Chicago’s housing stock is defined by a handful of signature building types: the limestone-faced greystone, the brick two-flat, and the one-and-a-half-story Chicago bungalow that anchors the city’s famous Bungalow Belt neighborhoods. Many greystones and two-flats built in the early 1900s were originally stacked multi-unit buildings that have since been deconverted into single-family homes, often with a basement dug out and finished for additional living space, but reachable only by the original staircase. Bungalows have their own version of the same challenge, with a full basement below a story and a half of living space above.

That’s exactly the kind of home a PVE elevator was built for. Because the unit is self-supporting and needs no pit, shaft, or machine room, it can go into a Logan Square greystone or a Bungalow Belt home without a major structural rework. Most installations are done in two to three days, which matters given how Chicago’s permitting process for elevator work, handled through the Department of Buildings’ Elevator Bureau, can add time to a larger construction project.

For homeowners planning to stay in their Chicago home long term, a PVE elevator means a finished basement or an upstairs bedroom stops being out of reach. It connects levels without reworking a home’s historic character or its narrow city lot footprint. And because the system draws minimal power and pairs easily with solar, it fits naturally alongside the growing number of Chicago homes adding solar and other energy-efficient upgrades.