A Rare Landmark District Single Family Greystone: 538 W. Deming in Lincoln Park
This 6-bedroom vintage Greystone at 538 W. Deming in Lincoln Park came on the market in February 2016.
This home is smack in the middle of the Arlington-Deming Landmark District.
Built in 1883 on an oversized 27×190 lot, when it was built this wasn’t even part of the city of Chicago. Instead, it was in the Township of Lake View, which stretched from Fullerton all the way north to Devon.
Here’s some more background from the Landmark Commission about how this neighborhood developed thanks, in part, to the Chicago Fire:
These building regulations, besides determining the type of construction allowed within Chicago city limits, also encouraged the development of new neighborhoods just outside Chicago, including the Arlington-Deming District, where property owners built new housing using more affordable wood-frame construction. (As a suburban town, Lake View was initially not subject to City building code requirements which prohibited frame construction in Chicago after the Fire of 1871.) The district’s earliest buildings—small-scale frame cottages and houses—most likely were built during the years of suburban development following the 1871 Fire and are important for their historic associations to the District’s earliest years of development. These include, among others, the cottage at 2454 N. Orchard St. and the house at 2466 N. Orchard St.
During the 1880s, and extending into the early 1890s, residential development on the southern edge of Lake View Township was encouraged first by the extension of city mass transit services into the suburb, then by the annexation of Lake View itself into the City of Chicago in 1889. During this period, the Arlington-Deming District began to develop as a somewhat more densely-populated residential neighborhood. Again, its adjacency to Chicago’s northern border proved a lure for residents wanting suburban-style living close to the City. In 1887 the Town of Lake View was incorporated as a city, electing its own mayor and city council. Two years later, in 1889, Lake View was annexed to the City of Chicago.
This house still has its original leaded windows and at least one stained glass window.
It has high ceilings you find in vintage homes of this era but no crown molding (maybe a renovation along the way?).
It has 2 wood burning fireplaces and an English garden apartment, with 2 bedrooms.
The main house has 4 bedrooms, including three on the third floor.
The kitchen has white cabinets, white appliances and stone counter tops.
It has central air, a 2-car garage and modern floor to ceiling windows overlooking the wooded backyard.
This home has been under the same owners since at least 1987.
This is a rare opportunity to buy a vintage home with all the bells and whistles in a coveted East Lincoln Park location.
Does it still appeal to today’s buyers who all seem to want open concept?
Natasha Motev at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.
538 W. Deming Place: 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, no square footage listed
- There’s no prior sales price. In the same family since 1987.
- Was listed briefly in 2009-2010– withdrawn
- Originally listed in February 2016 for $2.295 million
- Currently still listed at $2.295 million
- Taxes of $22,258
- 2 wood burning fireplaces
- 2-bedroom English Garden apartment – included in the bedroom count
- 2 car garage
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 11×21 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 21×15 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 16×14 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 8×16 (third floor)
- Bedroom #5- in the garden apartment: 15×15
- Bedroom #6- in the garden apartment: 11×13
It’s definitely lost some of its vintage appeal along the way and you’d need to put some money into it to make the inside live up to the outside, but it’s a special property regardless and a fine starting point if you have the money. Not ALL buyers want open concept, that’s been done to death so I won’t belabor it but this property would most likely appeal to a vintage lover who isn’t a slave to lemming trends like open concept.
This is exactly the type of home I would want if I was wealthy.
Although it seems to work, that stair case is too Modern for this type property. I don’t mind updated bathrooms or kitchens in old houses like this but I hate when everything gets brought into the 21st century ala Property Brothers.
A bit of an odd duck
Someone should he shot in the face for replacing the original hard wood floors and installing new at a 45 and removing the original built in buffet in the dining room
Looks like the one bathroom was a recent remodel
Kitchen should have been done when they did the floors
This place is about $3-400M away from being a truly elite property
“Someone should he shot in the face for replacing the original hard wood floors and installing new at a 45 and removing the original built in buffet in the dining room”
seriously… why the fuck did they do that!
It was probably done in the 80s. That’s all the explanation needed.
I still love this place.
Maybe the original floors were crap and full of staples and nails from the shag crapet that was almost assuredly installed in the middle of last century. Or maybe there was extensive water damage. Or maybe the original wood floors were of garbage quality in the first place, as the original owner maybe tried to save a few bucks on his wood. A lot of these older homes only had the ‘good’ wood flooring on the first floor, and the 2nd floor was junk wood. considering the decent condition of the property over all these years, I wouldn’t be so harsh to judge.
Diagonal floors are going to be the parquet of 2040. Then everyone’s gonna be like, “Why the fuck did they tear out the vintage diagonal?” Then everyone’s gonna be like, “It was probably done in the 20’s. That’s all the explanation needed.”
I’ve seen a house like this with a top flight $1M historic correction/renovation and the finished product was stunning. Even if you spent that much on this house, I think the finished version would be well worth 3-3.2M, Especially with the large lot and gorgeous exterior. You just need a buyer willing to spend 1-2 years working on the project.
Of course you could live in it as is now, but it would be at much less than the homes true potential.
Interesting lack of any dark wood. Unusual for a vintage place. I assume the original dark woods were either painted over or removed. Painting over original dark wood will send most vintage lovers into cardiac arrest.
Mr. Madeline and I looked at a similar place: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/437-W-Arlington-Pl-60614/home/13366380 back in ’12. It was a stretch for us and ultimately we passed, but sometimes I get really wistful about it. Someone got an amazing deal!
When Rahm raises taxes, the bill here will probably go north of 30k. Ouch.
Arlington Pl has some pretty amazing homes, we looked at a condo place in a greystone there at 556 or something, shame we didn’t decide to buy it, needed a bit of work, was a tad too “vintage” for me
Madeline,
Great place and you are right..an amazing deal!
The home in this post looks like someone bought it in the 80s and added on a gay bar to the back..kind of like “Old men in the front bar, young ones in the back.”
Looks like a mid-70s gut-renovation, possibly by Booth Nagle, Weese, or another residential architectural firm of that era. Remember that Lincoln Park was a rooming-house district for many decades, and single-family reversion renovations started only in the late 60s.
“Millionaires are leaving Chicago, report says”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-chicago-losing-millionaires-0405-biz-20160404-story.html
“Millionaires are leaving Chicago, report says.”
Yes- people with a “net worth” of $1 million. 3,000 of them left.
So if you have a house in Portage Park that is paid off and worth $400,000 and a $600,000 401k and you decide to move to Florida for retirement, then you are included in this.
Because the last I looked, they can’t build enough million dollar condos and homes. They keep going up all over the downtown and the north side. Several new luxury condo buildings were completely sold out before construction has even been completed.
“So if you have a house in Portage Park that is paid off and worth $400,000 and a $600,000 401k and you decide to move to Florida for retirement, then you are included in this.”
“About 3,000 individuals with net assets of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence”
All these states with tax troubles are starting to see high wealth people leave. NJ, CT, etc. Sometimes one billionaire can make a big difference.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/nj_has_lost_its_wealthiest_resident_to_florida_report_says.html
The business district is doing just fine:
”
Downtown Chicago office vacancy has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 15 years, and landlords appear confident the good times will continue.
Overall vacancy dipped to 11.8 percent in the first quarter, down from 12 percent in the previous period, according to CBRE. That is down from 13.3 percent a year earlier.
Rents and occupancies are rising as some companies expand their downtown offices and others move there from the suburbs and other cities. Building owners are demonstrating confidence such moves will continue, with the average asking rent up more than 6 percent in the past year, to $37.22 per square foot.”
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160404/CRED02/160409970/downtown-chicago-office-vacancy-lowest-in-nearly-15-years