Crib Chatter

This 2-bedroom in 320 W. Oakdale in East Lakeview came on the market in October 2024.

The building was designed by Milton Schwartz in 1955 and has 51 units and covered parking. It has many mid-century modern fans.

This is from Wikipedia about the building’s history:

The building at 320 West Oakdale is representative of the apartment building boom in Chicago, Illinois in the 1950s and 1960s. Milton M. Schwartz served as the building’s architect, contractor, and developer, and the building was his first major design. As such, he had complete control over the creative direction of the building, and so was able to tailor it to his interests.

Schwartz intended the building to serve as luxury apartments for the city elite. The apartment was designed so that residences had windows in three or four directions. Rooms were designed to resemble single-story ranch homes. The building was one of the first completely air conditioned all-glass apartments in Chicago.

Stark in its repetition and simplicity, it is a good example of the International Style. The building was highlighted in a 1955 Architectural Forum article about recent Chicago apartment buildings. In the article, it was compared favorably to nearby works by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. On April 23, 2013, the building was recognized by the National Park Service with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

There is on-site management, including an engineer, but no door staff. It has a bike room and a laundry room.

The listing calls this unit “mid-century modern perfection.”

It has walls of floor-to-ceiling glass windows with panoramic views of the lake, park and cityscape from the 20th floor.

There are hardwood floors in the main living areas.

The unit has a unique arched formal entry foyer.

It has a large great room which can really be used almost as 2 living rooms.

There’s a separate dining room which is open to the great room.

The kitchen has the original St Charles wood cabinets but has been updated with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, including a wine refrigerator, and terrazzo tile floors. It also has a peninsula which seats 3.

This unit has some of the features buyers look for including central air and parking for $25,000 extra but it doesn’t have in-unit washer/dryer. There is a laundry room in the building.

It also has just 1.5 baths instead of 2 full bathrooms.

This building is near Lincoln Park, the Diversey driving range, the shops and restaurants of Broadway and East Lakeview and multiple bus routes.

Listed in October 2024 at $550,000,  is this a dream unit for those who love mid-century modern architecture?

Brad Lippitz and Anne Killarney at Compass have the listing. See the pictures here (sorry, no floor plan).

Unit #2003: 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1600 square feet

• Sold in January 1996 for $140,000
• Sold in July 2007 for $384,000
• Lis pendens foreclosure filed in July 2012
• Bank owned in May 2013
• Sold in March 2014 for $259,000
• Sold in January 2022 for $465,000
• Currently listed at $550,000
• Assessments of $1235 a month (includes heat, a/c, security, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
• Taxes of $8176
• Central Air
• No washer/dryer in the unit (laundry room in the building)
• Parking for $25,000
• Bedroom #1: 16×12
• Bedroom #2: 12×11
• Kitchen: 14×13
• Living room: 29×15
• Dining room: 16×14
• Foyer