Y.C. Wong Modern Townhouse in Kenwood Sells: 1380 E. Madison Park
We last chattered about this 3-bedroom townhouse in the modern style at 1380 E. Madison Park in Kenwood in June 2011.
See our prior chatter here.
It’s clear from the comments that most of you have no idea what properties sell for in the Kenwood neighborhood.
Listed in June for $358,000, one of you called the listing price “delusional” and several guessed the low $200,000s.
The townhouse sold in mid-August for $350,000.
If you’ll recall, architect Y.C. Wong was considered a Mies van der Rohe protege.
The townhouse was built in 1961 and had floor to ceiling windows that open onto a private central courtyard.
This townhouse is unique because it is only 1 of 2 in the complex that has a basement.
The townhouse also had central air and one car assigned parking.
Jeanne Spurlock at Century 21 Kennedy Ryan had the listing.
1380 E. Madison Park: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1400 square feet, 1 car parking
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price
- Originally listed in April 2011 for $369,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in June 2011 for $358,000
- Sold in August 2011 for $350,000
- Assessments of $117 a month
- Taxes of $4588
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 15×15
- Bedroom #2: 10×14
- Bedroom #3: 10×11
“It’s clear from the comments that most of you have no idea what properties sell for in the Kenwood neighborhood.”
Replace Kenwood with any nabe in the city and teh burbs and we have a pretty accurate description of our collective predictive abilities.
🙂
sorry … but what a POS
I’m not sure I’ve ever been to kenwood
What looks like “a POS” now was the hottest thing 50 years ago. This is really a very fine modern house by a top architect, and while I never was a fan of this type of architecture- too sterile and bland- I can see why the house would sell for close to the ask. It is very good-looking, has a great layout with privacy and security, and is very well-built. For a lover of modernism, it’s a real prize. It will rehab beautifully.
I look at the fashionable new architecture and other hot properties in currently “trendy” neighborhoods, and wonder how sad and outdated they will look 30 or 40 years from now. And I remember how extremely UNtrendy our current hot neighborhoods were in the 1980s, let alone the 60s.
Back when this place was built, you didn’t even drive through neighborhoods like Bucktown or Wicker Park or even Lincoln Park. They were the Badlands. And the Gold Coast was very threatened, with rich old people cowering in terror in mansions they couldn’t sell while others became boarding houses housing very troubled populations. Take a look at the Tokyo hotel- places like that were pretty much what that area was all about C1962, else Hugh Hefner could never have sprung for one of those old mansions to house his first Playboy Club.
West Rogers Park was elite and expensive. Kenwood/Hyde Park was only beginning to deteriorate, and so was Edgwater.
Looks like it belongs to the Brady Bunch. After a few polish and remodeling, it can be a cute home!
I’m sorry, but this buyer got screwed. You can get a fully updated 2/2 in a much better neighborhood for this money. It is single story, so basically townhouse in name only (with few of the benefits). It is dark and dingy. It needs basically a complete redo. It is only 1400 sq. ft.
The only positives I can see: 1) it was designed by someone famous and has a certain modern aesthetic behind the awful, awful finishes and 2) it is on the good side of Kenwood (AKA: near Hyde Park).
Still, 350K for a small dump north of 51st? Gimmie a break…
Any info on the parties and their situation? Wondering if this is arms length.
I just have a hard time imagining anyone that would pay $2k+ a month to live here of all places
Oh, one more plus: it is on Madison Park, which is a very nice street with a Logon Blvd. “parkish” feel to it. I personally wouldn’t want to live in that immediate hood, but that is a nice street to live on.
If the layout is good and the structure and location of kitchen and bath are good, then the rehab will not be that costly. It will only be finishes. Most people I know put in a few larger windows or Nano walls of windows to give a little more light. Apart from this it has a modern look that can’t be achieved with typical new builds on the northside. They probably could have gotten a better deal but got an aesthetic that was unique and not like the cookie cutter northside properties in this range. A buyer will appreciate the rehab once its done…not that concerned about the price paid given the uniqueness of the property. Buyers either lover or hate this kind of property…no in between…so your market is limted anyway and a buyer who wants this look in the future does not have much in the way of supply. The buyer may be able to recoup this after rehab for this reason only.
“Any info on the parties and their situation? Wondering if this is arms length.”
Yes, appears arms-length. $215k mortgage. Buyer is a collector and dealer of mid-century furniture and decorative stuff.
“Buyer is a collector and dealer of mid-century furniture and decorative stuff.”
well it all makes sense now
Congrats to the buyer. Love your new place. Enjoy it! This is a really great mid-century home. CC folk – if you don’t understand why this is a really unique place and a good example of this sort of architecture – it’s just not for you. That’s fine. I keep wishing we were more polite, especially with unique properties. Even for the time period, it has some really different and good design solutions. I’m glad to hear it may have found the right buyer who will take care of it and not tear out the good stuff.
Good luck to the buyer. It will make a great home for someone who likes the style. I wish that we could see the after photos.
I am sure that they over payed as it represented something that they wanted badly. In the end a 95% to ask after two months on the market seemed out of line. Forget the size of the home, location, and the current condition as 95% to ask in this enviornment still seems very generous.
Sonies: “well it all makes sense now”
Yeah, my reaction exactly. I guess I just don’t get this style. Even so, not sure I’d pay this premium to live here, despite the architectural appeal.
This looks like a sad imitation of a japanese traditional house. Finishes and all are so ugly too.
I find myself hoping the photos don’t do it any justice. If you are a fan of this style of home head over to the UK and you can get one for free if you’re on welfare.
Sorry Lisa, this place IS ugly.
The fact that a 1960 Ford Edsel was built in 1960, by Ford, makes it neither desirable nor attractive. It’s not a highly prized classic. I feel the same of this place.
The outside looks like one of those old tool and die buildings on N. Ravenswood Ave.
All the overstyled places of today wil be ‘gaudy’ in 10-20 years. And the younger generations will laugh at all your ‘dated’ bathrooms.
Also, someone said ‘who would buy this?’. Did it eer occur to you that maybe a well off black person could? They don’t want to live in over-priced North Side with all the conceited rich white people who think they ‘rule the earth’.
tomm- agreed on gaudy, dated finishes, but…
“all the conceited rich white people” on the north side??
You mean all those folks in Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers Park (possibly the most racialy diverse ‘hood in the city)?
Looks like shit and just not a deal in today’s market.
tomm: “Also, someone said ‘who would buy this?’. Did it eer occur to you that maybe a well off black person could? They don’t want to live in over-priced North Side with all the conceited rich white people who think they ‘rule the earth’.”
Woot! Race wars! Nothing better than a good old fashioned “which race is X” argument on the intertubes.
Personally, though, were I this hypothetical well-off black person who wanted to live in Kenwood, I would probably be looking for a good deal in Kenwood. Except for the architectural history angle, this just doesn’t strike me as a good value for the money.
Sellers are lucky there’s a buyer who must *really* value mid-century design.
The best view of this place is from the outside. There, your imagination can run wild about what is going on inside. Actually seeing the interior just makes me sad. It will take some amount of spit and polish and elbow grease to make this place look acceptable. I can’t get over the idea of the inhabitants of each cell looking at each other through the courtyard, like Brookfield Zoo.
I like modern homes, and go to this source for my home pron: http://www.atomic-ranch.com/
There are many great modern ranches throughout the suburbs, all the way up to Milwaukee. Most built around 1960 look to be in much better condition than this Y.C. Wong.
I agree with the whole “looks like a tool and die place in Ravenswood” and it’s got a gross bath and kitchen, but even in this market, a 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1400 square feet, 1 car parking with $117 assessment and $4500 tax bill is pretty incredible. Also, I did hear that the University is going to really start helping that neighborhood alot. I remember Michelle Obama said something like “I never even considered going to University of Chicago–it just wasn’t a welcoming school and they didn’t encourage local people to apply”. And since Obama will be moving back to that neighborhood pretty soon, the pet project of the Obama’s may be cleaning up that neighborhood and making Kenwood/HP the new Bucktown.
” And since Obama will be moving back to that neighborhood pretty soon, the pet project of the Obama’s may be cleaning up that neighborhood and making Kenwood/HP the new Bucktown.”
well if thats the case i’d move out as soon as possible because anything the obamas try to do to make things better inevitably make things much much worse
Well keep in mind Obamas only offered change. They have kept their word as things have certainly changed.
Yes blame it on Obamas because they started the wars and took a surplus to deficit.
Hyde Park the new Bucktown LOL. HP is an isle of stability connected to ghettos on 3 sides and the lake. For it to gentrify it would need to come down from the north. And HP ain’t exactly super close…good luck with that.
“It’s clear from the comments that most of you have no idea what properties sell for in the Kenwood neighborhood.”
Truth. And that can be expanded to: Most of you have no idea what exists south of Cermak.
“HP is an isle of stability connected to ghettos on 3 sides and the lake. For it to gentrify it would need to come down from the north. And HP ain’t exactly super close”
Bobby Boy, Thanks for pointing out all the obvious HP downfalls as though this is a tourist website. We all know all about HP. Next I’d like you to tackle the difference between taking a cab to Ohare or taking the blue line from downtown. I’ll look forward to the pedestrian convenience vs. cost analysis.
““It’s clear from the comments that most of you have no idea what properties sell for in the Kenwood neighborhood.”
Truth.”
Per redfin, there have been 122 sales in Kenwood in the past 12 months. This is the 27th most expensive (23d of 81, south of 47th), and the 5th highest $psf of those with listed square footage. Using the south of 47th average $psf, and calling the basement area worth exactly 1/2 of the main floor (regardless of actual size), it’s $273k.
anon: “Per redfin, there have been 122 sales in Kenwood in the past 12 months. This is the 27th most expensive (23d of 81, south of 47th), and the 5th highest $psf of those with listed square footage. Using the south of 47th average $psf, and calling the basement area worth exactly 1/2 of the main floor (regardless of actual size), it’s $273k.”
Now that is what I’d call truth. Now I really don’t like that price.
“Per redfin, there have been 122 sales in Kenwood in the past 12 months. This is the 27th most expensive (23d of 81, south of 47th), and the 5th highest $psf of those with listed square footage. Using the south of 47th average $psf, and calling the basement area worth exactly 1/2 of the main floor (regardless of actual size), it’s $273k.”
Which, I hope you realize, is an incredibly flawed way to determine perceived value.
Look unique architecture adds value even if most people don’t like it. The remaining people who do like it will pay a premium if there is little supply of the product. There is little supply of this product and if the buyer didn’t buy this he might be waiting a long time to find a simliar property in the city. Uniqueness (within reason of course) adds value b/c there is less supply of the product to compete with it. This is why the builder’s grade 2/2 in a three flat is really losing money. If the seller doesn’t take your lowball offer, you’ll just go down the street and make an offer on a nearly identical property…its a commodity. For unusual properities, a buyer may not be able to do that. Obviously, this only holds true if the buyer is seeking more than shelter…a place that has some emotional connection but, even despite the recession, most buyers want a place that reflects his or her personality. This is why this property faired so well.
a local,
Thank You.
“It’s clear from the comments that most of you have no idea what properties sell for in the Kenwood neighborhood.
Truth. And that can be expanded to: Most of you have no idea what exists south of Cermak.”
Dude, I’ll agree with you on that! However, living somewhere between Cermak and this place, this price still surprises me. While I understand the added value of a unique property, I guess there are two options that may have occurred on this sale.
#1 The seller found a buyer that loves mid-century and is clueless about the market today and therefor only bid $8k below ask and found that to be reasonable and is perfectly happy, but may get screwed in the end or….
#2 The seller got really lucky and found two buyers that loved mid-century modern and one ended up paying $350k to get the place they loved over someone else.
Kenwood has taken a hit as has everywhere. If you really love mid-century modern and wanted this place and were the only bidder, why wouldn’t you bid $325k or something and justify it with the work that is needed and if the sellers don’t agree end up somewhere between there and $358k rather than pay so close to asking?
I wish I could sell my condo not too far away with one more bath and 600 more sq. ft. for anywhere near this price…. I think the seller is lucky! Congrats to the buyer though, I’m sure they’ll love it.
This house is in Madison Park which is very desirable. Real estate is very local and it’s always worth what people pay for it. That is why values rise and fall.
Perhaps this little anecdote may help a bit.
A colleague at work gave this reaction when the house that the character Cameron of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off went on the market in recent times: Gross…it looks like an office building.
Yet he and his wife are content to live in faux-colonial structures that are built with mediocre quality, have questionable design features, and no architectural significance. Different strokes for different folks. BUT bashing the home in question on this Crib Chatter post from a design perspective shows an author’s ignorance more than taste.
“Which, I hope you realize, is an incredibly flawed way to determine perceived value.”
Um, yeah, but so is using a unique property an incredibly flawed basis to criticize people’s perception of neighborhood values. This selling price is not representative of Kenwood values.
matt: “BUT bashing the home in question on this Crib Chatter post from a design perspective shows an author’s ignorance more than taste.”
Maybe I’ll give that to you from an architectural perspective. But from a design perspective on the interior? No way. This place is in serious need of some loving on the inside. Even architectural masterpieces can be run down wrecks.
As someone else said, I’d love to see the after pics…and the renovation bills!
Thanks for posting about this — I always loved taking detours through Madison Park when I lived in Hyde Park, and always wondered about these townhouses. I’d heard references to them being the ultimate in post-riot urban bunker mentality.
BTW, it also turns out that Y. C. Wong’s son Ernie Wong designed some of Chicago’s most interesting new parks, like Palmisano (Stearns Quarry), Ping Tom, and Bartelme (Sangamon)