North Versus South: Living On Seeley

There are those that live and breathe the North Side and those that live and breathe the South Side of the city- and no, I’m not talking about Cubs and White Sox fans.

These two houses are on the same street at opposite ends of Chicago. And they couldn’t be further apart.

Or are they?

First, on the North Side, you have this new construction mansion in Roscoe Village at 3514 N. Seeley.

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Here’s the listing:

PERHAPS ROSCOE VILLAGE’S FINEST RESIDENCE. SITUATED ON 37.5 FT LOT ON QUIET, ONE-WAY SEELEY, THIS DEVELOPER’S OWN HOME FEAT ALL BRICK CONSTR W/COPPER & SLATE ACCENTS, RDNT HTD BATHS, LL, SIDEWALKS & PATIO

HAND SCRAPED WALNUT FLOORING, CUSTOM ALDER WOOD PANELED LIBRARY W/CAWFORD CEILINGS, MAG QUAL KIT W/CREAM INSET DOORS, COMM. APPL, TIGER TEAK COUNTERS & WBFP, ITALIAN MARBLE BATHS, AMAZING OUTDOOR SP…

Jeffrey Lowe at Century 21 Sussex & Reilly has the listing.

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3514 N. Seeley: 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, 3 car garage, 6800 square feet

  • New construction in 2003- I couldn’t find an original sales price
  • Currently listed for $2.229 million
  • Taxes of $17,383

Then, on the South Side, you have this 1930s tudor house at 10515 S. Seeley in Beverly.

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Here’s the listing:

HISTORY & ELEGANCE COMBINE IN THE ULTIMATE LUXURY BEVERLY HOME! LANDMARKED M.D. HETHERINGTON. ORIGINAL CHARM & TIMELESS UPDATES.

KITCHEN W/WHITE CABINETS, BLACK GRANITE, PORCELAIN TILE FLR, SUB ZERO, BOSCH & WOLF APPS. NEW LIMESTONE FP. RICH DARK WALNUT FLRS ON 1ST & 2ND LEVEL. FIN 3RD FLR W/TREE TOP VIEWS & FULL BATH. AMAZING FIN. BSMNT W/ SLATE TILE BATH. NEW PELLA WINDOWS, ENGLISH PATIO GARDEN,…

Bernadette Molloy at Molloy & Associates has the listing.

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10515-s-seeley-patio.jpg

10515 S. Seeley: 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half baths, 2 car garage

  • Sold in November 2003 for $600,000
  • Currently listed for $889,000
  • Taxes of $8,598

24 Responses to “North Versus South: Living On Seeley”

  1. The Roscoe Village home has metal fireplace inserts, seriously cheapens the house. Why do developers go through all the expense of putting in that woodwork next to $200 metal faux fireplace. Ugh. I like South Seeley better, it looks like a real house. North Seeley looks like the Adams Family might live there… 🙂

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  2. “W/CAWFORD CEILINGS”

    Really? Is that a new brandname ceiling? Haven’t heard of it–must be super, super high end.

    Oh, wait . . . coffered sounds like Cawford, doesn’t it? That’s some fine, fine work by the realtor on that one.

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  3. Oh, and I agree with paulj–I like the Beverley house much more–especially with the price difference–but I’m just not a southside guy, no matter how much nicer for the price.

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  4. After I finally finished laughing about it I decided to do some research on Cawford® ceilings on Google, and it turns out that this is not the only property with that distinguished feature.

    Buying a new home? Insist on Cawford: The only brand with sunken ceiling panels!

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  5. I have seen references to “rod iron.”

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  6. BEVERLY ROCKS! (If you are married and have kids.) It is a really nice hood. (I grew up there, and the Metra has you downtown in about 25 minutes.)

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  7. The thing is about Beverly is that while it may be within the city boundaries, the environment is a lot like a lot of suburban environments (correct me if I’m wrong here I’m no expert)? But with house prices significantly higher than most suburbs? Its about as far from downtown as many suburbs too.

    A 5br McMansion in the burbs is around 350k. I don’t see why this would go for $800k. Is a landmark status really worth 600k?

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  8. David (the first one) on July 29th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Where can you find a 5br McMansion 13 miles from downtown, near a Metra line, in a pleasant, mature, and established area, with quality construction and landmark architectural design, for $350K?

    I’m not saying this one is obviously worth the $890K asking price, but a $350K turd in the suburbs is hardly a valid comp.

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  9. “A 5br McMansion in the burbs is around 350k. I don’t see why this would go for $800k. Is a landmark status really worth 600k?”

    Well, (1) the difference you posit is only $450k, not $600k; (2)there is the rule for city employees that they must live in the city, so it’s an appealing ‘hood for cops, firemen, lawyers and anyone else with a city job; (3) which suburbs are comparable distance? The inner ring only, right? Maybe there’s something in Berwyn or the ‘Parks that’s comparable, but similar homes in Evanston, Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood, Harwood Heights, Park Ridge, Oak Park, River Forest, etc. can’t be had for $350k–maybe about $500k in some of them, but that’s significantly different from $350k; (4) some people just want to live in Chicago, in Beverly, in a historic house or all three, which is worth something to them–it only takes one buyer.

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  10. Ok I can see the market for city employees. But if cops, firemen or most other employees in a city job can afford a 900k residence then I guess I’m in the wrong line of work. Heck even a 600k residence for city employees..I’m in the wrong line of work.

    I’ve heard nothing but good things about this neighborhood but I don’t think that justifies the asking price on this unit.

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  11. This is one of the higher end units in Beverly, for sure. As far as having a suburban quality to it, well, not exactly. It is a pretty tight community. People idenify thier living location by what parish they live in. Also, there are not really any strip malls and you don’t have to drive everywhere. I’ll take Beverly over the Suburbs any day.

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  12. “A 5br McMansion in the burbs is around 350k.”

    What suburb? Joliet? Antioch? Maybe.

    If you want a subrub relatively close to the city, say Elmhurst, you can probably find a 5 bed 3 bath in the $400K range but on average be prepared to spend $800K-$1M for “A 5br McMansion”.

    You would pay similiar prices in towns like Oak Park, Evanston, Schaumburg, Naperville, Bloomingdale, Hinsdale etc…

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  13. “But if cops, firemen or most other employees in a city job can afford a 900k residence then I guess I’m in the wrong line of work. Heck even a 600k residence for city employees”

    A fireman or cop with a bit of seniority and a lot of overtime can make around $100k dependably; so can a lot of other city employees (even w/o breaking the law). Two of those incomes and you qualify under traditional underwriting standards for $600k. As noted, this is one of the nicer houses–so say you have one spouse who’s a city attorney and the other has another professional job with somewhat better pay–tahdah, you qualify for $800k, with “normal” lending practices. And there more than a few people doing a lot better who grew up in the neighborhood and want to raise their kids there, too.

    And never forget–almost all city firemen have a second income by themselves.

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  14. The house in Beverly reminds me of a house in a 1920’s plan book; very nice.

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  15. The thing about Beverly is that if you head a few blocks to the east there’s some pretty bad neighborhoods. It’s a very tight community because it has to be; it’s an island of tranquility among the toxic waste land of the south side.

    And don’t even get me started about the neighborhood 12 year olds drinking in the street during the south side irish parade…..

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  16. “And don’t even get me started about the neighborhood 12 year olds drinking in the street during the south side irish parade”

    Oh, don’t be such a protty, HD.

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  17. One could always steer clear of 103rd and Western one Sunday a year, though I wouldn’t recommend not going to the parade.

    In any case, Beverly isn’t unsafe. You could make the same dubious argument about Bucktown: Who would live there when Humboldt Park is right across Western? Or why live in Old Town when the low-income housing on Sedgwick is just a stone’s throw away?

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  18. It’s not a dubious argument. It’s the reason why it’s 1/3 cheaper to buy down there.

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  19. “It’s the reason why it’s 1/3 cheaper to buy down there.”

    Well, that and the near absence of retail and restaurants, the much greater distance to the loop and things related to that. So, one of the reasons, but not THE reason.

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  20. homedelete is the kind of guy who, if he ended up in Beverly, would be talking about how unsafe anything west of Halsted is on the north side. sweeping generalizations and, as has been shown, a lack of factual knowledge and personal insight.

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  21. anon, its no stretch to attribute the lack of retail and restaurants to the fact that the surrounding hoods are what they are. Which seems to be the point homedelete was making.

    I agree with the distance to the loop, but is it much different commuting from say, Sauganash? How do prices and amenities compare?

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  22. No doubt, G, and that’s something that would be said in a conversation. Note I was expanding on HD’s point.

    As to Sauganash, other than the new whole foods, I don’t think (could be wrong–haven’t been down to the Bev recently) there are too many more amenities in the ‘hood than there are in Beverley–transit options are a little better, too. But it is a lot closer to everything else. I think that is too much like the “distance from the loop” issue–if Beverley were as close as Pilsen (or Back of the Yards, even), then it wouldn’t suffer as much from its neighboring ‘hoods.

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  23. Beverly is home to two country clubs. (Also home to the Western Open this year) perhaps the residents are dining there, no? the 19th ward has lots of clout and more judges live in the area than all the rest of cook county.

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  24. Its all about where you are in Bev. I live here – everything from 88th – 107th from Rockwell to Prospect is safe. Then you get into Morgan Park. Common stereotype is that it is “gangsta, gangsta”. Like most stereotypes its false. Look at the community mapping. West Morgan Park is adjacent to the 94% white cop Mt. Greenwood. Everything from 108th – 118th, from Rockwell to Longwood is “safe” because a lot of cops live there (three on my block) and because of the close proximity to Mt. Greenwood. Most stuff east of Longwood is a problem.

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