After the Charnley’s left Chicago in 1901, they retained ownership of the house and rented it to a series of three prominent Chicago families, including:
- Joseph and Genevieve (Baldwin) Winterbotham, who leased the Charnley house for two years, beginning in 1902.
- Ogden McClurg and his wife Marion Ewen, who spent a two-year tenancy in the Charnley house.
- Redmond and Marion (Ream) Stephens, who leased the house beginning in 1906. They later purchased the house from Helen Charnley in 1911.
In 1918, the house was sold to James Breckenridge Waller, Jr., who was active in Chicago real estate and had constructed the Binderton Apartments, located just east of the Charnley house, in 1896-97. James B. Waller, Jr. died in 1920, and ownership of the house passed to his son James B. Waller, III, who served as Alderman of the 43rd Ward from 1931 to 1933, and again from 1943 to 1947. In 1927, Waller added a three-story addition to the south side of the house, above the service courtyard. Although careful to match the brick, stone and trim to the original house, the addition altered the classical symmetry of the façade. It is also believed that the balcony was enclosed with windows at this time. James Waller III died in 1949, and his widow, Nettie Waller, remained in the house until 1969.
In 1969, the house, along with the three properties to the east (vacant lot, Binderton Apartments, and house at 41 E. Schiller) were sold to Mr. and Mrs. Hawley L. Smith, Jr. The Smiths resided here for only a short period and rented the house to a succession of tenants.
In 1979, the house was purchased by Lowell Wohlfeil and Larry Duvall (an heir to the Inland Steel fortune), who undertook the first phase of restoration, with the assistance of John Vinci and Tim Samuelson. In 1983, Wohlfeil placed the house up for sale with an asking price of $975,000.
The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation purchased the house in April 1986 for its new “think tank,” known as the Chicago Institute for Architecture and Urbanism. Immediately upon purchasing the house, the Foundation conducted thorough research on the building and drafted a full restoration plan that would also accommodate the needs of the Institute. The restoration, which included the removal of the 1927 addition, was completed by mid-1988. In October of that year, the Foundation opened the house for the first time to limited public tours. By late 1992, however, the Institute was dismantled and research operations were moved to their headquarters on Michigan Avenue.
In September 1994, Chicago philanthropist Seymour Persky was granted a lease option to purchase on the house. A few months later, Persky offered the house to the Society of Architectural Historians, on the condition they relocate their headquarters from Philadelphia to Chicago. Once the Society agreed, Persky gave them his purchase option and the funding to acquire the house. The Society moved into their new headquarters in July 1995, and by the summer of 1996, the first group of docents had been trained to offer public tours of the house.