The Charnley-Persky House is located at 1365 North Astor Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, within the Astor Street Historic District. The neighborhood developed in the late 1880s, largely through the efforts of Potter Palmer, who built an imposing "castle" on Lake Shore Drive, designed by Cobb & Frost. He purchased large tracts of land in the area and built dozens of houses which were sold to Chicago's wealthy class. The neighborhood has retained its stature as Chicago's premier neighborhood to the present day.