Live in a Church Steeple: A 2-Bedroom at 3101 N. Seminary in Lakeview
This 2-bedroom duplex in a converted church at 3101 N. Seminary in Lakeview came on the market in July 2016.
It has been on and off the market since then.
This is a penthouse unit in the church steeple with 20 foot high cathedral vaulted ceilings.
It has exposed beams and brick along with unique church windows.
There are skylights with switch-operated windows.
The listing describes the kitchen as “gourmet” with gray cabinets, black granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and a breakfast bar.
The unit has a 25×7 terrace off the family room.
There’s a master suite on the first floor along with a second bedroom and a 20×6 storage closet.
The second floor has a lofted office that overlooks the living room.
It has central air, washer/dryer in the unit and garage parking.
Built in 1887, this church has just 5 units.
I can’t determine if the building has an elevator.
Originally listed in 2016 for $925,000 it was reduced to $799,000 in September 2017 but has come back on the market listed 6% higher, at $847,500.
Why isn’t this unique condo selling?
Marissa Schaefer at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures and the floor plan here.
Unit #D: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2400 square feet, duplex
- Sold in April 2002 for $684,000
- Sold in December 2004 for $724,500
- Sold in April 2013 for $770,000
- Originally listed in July 2016 for $925,000
- Reduced
- Listed in September 2017 for $799,000
- Raised
- Currently listed at $847,500 (includes parking space)
- Assessments of $632 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $14,597
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 18×11 (main level)
- Bedroom #2: 15×11 (main level)
- Family room: 24×15 (main level)
- Office: 14×17 (second floor)
Optical illusion or is the terrace sloped?
Not sure how much ambulance noise this gets with being a level 1 trauma center.
Great place, love the layout. But moving out and staging isn’t worth nearly 50K.
This place is unique and has some serious potential.
This could be staged better – minimalism is fine, but when you’re dealing with “unique” room sizes/shapes,it gives the impression that you can’t fit much furniture in the room.
Assessment seems high, but I guess maintenance of the roof and such is probably more expensive than a standard condo building.
Lovely place, though; it’s nice to see non-cookie cutter properties!
we toured this place multiple times in the Fall when it was 799 and we’re seriously considering before buying something more traditional in Lakeview.
It actually feels more wonderful in person than in the photos, which was unlike many listings that have great photography but the inside feels cramped.
The living room, kitchen, and family room with fireplace are delightfully spacious and airy, really wonderful and don’t feel claustrophobic at all – very the opposite. We really fell in love with that aspect.
The other massive plus is just the feeling of very durable old school construction – all the finishes are well done, heavy doors, cleaned up painted wall joints, and the bricks will probably withstand nuclear war unscathed and sit for 200 years unlike much of modern construction.
On the minus side though, I feel like they lost their mind raising the price 50k hoping for a bull market spring season tick.
the minuses: a family that can afford a place for 800k+ is going to have a lot of questions.
The master bedroom is weirdly shaped and the bathroom feels shabby and not at all luxurious. The second bedroom is even weirder with no directly out facing windows that only are skylights. So if you put your kid there, first it’s right next to your bedroom, 2. they’re going to become goths who write weird poetry and vampire novels. The staging does a very big disservices, as the comment above says, because it is minimalistic to the point of making it feel like they literally don’t know how to stage it, and neither will you when you move in and try to live there.
I actually loved it, but my wife said no because of the weird “feng shui” and that no way it’s a place we can live long term ie 5+, not even saying 10+.
Seriously though – the living spaces are stunning, palacial, airy, and delightful. It’s just awkward layouts that simply cannot be improved, poorly staged, and not family friendly. Someone with a solid amount of dough and a unique family or lifestyle situation will love it, but I think of it as more of a 750 place than 850.
So basically $850k to live in a glorified Church attic? fail
Beautiful — I’m never surprised if a well-done church conversion sells fast and this one is really well done, IMO. But I’d have lots of questions (assessments, maintenance issues, how is it to heat) and practical thoughts (how would it work with my stuff/life) if seriously considering it. Plus, bigger issue, I love how it looks, it’s obviously not cookie cutter, but I’m not sure how I’d feel living there, there’s something about it that doesn’t have quite the same attraction to me as living in an old, beautiful, well-maintained or restored house, it just would feel a bit odd that it used to be a church, even though that’s also what makes it interesting/special.
I’m not convinced that would sway me against it, but that plus the other issues makes me think the buyer pool for this kind of thing is just going to be a bit smaller from the beginning, especially at this price point.
“we toured this place multiple times in the Fall when it was 799 and we’re seriously considering before buying something more traditional in Lakeview.”
Thanks for the update Mike.
Does the building have an elevator? How do you get to the unit?
Was the outdoor terrace space usable?
“Not sure how much ambulance noise this gets with being a level 1 trauma center.”
What are you talking about?
It’s about 8 blocks away from the hospital entrance.
And the ambulance is just cruising down Barry for no particular reason with the sirens blaring?
I don’t know about you JohnnyU, but I’ve lived nowhere near a “level 1 trauma center” or any other hospital and have heard various police, ambulance and fire sirens while living in the city. Sometimes, gasp, they’re even on my block. They’re THAT close. They drive by and…I barely notice.
The only time I DID notice, was one summer night where I heard numerous sirens to the west of my house. It wasn’t a normal level of sirens. It was multiple fire trucks going to the same location. It was obvious something was going on. Later, on twitter, there were reports of a porch collapse about a mile to the west of my house.
“So basically $850k to live in a glorified Church attic? fail”
People are paying a hell of a lot more than that to live in former factories all over the city. What’s the difference?
““Not sure how much ambulance noise this gets with being a level 1 trauma center.”
What are you talking about?
It’s about 8 blocks away from the hospital entrance.
And the ambulance is just cruising down Barry for no particular reason with the sirens blaring?”
Exactly. Barry is one-way westbound/away from the hospital, which is *not* that close. Ambulances from farther away are going to be on Belmont or Diversey, then either go down Sheffield or Halsted to get to Wellington to the ER entrance. Also, at night, there’s very little traffic on the street. Most ambulances just run lights, not sirens when on side streets. So they’ll blare them down Belmont/Diversey to get through big intersections, but once on Sheffield, they’ll turn off the siren unless needed.
“What are you talking about?
It’s about 8 blocks away from the hospital entrance.
And the ambulance is just cruising down Barry for no particular reason with the sirens blaring?
I don’t know about you JohnnyU, but I’ve lived nowhere near a “level 1 trauma center” or any other hospital and have heard various police, ambulance and fire sirens while living in the city. Sometimes, gasp, they’re even on my block. They’re THAT close. They drive by and…I barely notice.
The only time I DID notice, was one summer night where I heard numerous sirens to the west of my house. It wasn’t a normal level of sirens. It was multiple fire trucks going to the same location. It was obvious something was going on. Later, on twitter, there were reports of a porch collapse about a mile to the west of my house.”
LOL- In addition to everything else, you arent very good at mapping. Its at most 4 blocks.
Nonya is correct that Barry is one way and counter most ambulance traffic so that concern.
“a porch collapse about a mile to the west of my house”
713 W. Wrightwood?
Twitter wasn’t around when 713 Wrightwood collapsed… that was in 2003.
I remember it because it was a party thrown by one of the analyst working under me when I worked in consulting. I recall getting the email invitation for the party.
I love everything about this except for the price and the layout of the kitchen – – without a pot-filler and a beverage sink next to that stove, that is a lot of walking about in your perfect triangle layout kitchen.
Otherwise, what a cool floor plan – – jr. could sleep through your dinner party easily. Not sure I would buy this if planning to start a family though. This is perfect for folks without kids or empty-nesters who want to move someplace cool so that their kids visit often.
“empty-nesters who want to move someplace cool so that their kids visit often.”
I believe that is spelled “Aspen” or “Coronado” or “South Beach”, not “Lake View”.
@anon (tfo) Some folks still have years of working after the kids move out but before retiring….rendering a move to a resort town somewhat impractical (unless they are a ski instructor or something)…. I am also assuming said empty nesters are currently in the ‘burbs and wanting to be someplace a bit hipper than the burbs.
Fantastic looking place and a true conversation piece. It’s unique and may not be for everyone (maybe not even me), but kudos to whoever put it together. Pretty good location too, near the el and Wrigley but not too near.
To those who say not a family place, I agree. Definitely not. It’s for empty nesters or maybe a gay couple without plans for children. It’s also quite far from the hospital, so not sure why that even came up in this conversation.
I hope the artwork helped the staging. I provided the art.
https://sites.google.com/site/markyeedesign/gallery
http://wgntv.com/2018/02/16/after-20-years-as-a-banker-man-turns-to-art-and-celebrates-his-chinese-heritage/
“I believe that is spelled “Aspen” or “Coronado” or “South Beach”, not “Lake View”.”
Aren’t those really second home locations? South Beach will be under water in the next few years anyway- so good luck buying there.
But Aspen and Coronado are $1 million+ destinations. If you can afford that, it’s likely a second home.
Is Coronado even “cool”? It has a small town with a handful of restaurants and shuts down pretty early at night. Lots of picket fences though. Lovely area.
And do the kids care about Aspen either? Only in the winter. It’s gorgeous in the summer, but it’s pretty dead. I recommend going there on vacation over the summer, when hotel prices are cheap.
“Twitter wasn’t around when 713 Wrightwood collapsed… that was in 2003.”
No. West of Ashland as I said.
I take it back. It was actually ON Ashland.
It was west of where I lived and those sirens were LOUD.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-13/news/ct-met-porch-collapse-0914-20100913_1_chicago-building-inspectors-porch-francis-patrick-murphy
“Twitter wasn’t around when 713 Wrightwood collapsed… that was in 2003.”
If you haven’t seen the ER Episode called “The Show Must Go On”- it covers a porch collapse and actually shows it happening.
It’s awful and realistic. It freaks me out every time I watch it.
One of the young doctors is attending a party when it happens.
You can watch the clip of it collapsing here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aculODOL1ns
“quite far from the hospital”
It’s 1.5 “full” blocks. Call it 3.5 if you like. That’s NOT “quite far”.
“West of Ashland as I said.”
Um, no, you didn’t.
You said “a mile west of ‘my house'” which could have meant anywhere.
“wanting to be someplace a bit hipper than the burbs.”
Sure, but aren’t the kids also living in Lake View? Or the West Loop? Where are these hypothetical kids living that this is ‘a get them to visit’ place?