Does It Matter if Nate Berkus Designed It? 632 W. Wrightwood in Lincoln Park
This 2-bedroom penthouse at 632 W. Wrightwood in Lincoln Park recently came on the market.
The listing says the unit was designed by Nate Berkus (one of Oprah’s favorite interior designers and a frequent guest on her show, for those of you who don’t know.)
The unit has cathedral ceilings and a private deck.
The kitchen has white cabinets, granite counter tops and white appliances.
The master suite has a marble bath.
The building is an elevator building so there is no concern about going up 5 flights of stairs to reach your penthouse. There is also 2 car parking.
For a buyer, does it matter if Nate Berkus designed the interior of a property?
Sophia Worden at Prudential Rubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #5W: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1800 square feet, 2 car parking
- Sold in April 1996 for $320,000
- Sold in June 1999 for $435,000
- Sold in June 2000 for $498,000
- Sold in May 2005 for $630,000
- Currently listed for $599,000
- Assessments of $310 a month
- Taxes of $6084
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 20×13
- Bedroom #2: 13×11
Um, NO, not at all. Look at the pictures ignoring the decor and you have nice hardwood floors and some neutral walls… pretty standard.
Doesn’t look like Nate Berkus’ design work – too many inexpensive catalogue items and standard builder grade details for an apartment interior by a high-end Merchandise Mart-specifying interior designer. There are other Berkus-designed units on MLS; you can immediately tell the difference. Perhaps this was a “homage to” by an avid fan, or done by a Berkus employee for self-use.
Nate had them put that stupid “indulge” sign in their kitchen? Really? The interior design of this place is nothing special and I agree with T.S., if you take out the furniture you’re left with the same brown colored walls that every homeowner has these days & a mediocre kitchen. Way overpriced at $599,000.
Some vaulted ceilings and decent built-ins does not a $600k 2/2 make
Lizla – the interesting thing about brown walls is that while everyone has them, whenever there’s a deviation (at least on this site) the owners get bashed.
I’m guilty of brown & tan in the main spaces in my place as well. Coordinated furniture around that.
“For a buyer, does it matter if Nate Berkus designed the interior of a property?”
It doesnt! cause Sabrina you, yourself always say to refrain from talking about the furniture and decor as it wont be there when you move in.
I love the ’90’s….
If you look the price history it’s pretty clear who got caught holding the bag…
Thank you Groove for pointing out my mantra: the furniture won’t be there when you move in!
However, since this listing is marketing the property based on its interior design, I thought it was fair game to chatter about it.
This isn’t the only property that has been marketed as being designed by “so and so” (Nate Berkus and others). So clearly realtors must believe there is some value in listing this information in the listing.
“Nate had them put that stupid “indulge” sign in their kitchen?”
Yeah indulge yourself in boring white cabinets, this place seriously sucks and is insanely overpriced. The only thing it has going for it is the two (likely outdoor) parking spaces 🙁
2005 purchase: 100% financed
2000 purchase: 80% financed
1999 purchase: 90% financed
1996 purchase: 30% financed
The interior design is nice but dull and it doesn’t make up for the interior architecture, which does not begin to live up to the promise of the beautiful facade of the building. I mean, it’s OK, perfectly nice and better than the run of newer condos but it’s a let down.
It really is a lovely building as seen from the street. I look at it and think, ahhhh, they dug up plans for 6 and 8 flats built in W. Rogers Park and Rogers Park in the 1920s and duplicated them. Well, too bad the builder didn’t duplicate the interior floor plans and decorative details of those old places.
And of course, the furniture will go with the seller, as a few people pointed out.
you sure they didn’t cash out refi in 2000 or something?
Was the 8,000 credit extended?
“since this listing is marketing the property based on its interior design, I thought it was fair game to chatter about it.”
the flood gates are open 🙂 its too much i dont know where to start. oh gosh its too much for one man to handle. ahhhhh
ok i shall start with the dining room table…OMG…
…a salesman from harlem furniture in 1995 called and would like the table set back cause you havent made a layaway payment in 15 years.
… do the dinning room table and chairs come with plastic covered sofas?
..no seriously i think every one of my aunts had a table and chair set like this in the 90’s
oh and really and over hyped (but actually a good designer) went in here and said to themselfs (and staff) hey there is a beautiful bay window (is it really a bay) why dont we NOT make that area a focal point and block it off with furniture then push the eye to a boring fire place, that is great!
no, no, really i want to go for a simple clean design, but for ironic/satire lets throw in a huge over-cluttered built in that has no details and screams blah to match the blah fireplace we want your eye drawn to
and wait we are not done designing yet, in the foyer right when the elevator opens up let paint a vomit inducing orange to give you and your guest icky stomach pains so they wont each much and you can have more left overs for yourself.
but wait the orange isnt the last stop, lest go with three different woods and three different wood colors on the entry door, table and mirror.
Oh and BTW if you want to put a word in your kitchen (i.e “home”, “eat”, “Induldge”) just Ficken dont its played and tacky it never really worked out anyway.
Unless your kid made it in wood shop, just stop and ask someone to kick you in the ovaries/nutz the next time you think about doing it.
Plus nothing say allstar like huge open living dining room and small ceiling fan.
lipstick on a pig
too much coffee today groove?
It doesn’t hurt to throw the name in the listing, probably stirs up some additional interest. However, as Architect noted, it could have been an employee. I’m guessing it was. If not, no offense Mr. B. Taste is subjective.
Hey, if I was trying to sell or rent something, I’d pull out all the stops and use words like “designer inspired” and try to capitalize on appliance names (enjoy the minimalist features of this Hotpoint range and the old school charm of this freezer that requires weekly defrosting — it’s similar to the one the Kennedys’ used at their Hyannis compound back in the ’50s. Yes, you too can feel like American royalty. Imagine, if you will, that the eyesore known as 1000 LSD is a beacon quaintly situated on the shores of the Atlantic).
Back to the thread. There were several pseudo designer branded developments in NY a few years ago. I think it initially brought a bit of attention to the properties, but at the end of the day the reality of the market prevailed.
The Nate Berkus marketing strategy may increase foot traffic to the unit. People who follow design are familiar with and interested in “name designers” like Nate Berkus… and love to see their work. My guess is that the Nate Berkus designation will draw more people in to see the condo (and thereby possibly drawing a higher liklihood of an offer), but not at all entice a buyer to make an offer just on the base that the former owners worked with a famous designer.
“2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1800 square feet”
Surprisingly, the footprint *is* about 1800, but then I’m left wondering where they’re hiding all that space.
“Surprisingly, the footprint *is* about 1800, but then I’m left wondering where they’re hiding all that space”
behind that uninspiring “built-in” monstrosity.
There’s no way Nate did this. Someone at his firm might have set foot in this place at some point, but nothing about the interior in its current state looks like the work of a professional. Maybe they bought some of those Nate Berkus products at Linens-n-Things and thought that qualified? It seems like they’ve crammed in elements from every decade. The white kitchen seems very late 90s, there are some ’50s-ish diner stools that look like they came from the Room Place, we’ve got some 80s granny dining chairs, an oriental rug, a bed with a massive headboard that looks like it could be a real antique, and the living room sofas look fairly new (and completely impractical and uncomfortable). Also, Nate never would have left that gaping empty space above the fireplace or put those metal floor lamps on either side. The look like something that should surround a sacrificial alter at a Freemasons meeting.
D*MN you GROVE!!!
Harlem Furniture…
you’ll
like
our
style
*can’t get it out of my head now*
Nate who…? Anyways, nice white appliances in the kitchen.
chichow,
sorry but to help….
1740 north kostner, Coooook Brothers….
just added something to your head.
“too much coffee today groove?”
no just a a rough night and getting used to the new commute, taking it out on the fake designer.
Doesn’t Nate Berkus have a line of home decor at Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond? Maybe they bought some of those, which were designed by Nate Berkus? Because, for the life of me, nothing seems to have been designed by an decorator let alone a very renowned one.
Remember that a designer can be hired and give advice and design ideas but it does not mean that the client will accept the suggestions. Some people just can not be inspired or pushed into style. Perhaps he had a tiny budget and did minimal work.
I’m pretty sure that if I were a famous designer I would not want to put this project into my portfolio. Pottery Barn looks more interesting than this place.
“Was the 8,000 credit extended?”
No.
Thanks for the rant, Groove. I enjoyed it,
“Thanks for the rant, Groove. I enjoyed it”
no worries, i do what i can with what i have 🙂
The only thing mentioning Berkus would do would bring ppl in to see the place as the design elements he added for this place would be removed by the owner.
It is a common practice in NYC for listings to mention so and so having designed their place. It does bring in more potential buyers but mainly it works for buyers and others to pick up some design ideas for their own homes.
Now if a person bought this place, then had Berkus come out and provide his design expertise personalized for them, that would be impressive and a nice subject of conversation during your house warming party….nothing else.
Well, these realtors have to fill up the listing with SOME kind of BS copy, right? You can only say “STEPS TO THE LAKE!” so many times… perhaps the logic is to why not use the interior designers name if it will get on more person in the door to see the place. Maybe.
Well, it got them a post on Crib Chatter so it obviously worked for something!