One look at the regal 114-year-old house helps explain the quick sale. It’s a well-cared-for home, with a genial front porch and all sorts of carpentry detailing, on one of the wonderful blocks of old homes east of Andersonville in Chicago’s Lakewood-Balmoral neighborhood. This house was built in 1894, designed by Julius Huber, the architect of several homes that are now landmarks on the North and South Sides. It stayed in the hands of its first owners until 1905, when it was sold to a family that kept the house for three generations. In 1992, that family sold it to Charles Morris, one of the sellers in the latest transaction.

“It needed a total rehab then,” says Morris. “We did it in two rounds. The first we did almost right away, and then we did another round in 1996.” Having paid $320,000 for the place, they spent a combined total of about $190,000 on the renovations, he says. That included entirely rebuilding the home’s plumbing; stripping the exterior siding down to the sheathing and starting over; hand-stripping layers of black paint from the interior woodwork; installing a new kitchen; and adding an octagonal sunroom that complements the original octagonal bay that contains the living room. In the yard, they created a sumptuous garden that includes a koi pond.

The sellers, Morris and his partner Dan Thomas, have moved to Florida. Morris has retired from his job at USG, and Thomas worked a transfer with his employer, HSBC. Their new home is in Sarasota. “We’re in a neighborhood that’s similar to Lakewood-Balmoral,” Morris says. “Very friendly, diverse, and eclectic.”

Price Points: Morris and Thomas listed the house for sale on July 28th with Kathy Murphy of Baird & Warner; three days later they had a contract to sell it. The deal closed September 19th. The new owners, only the home’s fourth, are not yet identified in public records.

Listing Agent: Kathy Murphy of Baird & Warner, 773-697-5584; kathy.murphy@bairdwarner.com