Buy a Vintage SFH for Under $900,000 in Lincoln Park: 2244 N. Bissell
This 3-bedroom vintage single family home at 2244 N. Bissell in Lincoln Park came on the market in March 2017.
Built in 1891, it is on a smaller than standard Chicago lot of 24×74.
The house has most of its vintage features including numerous stained glass windows, millwork, pocket doors, mouldings, custom wood floors (check out the details in the dining room), and 3 fireplaces.
The kitchen has white cabinets, Carrera marble countertops and luxury appliances including a Wolf range and a Subzero refrigerator.
All three bedrooms are on the second floor along with a laundry room.
The house has a big recreational space on the lower level.
It has central air and a one-car garage.
The house has been under contract once since March 2017 but that fell through.
It has now been reduced $100,000 to $895,000.
What’s the catch?
The El runs directly behind the house. For that reason, the listing says you can rent 2 more parking spaces under the tracks at $75 per month each.
Can you learn to live with the El for the right price?
Emily Sachs Wong at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
2244 N. Bissell: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 1 car garage
- Sold in September 1989 for $245,000
- Sold in October 1995 for $350,000
- Sold in August 2007 for $846,000
- Originally listed in March 2017 for $995,000
- Under contract- but fell out
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $895,000
- Taxes of $16,437
- Central Air
- 1 car garage- with 2 more spaces available under the El tracks for $75 a month each
- 3 fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 16×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 15×8 (second floor)
- Family room: 31×20 (lower level)
I can’t imagine there being a large pool of buyers looking to actually make this their home with the El noise and tiny lot. Instead, investors will be the ones looking to see what they could get in rents for this place to justify their bidding price. They could likely split this into two units.
wow what a deal, literally have a noisy ass el train running next to your house all day, only 900k
just think of all the deals deaf people get in this town, isn’t Chicago amazing?
The El causes vibrations this close. So even deaf people will notice it.
I HEAR NOTHING. NOTHING BUT $$$$$$!! LOLZ!
GO CUBS!!!
OMG, that millwork! Those inlaid floors! The stained glass!
The exterior is exquisite.
I might be willing to wear earplugs for the rest of my life…
Never mind the el!
Living room by Holiday Inn Express
Dining room by Cracker Barrel
Kitchen by sigh.com
Bedrooms courtesy of the bed & breakfast sans creepy dolls
Bathroom by Chicago Park District
Basement by Sluggers
I can’t.
i wonder if the windows can all be replaced with triple or quadruple layer sound insulated glass? would that fix the sound issues?
doing some back of the envelope calculations….we’d save $250-300K in tuition since the schools are SO superior to other parts of the city.
the downside is we’d live next to the dbags who differentiate between East and West Lincoln Park.
Long time listener, first time caller …
Friends of mine live on the L side of Bissell south of this place and I can honestly say the train noise is not bad at all. I know they have done some sound proofing, but you can’t hear the train inside (or barely) their place. Hanging out in their front yard is tough though.
Many people put up with El noise. It’s definitely not for everyone, including me, but this is a beautiful home and the largest bedroom on the second floor is in the front. I was at several parties there in the early 2000s. They did not have a garage at that time so the 2007 to now owners had it built.
This is one of the nicest looking properties I’ve seen on CC in a very long time. If I were truly prepared to accept having an alley and phone poles on one side and the el behind me, I’d be jumping all over this opportunity. Of course, those are the reasons it’s so cheap. I’m very noise averse, so I can’t imagine buying.
Interesting thing is that this place was probably built before the el tracks came through. These were originally homes meant for the working class, so it’s incredible to see the care and fine craft that went into construction back in the 1880s. Compare that to the crappy 1970s suburban connected home some relatives of mine live in and you can see how far civilization declined in 100 years.
I really like it too, and the biggest drawback to the L would be that it would spoil the backyard/outdoor space which it doesn’t seem to have, so if you don’t mind the sound inside and aren’t worried about selling, could be a deal.
I looked at a place by the L semi-seriously, and didn’t think it was bad inside, and it’s easy enough to figure out if it’s going to be a problem or not. It was other issues about the house, and that the outdoor space was important to me, that made me cross it off my list.
The one I looked at was Brown Line only, and this is Brown and Red, so that might be an additional factor. But I love the exterior and all the details in the place.
This one is actually brown, red, and purple. Probably the busiest section of the entire el system.
“These were originally homes meant for the working class, so it’s incredible to see the care and fine craft that went into construction back in the 1880s.”
Working class? I don’t think those intricate floors were ever meant to be for the working class. Those floors aren’t found in the working class homes up in North Center or in the Southport area of Lakeview. They’re also not found in Pullman.
The more intricate the finishes, the richer the home owner (obviously.) That’s why you see copper and 6 inch crown molding in the Gold Coast mansions.
Here’s what the Encyclopedia of Chicago says:
While the finishes aren’t fancy enough for this to be a really wealthy family home, it was likely middle or upper middle class. The stained glass wouldn’t have been affordable. And the staircase has some carvings which would have made it more expensive.
“Many people put up with El noise.”
What is interesting is that this house has only been sold 3 times in nearly 30 years.
That doesn’t seem to indicate that the home owners can’t handle the noise and have to flee.
“Living room by Holiday Inn Express
Dining room by Cracker Barrel”
This is a good time to remind everyone:
The furniture will not be there when you move in so there’s no point in complaining about it.
Can furniture/paint influence a home sale? 100%.
But on this site the policy is to stay away from the personal interiors unless it’s such a factor that it overwhelms everything else (or the agent specifically says something that brings it into play like, “living room has been repainted from that awful blue and is now a soothing gray.”)
Yes- we comment on the finishes (kitchens, baths) as those WILL be there when you move in.
But otherwise, you’re bringing your own couch with you.
Just beautiful. And while I know the el noise might hurt resale, I think most people who live near the tracks get used it.
The deal breaker for me is there is no master bath. A full bath upstairs, one in the basement and 1/2 bath on the main level.
I lived on the el for a couple of years and you do get used to it. While there are three lines, I think they go slowly over here. I don’t think an investor would touch this to change to a two flat and rent it out. It’s a short lot, small apartments. He couldn’t make his money back. It’s for people that love the style of house and think the train noise is the price to pay. There is always a buyer.
@Sabrina — good points.
@Jon — why such a dick?
A buyer would be foolish to cross this off the list without actually going to “hear” for themselves. I lived on Bissell about 10 years ago. As someone mentioned above, many owners have done extensive, effective soundproofing. There are some gorgeous houses on Bissell – and in some of them you can barely hear the passing trains, while in others the noise is quite interruptive. No way to tell from a listing.
Mike HG on May 23rd, 2018 at 7:41 am
They could likely split this into two units.
Even though it’s zoned RT-4 which generally supports 2-4 dwelling units, the small lot would probably make it incredibly difficult to get this past the zoning board. The lot area per unit required for RT-4 is 1000sq/ft and this lot is 1776 sq/ft; so only one dwelling unit allowed. Unless the particular investor is able to grease 3 out of the 5 zoning board of appeal members’ palms, I don’t see that conversion getting approved. And even if it had the minimum 2000 sq/ft to meet RT-4 standards, zoning seems to be very anti-density, always approving of deconversions, but not allowing additional dwelling units or responsible upzoning. This only further inflates prices and rents and drives people out of Chicago.
I rented a loft for 2 years that was right next to the el and it was fine, however, I’m not sure if I would buy a unit that close to it.
The house next door at 2242 is also for sale and for the same price.
Ok -maybe not working class, but middle class. That’s probably closer. Still, compare with “middle class” housing today and you won’t see the same loving craftsmanship and attention to detail.
“Still, compare with “middle class” housing today”
Compare with “typical” upper class housing (ie new construction, $3-5m), and you don’t see the attention to detail.
“Still, compare with “middle class” housing today and you won’t see the same loving craftsmanship and attention to detail.”
Different eras and different needs for housing.
Don’t forget, in the 1890s, most people would have lived in apartments. There were no mortgages, as we know them today. Everyone rented. Different kinds of construction, for that reason.
Lots of great middle class homes built in the 1920-30s as developers went out to Berwyn, Oak Park etc. as well as parts of Chicago like Portage Park to build their bungalows. Many of those had great craftsman ship.
The 1950s-1960s, mid-century homes, weren’t that great as far as I’m concerned. But I know some people love them.
Who’s a fan of the 1970s? But many people in Chicagoland grew up in a split-level 1970s house. Baby boomers spiked demand for suburban home construction so they had to churn them out.
The el noise wouldn’t bug me as much as paying $20k in taxes to live on the el would.