3-Bedroom Old Town Townhouse is a Hidden Secret: 1612 N. Saint Michaels Ct
This 3-bedroom townhouse in the Historic St Michael’s Gated Community at 1612 N. Saint Michaels Ct in Old Town came on the market in June 2023. (Picture is of the complex but not this specific townhouse)
Built in 1980, there are 14 townhouses that surround a landscaped courtyard and gardens. It appears to be a walled complex with gates. It has an underground garage and a common shared courtyard deck.
This townhouse is in the interior courtyard and the listing says it is a “hidden secret.”
It has been rehabbed to include an open and contemporary staircase.
The townhouse has exposed brick, including in the main floor powder room. There are hardwood floors throughout the main level.
It has two seating areas on the main floor which is open concept with the kitchen and dining room. There’s a small east facing balcony off the dining room and a Boulevard ventless fireplace.
The chef’s kitchen has black (gray?) cabinets with Wolf, Subzero and Bosch appliances from 2015. It has a huge island with granite counter tops and seating for four.
The second level has the three bedrooms. The primary suite has a professionally organized walk-in-closet and a netural bath with a double vanity and soaking tub.
The second and third bedroom/office have exposed brick and share a bath with a soaking tub/shower.
The third level is a private 30×18 roof deck with Cumaru hardwood tiles and downtown views.
This townhouse has central air and one garage parking space is included with a second one available for purchase in the underground garage. The listing says: “The Back stairs from the unit leads down to the garage. This is not an Elevator Building.”
I’m not sure which level you enter into this townhouse from. Is there a first and second floor? The listing says the living areas are on the third and fourth floors. There is no floor plan.
Listed at $849,000, will this townhouse be under contract by the weekend?
Kieran Conlon and Patrick Cullen at Compass have the listing. See the pictures here.
Or see it in person at the Open House on Saturday, July 1 from 12 pm to 2 pm.
1612 N. Saint Michaels Ct: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1896 square feet, townhouse
- Sold in September 1987 for $280,000 (per Redfin)
- Sold in February 2002 for $510,000
- Listed in June 2023 at $849,900
- Assessments of $669 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $15,775
- Central Air
- One garage parking space included with second one available for purchase
- Additional storage cage: 5 x 3 x 8
- Ventless fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 18×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 15×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×10 (second floor)
- Living room: 18×17 (main floor)
- Dining room: 17×16 (main floor)
- Kitchen: 17×8 (main floor)
- Family room: 13×10 (main floor)
- Foyer: 9×7 (main floor)
- Walk-in-closet: 11×5 (second floor)
- Roof top deck: 30×18
- Balcony: (main floor)
so you just hop on the kitchen island to grab some booze or hot sauce? interesting use of space.
“There is no floor plan.”
Hit the link.
Entry foyer, up the stairs to the main level. Bedrooms on 2d. Roofdeck.
Even with some funky design choices, I like it so much better than the recent sale in the complex:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1603-N-Cleveland-Ave-60614/home/13346092
They started at $810k in March of 2020. Just so booooring
This checks some boxes for sure except that I already live in this area and want to move because there really isn’t a neighborhood. I miss Lincoln Square for that reason. I also giggle a little when I read about the parking because someone from this complex was at the developer’s community outreach meeting back before the new apartment at Larrabbee and North was constructed…they were spouting a lot of rage and very few facts in opposition to the new construction and I distinctly remember some nonsense about how difficult it was for them to get in and out of their garage onto North Avenue in heavy traffic as if North Avenue had been a rural road when they originally bought their condo LOL. I hope it wasn’t the person who owns this unit as the finishes make me want to believe they are more sophisticated than that LOL.
Certainly different and it raises my curiosity to see it. Great location, of course, and I love the outdoor space. You have to love mid-century architecture, naturally, but at least it’s trying to be something. Not neutral and blah. I’d have to see a floor plan to figure out how it works.
“Even with some funky design choices, I like it so much better than the recent sale in the complex:”
They definitely went for it on the design. You’re either going to really love it, or you’ll hate it. I admire people who just decorate as they want. We haven’t seen black/gray kitchen cabinets in a while. They didn’t play it safe and just make everything white.
Floor plan is in the virtual tour link. Not the normal place they put it in the listing. Why make it so hard to find?
Also, why aren’t there any pictures of the second “bedroom” or office- which appears not to have a closet?
And why didn’t they say anything about the door in the third bedroom that leads outside? On the floorplan, is that a balcony of some kind? Where does that go? Can others access that?
I would have liked to see what the foyer looks like but they didn’t include any pictures for the virtual tour either. Why not? Obviously, if you go to the open house you can see it but why not take one right when you walk in?
https://tour.vht.com/434328454/1612-n-st-michaels-ct-chicago-il-60614/ifloorplan/idxs
Where’s the washer/dryer? Is it in the hallway on the second floor with the bedrooms?
“u have to love mid-century architecture, naturally, but at least it’s trying to be something.”
Is 1980 “mid-century”? I don’t think so.
But this neighborhood stunk when this complex was built. Lots of crime. So it’s not surprising that they built it like a fortress with the units on top of the parking garage, a walled compound, and gates. Everything faces “in” including the gardens and courtyard, so you could keep the big, bad city away.
Love the grounds, by the way. Very serene.
“This checks some boxes for sure except that I already live in this area and want to move because there really isn’t a neighborhood.”
The Cat: moving back to Lincoln Square then? What areas have that neighborhood feeling? I always felt like Ukrainian Village felt very neighborhoody.
This checks some boxes for sure except that I already live in this area and want to move because there really isn’t a neighborhood.
Truth
The shops and happening places are either to the east on N. Wells or to the west on N. Halsted. Directly south you have traffic speeding by on North Ave and all around is residential.
close to 700 in assessments feels a bit high for the townhouses. I wonder if the buildings could take a closer look at their expenses.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1603-N-Cleveland-Ave-60614/home/13346092
I maybe like the boring one better if I was able to get it for lower 700’s and then personalize it.
“I maybe like the boring one better if I was able to get it for lower 700’s and then personalize it.”
Well, sure, but it sold in two days this spring, at the asking price. And the listing history shows they weren’t going to accept $725 or something.
It’s also quite a different layout (even before the reno here)–with the balconies on the bedroom level, and the office room on the roof level.
Place kinda gives me the creeps.
No, 1980 isn’t mid-century, I admit. But it took cues from it. I’m not sure if 60’s-80’s architecture has a proper nomenclature. Whatever it’s called, this one has that look.
I disagree that the neighborhood “stunk” in 1980. I went to grammar school a few blocks from here and to day camp that was actually headquartered at St. Michaels in 1977-78, and I assure you, it was a lovely area, even if it wasn’t ultra-rich as it is now. Yes, Cabrini Green was nearby, but North avenue and the tracks formed what seemed like a formidable barrier. There was all kinds of construction going on in LP and even around the south end of LP at the time – lots of townhomes like these and smaller complexes, many of which haven’t yet been torn down for $3 million mansions. For what it’s worth, my parents bought in Lakeview in 1975 because LP was already too expensive.
“I disagree that the neighborhood “stunk” in 1980.”
It was terrible. Students didn’t even live at DePaul as the crime was so bad parents didn’t want them living there. We forget how bad the crime was in the 1970s and 80s.
Yeah, there were definitely some townhomes and condos built during this era in Old Town and LP. But if you look at them, you’ll see they were all built like fortresses. Walls, gates, few windows on the first floor. Lol. Much like this complex.
Do I blame them? No. They were designing for the reality of what was going on at that time. If there are a lot of break-ins, you build your house to prevent as many as possible. And this soothed the buyers so they were building to the market.
“close to 700 in assessments feels a bit high for the townhouses. I wonder if the buildings could take a closer look at their expenses.”
They are 40 years old. Lots of things have to be replaced. Lots of balconies and decks on these. Underground garage may need concrete repair by now. Stairs have to be replaced. Extensive landscaping that has to be maintained.
How much is a homeowner paying for their house maintenance on a 40 year old house every month? It’s not even $10k a year.
Sabrina, I’d love to have a drink with you someday to discuss LP in the late-70’s, early-80’s. Maybe crime was high, but it was already an expensive neighborhood with lots of well-off people. Including many people I knew. Many of them lived in the Seminary or in Old Town. I spent a lot of time there back then. I do remember Lakeview, especially Broadway and the Wrigley area, being much more seedy then. Night and day vs. now. But LP was already gentrified.
@Sabrina: I like the shops and restaurants along Lincoln in the Square and the homes immediately east of Lincoln between Lawrence and Montrose would be my preferred area if I were to move back to that area.
Honestly love this unit. I’ve been eyeing some units in this development, but honestly the HOA turned me off and it’s at the higher end of my budget.
Otherwise the rooftop is great and so is the style. The open layout makes it seem bigger too. Overall great stuff.
Still available and still listed at $849,900.