The Blue White House in Chatham

For a closer look at the house, launch the photo gallery. List Price: $899,900 The Property: In 1966, a couple named Smith built their homage to the White House—only they used imported blue Italian brick. The home has long been a landmark in Chatham, known for its Georgian porch and pillars, its bright blue walls, … Read more

A Miniature Chateau in Highland Park

List Price: $799,000
The Property: Although the North Shore has many grandly scaled chateaux, this Highland Park home demonstrates that grandeur can come in medium-size packages, too. All the architectural detail and lavish finishes of some of the area’s finer residences are tucked into an eight-room house designed to feel like a centuries-old home in France’s Brittany region…

Six Things to Do in Short-Sale Territory

A report last week from CoreLogic showed that 25.4 percent of Chicago-area homeowners with a mortgage are now underwater—they owe more on the mortgage than the house is worth—and another 5.3 percent are near that point. There’s no way of knowing how many of those people will have to sell their homes this year, but if you’re at or near the short-sale line, the first thing to do is pull your head out of the sand…