Love Modern Single Family Homes? 1529 W. Wolfram in Lakeview

We’ve been chattering about the recent spate of modern single family homes being built, especially in the West Town neighborhood, but this 5-bedroom new construction single family home at 1529 W. Wolfram is in Lakeview.

The house is 5000 square feet on a standard Chicago lot of 25×125.

It has custom millwork and a coffered ceiling as well as heated floors on the entire lower level.

The kitchen is custom with upscale appliances like SubZero. There is a theater room, a 200 bottle wine cellar and a rooftop deck.

3 of the bedrooms are on the second floor with the other 2 in the lower level.

The listing is being handled by Sergio & Banks, which also handled the sale on some of the modern homes in West Town. Sergio is a client of YoChicago.

Back in late August/early September when this house first came on the market, YoChicago did a sponsored post with a video. You can see the video here.

The house was apparently hot back then as the sponsored post recounts:

“Although the home had been on the market less than a week at the time of my visit Melanie had already shown it half a dozen times, including two second showings, and had 7 showings scheduled for Saturday.”

It appears the house was under contract at least one time since then. But it remains on the market. The price has been lowered $1,000 in that time.

We’ve chattered about several new construction homes in West Lakeview recently.

Is that the new “hot” neighborhood for million dollar homes?

Melanie Giglio at Sergio & Banks has the listing. See the pictures here.

1529 W. Wolfram: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 half baths, 5000 square feet, 2 car garage

  • Sold in December 1998 for $395,000 (prior property- a 3-bedroom 2 story SFH)
  • Sold in July 2001 for $539,000
  • Sold in February 2005 for $620,000
  • Lis pendens filed in November 2008
  • Bank owned in December 2009
  • Sold in April 2010 for $405,000
  • New construction- Originally listed in August 2011 for $1,599,900
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed for $1,598,900
  • Taxes of $13,275
  • Central Air
  • Bedroom #1: 18×16 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 18×16 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #3: 12×11 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #4: 15×10 (lower level)
  • Bedroom #5: 18×12 (lower level)

54 Responses to “Love Modern Single Family Homes? 1529 W. Wolfram in Lakeview”

  1. I’d call this pretty traditional, not modern, other than perhaps the exterior.

    YMMV.

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  2. V weird mix of styles. It’s hard to believe someone professional designed this.

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  3. Nice place and I do like the finishes, but overpriced. Someone said these finishes will go out fast, and I tend to agree. For over a million, even I would be a bit more traditional. Plus, too close to Ashland for my liking. Here’s a place further east on Wolfram for $100K less.
    http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1041-W-Wolfram-St-60657/home/13362726

    p.s. what’s with the $1,000 price drop? lame.

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  4. Too much useless details in the roof (think beams and all) and else where for my taste. I like clean lines in a modern space. Also some of the bathrooms give me headache.

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  5. Sad_at_Plaza440 on November 18th, 2011 at 2:16 pm

    When I first saw this listed for $1,599,900, I thought it was overpriced. But now they’ve dropped the price by a whopping $1,000, I’m convinced this is priced correctly. To whom do I send my offer?

    Truly, this is a stupid realtor trick.

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  6. There is nothing traditional about the exterior, which is an abomination.

    The interior is nice.

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  7. very odd mishmash, it almost seems intentionally disjointed. some of the rooms are pretty pimptastic though (notably those that maintain a cleaner, modern design look, esp the master bath)

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  8. “some of the rooms are pretty pimptastic though (notably those that maintain a cleaner, modern design look, esp the master bath)”

    Like the master bath and the non-crazy half bath, and the covered outdoor space. Are those mirrored windows in front? Kinda helps with the privacy issue but wouldn’t your neighbors hate you? Also, WTH is photo 16? Is that the wine cellar? Some kinda torture chamber?

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  9. I now take back me interior comment. Way too many different things going on inside. The whole place is an abomination.

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  10. Who is the idiot that designed this thing? Why on earth would you ever attempt a contemporary design stuffed to the gills with traditionalist fluff? …and for the love of god, enough with the coffered ceilings already, this builder does it in every single home and every single time it looks like garbage.

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  11. I think that the builder is Ultimate Homes or something like that.

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  12. Transit access is terrible, and what is “exciting” around here? Art of Pizza? Honey-Baked ham? Jewel?

    If you’re buying here, you may as well spend half the money for twice the space somewhere in Lake County, bc there’s no “TRU City Living” to be had here.

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  13. they do kind of give it the faux vibe…
    “and for the love of god, enough with the coffered ceilings already, this builder does it in every single home and every single time it looks like garbage.”

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  14. Also, don’t most newer SHFs in this area rent for $7000+ per month?

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  15. I truly do not understand who owns much of the SFH stock around here. A few months ago walking to millie’s we passed through that development at paulina & wrllungton. I think it was 830 or 9 Not a single freakin light on in the entire complex.

    It leads me to believe the valuations are driven in large part by absentee owners. Lets see how this all shakes out.

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  16. Err wellington

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  17. Bob 2 (Not Bob) on November 18th, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    Modern? wtf… got me excited for a second and then you shove that vomit inducing interior into my face, fuck

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  18. to you *modern fans,

    i enjoy the asthetics of these buildings but as a functional purpose it feels like living in a fish bowl.

    i dont mind the fish bowl living 15 stories + above street level, its the on a residential street its just to much. The groove likes to walk around in just boxers (without the button) after 9pm

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  19. Groove I’d hold off on commandoing it in highrise living–have you seen how many of those pervs downtown have a telescope??

    Note to self: if ever move downtown go blinds & telescope shopping.

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  20. “its the on a residential street its just to much. The groove likes to walk around in just boxers (without the button) after 9pm”

    1. That’s the genius of the mirrored windows.
    2. You’ve really got pants on before 9pm?
    3. Per skeptic, you can apparently walk outside your house in avondale in your boxers, buttoned or otherwise, so you might want to look into that.

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  21. “Note to self: if ever move downtown go blinds & telescope shopping”

    hahaha, i will pass on the telescope there are things in this world i would rather not see 😉

    “1. That’s the genius of the mirrored windows.”

    yeah turn on the lights in the house when its dark and i can see right in. there is a family in roscoe village that i can see whats for dinner if you drive by the house at 6:30

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  22. This house looks like it was cobble together with leftovers from several other developments…some modern windows here, with some traditional hand scraped floors and coffered ceilings there. Pick a style and stick with it.

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  23. ” to you *modern fans… I enjoy the asthetics of these buildings but as a functional purpose it feels like living in a fish bowl. ”

    In the hands of an untalented designer or builder the concept of modern/contemporary is very dangerous, often leading to egregious mistakes, as this house demonstrates. The functionality is missing, the openness is missing, the material palette is wrong, the finishes are wrong, fenestration is poorly thought out… this is just the “modern” equivalent of the 1990s CMU McCrapboxes.

    For well thought out contemporary architecture in Chicago look to architects like Studio Dwell, Wheeler Kearns or Dirk Denison to name a few.

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  24. I like modern homes, but this one not so much, its too niche for my tastes, I like more minimalist and clean modern, this looks like an episode of some polish mafioso gone wild

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  25. So do we think this is the same builder that has been doing the new construction in the 1800 block of W Erie? People seem to like their stuff. They do take chances with the exterior – not choices I would make. But I like the interiors actually.

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  26. I like the interior… bold, but pretty sweet!

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  27. TWO laundry rooms?! SOLD.

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  28. Thanks for linking to the video, Sabrina.

    The builder is Noah Properties (formerly known as Ultimate Homes). Same builder who recently completed 1838 (open Saturday), 1842 (Contingent) and 1848 (closed) W Erie. Just posted video yesterday from 1838:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFiQoDkvOkQ

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  29. WOW – this is about as Euro as you can get, and by Euro, I mean eastern Euro, like Moldovan, or Belarussan, or Bulgarian or some god forsaken place in eurasia. The interior of this home is exactly what I would expect from someone who sent their formative years under commmuism and then was let loose upon the west to build build build. The inside is a disaster. The workmanship is most likely stellar but the design is pitrid.

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  30. I’m very curious to see what 1842 closes at and what happens with 1838. I keep asking myself how many buyers can there be at this price in this neighborhood? I’m a bit surprised.

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  31. boi_in_boystown on November 18th, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    I wonder what prompted the name change to Noah Properties?

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  32. “there is a family in roscoe village that i can see whats for dinner if you drive by the house at 6:30”

    I don’t need to drive by the nabe says it all: it’s foo-foo crap and “organic”, “honest” type uber-yup food they pay twice the price at Mariano’s, Whole Foods or Green Grocer vs. Jewel/Dominick’s or, gasp, Costco.

    I bet the dumbasses believe they’re not going to get cancer/going to live longer by spending more on their groceries. LOL.

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  33. Meh, from the outside I was expecting a more minimalist modern interior. I agree, its overkill with all of the coffered ceilings. The room doors and obnoxious along with the wainscoting, and busy hardwood floors. Also not a fan of that tall built-in kitchen counter. The master bath, basement with theater and outdoor spaces are the bee’s knees but that’s about it.

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  34. I’m curious about the name change too. That would give me pause purchasing from them. Reminds me of the developer I bought from. Here today…another LLC tomorrow. I toured the property under their old name that just sold on Homer (previously discussed) and those ceilings! Feels to me like PVC add-ons adhered to the drywall ceilings. Did not feel like old-world craftsmanship to me. Felt like a bland white-box, with wanna-be cutting-edge european finishes. Overkill. Kinda tacky. And I wish developers still included backyards with construction like this…with actual grass. Now it seems like the max out the home space, build a bridge to the roof of the garage and call that the yard. No lawn to absorb water and keep it out of the sewers. No where to grow anything other than in a pot.

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  35. This house is hilarious.

    Build a glossy minimalist house and trick out the interior with traditional gestunk while someone in an ornamental Victorian graystone rips out truly superlative woodwork and plasterwork and guts the place clear to the roof to create a blinding white minimalist interior.

    So much money and great architecture both traditional and modern wasted when they could just swap houses.

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  36. This is my favorite builder in the city. Been through a number of his homes and the detail is fantastic. That being said I think this one is priced too high for the location and market. $1.3 I think sells it. I believe this is his first house E of Ashland – typically been all West Bucktown and Ukranian Village and all those sell in the high $700s I think. So what’s the premium for the better location?

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  37. Ridiculous interior design, silly pricing, and average neighborhood. No thanks.

    It looks like they spent a decent amount on the interior, but it’s all so tacky and ill-conceived. Very Eastern Bloc.

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  38. “So what’s the premium for the better location?”

    Since they “only” spent $405 on the lot, if you are correct about the others selling for $800k, they should have lots of room to negotiate price, unless this is much larger than the other houses.

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  39. We live in an ultimate/noah home and we really like it.
    Another ultimate home place was featured here a few weeks ago and received glowing comments. Surprising how fickle this crowd is! 🙂

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  40. “I believe this is his first house E of Ashland – typically been all West Bucktown and Ukranian Village ”

    what is this “West Bucktown” you speak of?

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  41. Some people call it “Humboldt Park”.

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  42. “Another ultimate home place was featured here a few weeks ago and received glowing comments. Surprising how fickle this crowd is!”

    I wouldn’t say glowing. More positive than negative, though with some concerns noted about the builder by some. And while there were some debatable design/style choices in that place, it wasn’t the crazytown this place is.

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  43. If you invested in “My Big Greek Wedding” and got a big dividend check, then this is the place for you!!

    anon(tfo): can you tell us if this is 5,000 sf?

    What is the rule, does the 1/3 of the total square footage that is in the basement count, legally?

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  44. PS the master bath is ridiculous, one’s hair would be dry by the time it takes to squeegee that monstrosity. Who wants to be that exposed anyway? And “movie theaters” are pathetically Highland Park suburban, TV and movies are for sheeple anyway.

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  45. gringozecarioca on November 22nd, 2011 at 4:04 am

    “TV and movies are for sheeple anyway.”

    Yep, Boo for anything that can provide entertainment. ‘Art for art’s sake’, F that too! Musee d Orsay- burn everything inside and turn it back into a train station! People need to be more serious and stop having any fun.

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  46. “What is the rule, does the 1/3 of the total square footage that is in the basement count, legally?”

    What do you mean “legally”? By the assessor? Most likely, they built the basement in such a way that the assessor will not count it, but I’d need to look into it more to be confident.

    Would bet that the interior floorplate is about 1700/ floor. There is no way on a standard city lot, with normal setbacks, a garage and some space bt the house and yard that you can get 5000 on two floors. None.

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  47. “And “movie theaters” are pathetically Highland Park suburban, TV and movies are for sheeple anyway.”

    LMAO you are such a bastion of contemporary urban culture you must get comp’d at Beat Kitchen.

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  48. “LMAO you are such a bastion of contemporary urban culture you must get comp’d at Beat Kitchen.”

    Bob, if you want to run up to Highland Park and watch Inglorious Basterds over and over in a home theater with that crowd, be my guest. I’ll take the city and some Internet surfing with my quiet time over that scene.

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  49. This house is confused. It has an identity crisis. It should see a shrink or something. Good luck to the untasteful people who is going to buy it or made the selections-or to the one time wannabe developer who built this non-sense.

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  50. Thanks for linking to the video, Sabrina.

    The builder is Noah Properties (formerly known as Ultimate Homes). Same builder who recently completed 1838 (open Saturday), 1842 (Contingent) and 1848 (closed) W Erie. Just posted video yesterday from 1838:

    Well, someone should let tham know that they don’t have much future in this business, unless they have tons of shady money and don’t know where to put it other than building weird stuff.

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  51. “Nice place and I do like the finishes, but overpriced. Someone said these finishes will go out fast, and I tend to agree. For over a million, even I would be a bit more traditional. Plus, too close to Ashland for my liking. Here’s a place further east on Wolfram for $100K less.”

    I love people who can’t afford sh** and make non-sensical comments such as being close to Ashland…Have you seen what’s been built in the immediate West of Ashland?! Not buying this house because it’s simply ridiculous is more than fair, but not buying it because it’s too close to Ashland for some loser’s taste who thinks the mere fact of traditionalism should give a house more value and price smells ignorance at best. You have to seperate cosmetics from quality, location, sqft., type, lot size etc.

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  52. “not buying it because it’s too close to Ashland for some loser’s taste who thinks the mere fact of traditionalism should give a house more value and price smells ignorance at best”

    Would you say something similar about HD’s various freeway ramp homes?

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  53. Err, are we all looking at the same pictures? I myself really like the finishes. Who cares if the outside is modern and the inside is traditional. It is called picking the best of both the world. I am not sure about prices, but how many people can say they live in a beautiful house like this??? And that outdoor patio, oh my, imagine what you can do there during summer time! Overly critical folks here, eh? Funny since Noah Properties / Ultimate Homes has been selling properties like hot cakes…. Lucky buyers, since I would bet that the majority of us here live in a cookie cutter, less than 1000 sqft condo……

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  54. Anon, at least ALL of my on ramp properties have sold….

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