Gavel Gifts
Winning bidders reap big savings at auction of McKinley Park Lofts
Ad Categories: Real Estate
On the Market: A Mediterranean Villa in Highland Park
List Price: $949,000
The Property: Lake Michigan may not resemble the Mediterranean Sea, but here and there along its shores, Chicagoans have built some Mediterranean-style homes—including charmers like this one, with its abundant gardens and its two-story tower reaching for the sun. Creamy orange-sherbet stucco, a clay tile roof, and round-edged window insets give the house the ambience of a miniature resort—and that’s what it might once have been…
Housing Bulletin: South Loop Auction Helps Out a Neighbor
The developers of two South Loop condo high-rises less than two blocks apart struggled through 2008 as they tried to sell units in the buildings. Then, this March, a big block of condos in one of the projects went on the auction block. The result was a flurry of sales not only at that building but, later, at the…
Sale of the Week: Hinsdale Foreclosure Sparks a Bidding War
List Price: $899,900
Sale Price: $925,000
The Property: Five days after U.S. Bank put this foreclosed 12-room Hinsdale house up for sale, three bidders were vying for it—and the only reason it took that long was that the bank requires a property be marketed for at least five days before it will look at offers. “It could have gone even…
On the Market: Monty’s Jungle Lair—in West Chicago
List Price: $699,900
The Property: Like a camouflaged animal that hides in plain sight, this wild and irreverent West Chicago residence appears from the street to be nothing more than a big ranch house on a huge lot. But hiding inside that conservative shell is one of the zaniest homes I have ever visited…
Housing Bulletin: The Human Factor
Prospective buyers who tour a house listed for sale at $899,900 in Naperville’s Ashwood Park subdivision may think the sellers have just stepped out for a moment. After all, there is food in the refrigerator, dishes in the cabinets, and clothes in the closets. The place looks lived in—albeit very neatly lived in…
Sale of the Week: Selling Off the Rite Stuff —Near North Side
List Price: $3.47 million
Sale Price: $3.128 million
The Property: Built of Lake Superior sandstone, this residence is one of three 19th-century mansions adjoining the Scottish Rite Cathedral on the 900 block of North Dearborn. In 2006, the Rite, a Masonic group, sold the cathedral, the three mansions, and a parking lot to developers for about $60 million…
On the Market: Elegance Times Two at 20 East Cedar
List Price (Unit 2E): $1,535,000
List Price (Unit 17D): $1,500,000
The Property: Two nicely preserved, well-finished condos are available at 20 East Cedar, a classic Gold Coast mid-rise with a majestic Gothic-style brick and terra cotta exterior. Designed by the architects Fugard & Knapp, the building was completed in 1924. Its lobby sets a clubby tone with a big wood-paneled fireplace wall. “It’s really a great building to…
Housing Bulletin: House-Hunting at the Mall and in Harbor Country
Scattered around the main concourse of Michigan Avenue’s Shops at North Bridge are the little kiosks where you would usually pick up some fun sunglasses or an iPod cover—and now, maybe, a $2-million condo.
A few weeks ago, Tricia Fox, a high-end agent at Keller Williams on the Gold Coast…
Sale of the Week: Atop Bucktown's Bloomingdale Greenway
List Price: $2,575,000
Sale Price: $2,350,000
The Property: When this new Bucktown house at 1801 North Hermitage Avenue was under construction two years ago, the Chicago Reader’s Ben Joravsky denounced it as “a four-story behemoth that dwarfs the surrounding cottages.” But once the house was completed, in August 2008, the logic of its design became clear, at least to me. Here was a house built to take maximum advantage of its…