicago.’

“He was the first architect in Chicago, [he] opened his office in 1844, and his namesake nephew joined him after the Civil War and continued the practice even after Van Osdel’s death … very prolific, [he] designed over probably 800 buildings during his lifetime,” Hopkins said.

“Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said Van Osdel buildings are important because they are from a different era.

“His buildings are so early and different than what Chicago is really known for on the world stage,’ said Miller, who added that Chicago today is recognized for its Chicago School, Prairie Architecture and modernist international style, popularized by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and modern skyscrapers.” (Jana, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/31/25)

“Holy Family is the second oldest church in the city (after Old Saint Patrick’s) and serves Saint Ignatius College Prep and the local community.

“In the 1980s, the church once described as “a European cathedral on the Illinois prairie” fell into disrepair. Demolition was considered, but the community rallied. Millions of dollars fueled more than two decades of restoration that brought it back to its 19th century splendor.

“Ward Miller was part of the team that helped restore Holy Family Church.

“‘We’re looking at a building that’s 160-plus years old,’ Miller told WTTW News. ‘It was in the crosshairs for potential demolition and facing an uncertain future. I was involved in the restoration effort with John Vinci and Vinci Hamp Architects and served as a project manager. It took more than 25 years, start to finish.’

“A fourth generation Chicagoan, Miller is now executive director of Preservation Chicago.

“’When I was a kid, I remember this building being closed for so long,’ Miller said. ‘It’s wonderful to be part of the story to bring it back. It was once said to be the largest Catholic congregation in America.’”(Vitali, WTTW Chicago, 8/6/25)

Read the full story at Chicago Sun-Times and WTTW Chicago

• Church of the Holy Family gets big gift: Portrait of city’s first architect, John Mills Van Osdel; Over a career that spanned 60 years, Van Osdel is credited with designing over 800 structures, including the interior of Church of the Holy Family, which survived the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, Janani Jana, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/31/25
• In a Historic Chicago Church, the Story of the City’s First Architect Lives On Through His Family, Marc Vitali, WTTW Chicago, 8/6/25 
• Church of the Holy Family honors John Mills Van Osdel, Chicago’s first architect
  Ramona Meadors, ABC Chicago 7 News, 8/2/25
• WGN interview regarding Church of the Holy Family to host event honoring architect John Mills Van Osdel, Gabriel Castillo, WGN News, 7/26/25
• BOOK: John Mills Van Osdel, Architect, and his Chicago: The Story of His Life, 1811 to 1891, Burtram Collver Hopkins