A Historic 2-Bedroom East Lincoln Park Row House for Under $1 Million: 1818 N. Lincoln
This 2-bedroom row house at 1818 N. Lincoln in East Lincoln Park recently came on the market.
The listing says it was built in 1876 but the plaque on the side of this group of row houses says they were built in 1879 and have historic protection.
It’s a fee simple brick row house with 3 levels on a 17×54 lot.
Some of its vintage features have survived including the crown molding, the wood stair case and the living room fireplace.
The kitchen and bathrooms have been updated in recent years.
The kitchen has white cabinets and subway tiles along with luxury appliances by Bosch, Thermador and Subzero.
The two bedrooms are upstairs along with one full bathroom with a claw foot tub.
There’s also a full bath in the lower level which has the laundry room and the family room.
There’s no parking with the property but it does have a private deck off the back.
The row house has central air.
The listing says to see “additional information” for more details about what was renovated with the property.
This row house sold just 2 years ago, with the kitchen and bathrooms already renovated, at $775,000.
It has come back on the market at $889,000.
With new construction duplex downs in Lincoln Park selling between $900,000 and $1.1 million, will this be under contract this week?
Phyllis Hall at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.
1818 N. Lincoln: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, row house, no square footage listed
- The CCRD is down this weekend (what’s new?) so all the prior sales information is from Zillow
- Sold in June 1994 for $187,500
- Sold in August 2001 for $480,000
- Sold in June 2003 for $493,000
- Sold in August 2012 for $655,000
- Sold in July 2016 for $775,000
- Currently listed at $889,000
- Fee simple
- Taxes of $13,076
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the lower level
- No parking
- Bedroom #1: 15×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 11×10 (second floor)
- Kitchen: 10×9 (main floor)
- Living room/dining room combo: 20×16 (main floor)
- Family room: 22×15 (lower level)
So it’s 114K more than it was only two years ago when the major work had already been done and you think it will be perceived as some kind of bargain that will fly off the shelf?
I wouldn’t want to just give someone $114,000, which is essentially what you’d be doing with this property. I like this house, but am not sure if I’d enjoy living directly on Lincoln.
for what it’s worth, claw foot tub look nice but aren’t very practical, especially for small children.
No where to eat.
So, it’s about 1500 sf, right? and those new-build duplex condos are 1800+?
How about this for an alternative:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1847-N-Cleveland-Ave-60614/unit-1S/home/12754031
Cheaper, bigger, still has 3 living spaces, has parking and is on a far nicer street. Much better alternative than a new construction duplex condo for $250k more.
*2* living spaces. Sheesh.
Great curb appeal and the vintage interior is lovely. True, it doesn’t have parking, though living in this location doesn’t require it. This home reminds me of some of the better-kept ones on Alta Vista, though in a better location. The problem is it’s right on Lincoln, so I’m guessing it’s noisy. Alta Vista is a much nicer street and the row houses there have 3 bedrooms.
Still, this might be a nice place for post-kid life.
This is gorgeous! I agree with Dan #2. This is exactly what I would like to live in once the kids are out of the house.
Beautiful, and a great place for a single person or couple, no kids. Tiny, but a trade-off for the charm and location. I’m actually surprised at the 2016 price, and the current price seems reasonable given the cost of condos in the area. That part of Lincoln isn’t too bad, as so much of the traffic is on Clark (granted, I take Lincoln to Wells often enough, so I know there’s plenty of traffic).
Hmm, but one concern would be that the ceilings in the basement — which otherwise has one of the bathrooms and a great place for a media/family room hangout — look quite low.
Is this really East Lincoln Park, though?
claw foot tubs look nice but are not very practical, especially for small children, though as others have chimed in, this is more of an empty nester than starter home.
I’d make sure that shower door in the basement doesn’t leak. If it isn’t pitched correctly, you will have water dripping out after every shower.
Low ceilings in basement, yes. One of those things you sometimes have to put up with in a vintage home.
“Is this really East Lincoln Park, though?”
Madeline: you would prefer Old Town?
“So it’s 114K more than it was only two years ago when the major work had already been done and you think it will be perceived as some kind of bargain that will fly off the shelf?”
You’d have to read the additional information section in the MLS listing to see what else they’ve done to it.
The kitchen and baths are from the prior sale, so it wasn’t that. But it’s fee simple. Doesn’t mean they haven’t done other major projects (tuckpointing, new back deck, roof, windows etc.)
If someone with access to the “additional information” can tell us what they’ve done, that would help.
Awesome place, love the style. All those stairs seem like a turn-off for families with younger children and older people/empty-nesters.
No parking (for yourself or your guests), no lawn, hemmed in on both sides so natural light is limited…and people are going to pay big bucks for this? Living across the street from Lincoln Park is really that important?
Gayle, this isn’t for people that like suburban life.
We had a contract for this place in early 2012 for around $600,000, but backed out after the inspection. (Looks like the owner from them did well as a result, because they sold for a lot more a few months later.) The main reason we backed out is this. The furnace and A/C unit were on the roof, and they were old enough to have to replace in a few years. Roof also looked like it would need work soon. Yet access to the roof was nearly impossible. The hatch to get up there was INSIDE the hallway closet, and so small only a hobbit-sized person could squeeze up there. In order to inspect the roof, we had to ask the owner of the neighboring house to use his roof access to get up there, then walk over to the adjoining roof. Having work done up there would require heavy machinery/ forklift, etc etc, on a narrow street that was nevertheless a busy thoroughfare. This really scared us off. Other factors that were not ideal, although they were not “deal-breakers”. Despite them making the back paved patio area as attractive as possible, it was closed in by very high brick walls (sides of adjoining buildings) on all sides, and one had a claustrophobic feeling being out there – like the walls were closing in on you. I couldn’t imagine spending much time out there. The bathroom on the top floor having the claw-foot tub with the shower surround was a bummer as I value a nice shower stall way more than a tub. The doors comprising the hallway closets were antiques imported from South America, but were warped so they could not be closed completely. Everything in there would get dusty all the time. Kitchen was fabulous, but did not have built-in microwave. Not much counter space, so microwave taking up counter big minus. We worried about water collecting in little area below ground level in front of house in case of big rain, and the fact that we are out of town a lot and would miss water seeping into lower level interior. The below-ground level was done very nicely, and without it, the square footage of the house would be very little. But given that it was “garden” level, it barely eked out not felling like a basement. All in all, it was a place full of wonderful character one falls in love with, but once you started thinking about the nitty-gritties of living there, and what you can get for the same price for the same square footage in a condo, having to pay a premium for it being a SF house was really questionable for us. Yes, there are no assessments, but I would assume the upkeep for various elements over the years would be at least, if not more, than what monthly assessments of 3-6 unit condos in row house type buildings in Lincoln Park are. However, I am clearly in the minority, as the place has sold a couple of times since, and has gone through healthy appreciation. In hindsight, maybe it would have been worth all the trouble and expense for us to buy the place!
@Dan #2, Alta Vista Terrace town-homes are much larger than this place. I looked at one that was in the throes of a foreclosure and looked to have 20 different people using it as a crash pad and it still seemed huge.
“We had a contract for this place in early 2012 for around $600,000, but backed out after the inspection. (Looks like the owner from them did well as a result, because they sold for a lot more a few months later.) The main reason we backed out is this.”
Thanks for the update vissi. This is what I was talking about.
20 people using an Alta Vista town home as a “crash pad?” Hmmm…msybe an early version of Air B&B for out of town Cubs fans?
@Gayle. Yup. It was in foreclosure – – it was 2012 and I am guessing at least one of the occupants was pretty adept at milking the system. This person might also have also been going through a divorce and just invited all their buddies in for some rent free living. That was actually the most amazing thing – – surely the one among them with the mortgage could have asked each friend to kick in a couple of bucks so they didn’t lose the place to foreclosure! That is why I think there was also a divorce going on and someone was trying to make sure their ex got nothing. Super spiteful. I couldn’t imaging preferring to lose a place like that seeing my ex get a few bucks in a divorce settlement.
Madeline: you would prefer Old Town?
It was mostly a joke – this is about as far east as you can get in LP without actually living in a tent in the park — but I’m sure there are some sticklers out there who wouldn’t consider this “true ELP”.
(Also, why are my comments not appearing as soon as I post?)
“(Also, why are my comments not appearing as soon as I post?)”
I don’t know but there has been a snag in the comments in recent days. It is putting some of you into “pending” even though you’ve posted before. That means I have to approve them.
I’m not sure why it’s doing that and only for some of you. I keep approving the comments, though, so hopefully it will fix itself. Could be something in the software since I just did a wordpress update.
Additional remarks:
This home has been extensively renovated. All three floors completely painted, new 2.5 ton AC unit, new dishwasher, new deck, almost all light fixtures replaced, tuck pointing, exterior of house painted.
Sold for $830k on 9-18