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List Price: $1.395 million
The Property: When you’re nine floors up on a street called Lakeview, it’s not much of a surprise that you can see the lake from the front windows of the building. But in this home, you can look at the lake from four rooms back.

You wouldn’t have when the co-op building it’s in was built in the 1920s. The original configuration of the space was a series of very formal rooms. In a 2007 renovation, all those walls came down so that three-quarters of the apartment looks out at the lake. That’s including the kitchen. Situated at the center of the apartment, it never had any view before, because why would you bother when only the servants would be in it?

But now it’s a kitchen that everyone is going to want to be in, not only because that’s the way we live today but because of the design. It starts with a large, sleek island that alternates light and dark colors, as the framework and the cabinetry in the rest of the kitchen do. On one side there’s an appliance wall with refrigerator, coffee bar, and wine storage—everything you might want when entertaining—all organized into one place that’s easily accessible to the dining room. It suits the way we live now, much more informally than when this building went up.

It’s not only the floorplan that’s new. In today’s video, Jenny Ames, the listing agent for sellers John and Debbie Chipman, ticks off a list: “It has new plaster walls, floors, radiators, plumbing, electric, central air conditioning, windows—pretty much everything. In fact, this apartment rivals new construction, and it’s not just in the main living areas, it’s the bathrooms, the walk-in closets. It’s all scaled like you’d find in a new home.”

The modern sensibility is visible in the master suite, which consists of a large bedroom with views of the lake, a sharp-looking master bath whose tub also looks out at the lake, and a crisply organized walk-in closet that is much bigger than is customary in a vintage home. There’s another bedroom suite behind the master. At the rear of the home there were originally two small bedrooms for servants, but the smaller one has become something very useful: a combined laundry room and catering kitchen. Behind it is the third bedroom, with its own full bath and a view out over the near neighborhood.

But where you really get the stunning view is on a rooftop deck where, as Ames points out, “you can see the North Pond Cafe, the Nature Museum, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, and the Lincoln Park Zoo.” And every one of those is also walking distance from the building.

Price Points: The Chipmans had the home on the market in 2009 at the same price, but took it off the market when they decided not to move out of state, Ames says. Now’s a far better time to have it on the market. “Buyers are coming out,” she says. “Their motivation is obvious: they’re trying to capture those low mortgage rates and prices before they both increase.” Her own recent track record is indicative of this year’s pop-up in the market: In all of 2012, Ames inked $130 million in residential real estate deals—the highest in the city. By last week, she had already done $110 million.

Note: The sellers have accepted a contract on the property, but it has not been settled yet.

Listing Agent: Jenny Ames of Coldwell Banker, 312-266-7000, jenny@jenniferames.com