Historic 3-Bedroom Victorian “Restored to Perfection” in Old Town: 1836 N. Lincoln Park West
This 3-bedroom Victorian at 1836 N. Lincoln Park West in Old Town recently came on the market.
Built in 1876 for Charles Wacker on a smaller than average Chicago lot of 28×110, it has a 1-car garage and a brick patio in the backyard.
The listing says it has been “restored to perfection” yet many of its vintage features remain including the original moldings, shutters, staircase and Tiffany stained glass windows.
It last sold in 2008 “as-is”, but back then it was a 4 bedroom with only 1.5 baths. It is now a 3-bedroom with 2.5 baths.
All 3 bedrooms are on the second floor and there’s now a master bathroom as well so it seems that the 4th bedroom was sacrificed for the bath.
The listing says the home can be expanded to 5 bedrooms (probably by putting bedrooms in the basement.)
The kitchen has modern brown cabinets with stainless steel appliances and some kind of grey countertops (concrete or stone?).
The house has central air.
Given that there are few “new” houses in Old Town, will this sell quickly near the asking price?
Daniel Pape at Hudson Parker Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Or see it in person at the Open House on Sunday, July 21 from 1- 3 PM.
1836 N. Lincoln Park West: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 1 car garage
- Sold in July 2008 “as-is” for $950,000
- Currently listed at $1.729 million
- Taxes of $15333
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 14×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 14×9 (second floor)
- Office: 9×8 (main floor)
- Family room: 17×15 (lower level)
Looks like we’re about $1 million short for our next fully Unicorn Criteria compliant home.
I love this house. I have nothing more to say.
But there’s no coat closet–where are your guests supposed to put their coats? On the floor?
It is a beautiful home but it does not scream $1.7M to me other than the location. I know anonny or others would (try to) scrape together the $1 million more to live here but I’d sacrifice the location to have this house somewhere where it costs closer to the amount anonny has now. I think overall to me it feels more like a home worth what they paid as-is than the current price although I’m sure they’ll get nearly what they are asking.
“But there’s no coat closet–where are your guests supposed to put their coats? On the floor?”
Perhaps you buy a coat rack, or hang some coat hooks?
“Perhaps you buy a coat rack, or hang some coat hook?”
Rational suggestions to fix minor problems are not allowed at the CC.
While 28 * 110 is slightly smaller than a standard lot, getting the 3 feet of width seems pretty awesome to me, may even make up for it being very slightly smaller.
All that lavender and purple bugs me but those are easy fixes.
Beautiful house but overpriced for a 3BR / 2.5BA. I could see that price if it were a 4/3. I would think $1.3-1.5mm is “right”. But with this type of listing I guess someone could fall in love with the place and over pay. Funny that we were talking about high priced frame houses on a post yesterday.
Also – I am baffled why this listing has remained on the market:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1806-N-Orleans-St-60614/home/13344118
It has an extra side lot (you can’t build on it though) – 4 car garage – coach house w/ 2 2/2 rentals. Obviously needs some work but this place could be amazing. I am not a fan of the facade though.
Can’t wait until the Old Town bubble pops. Beautiful home though.
Wow while its a beautiful house, its way overpriced. I doubt its much over 2000 sqft ($850 a sqft in my estimation) and its not like its on an oversized lot or anything which homes in this price range usually command.
And I agree, where’s all the storage space? I know thats an issue with most vintage homes, but sheesh
“Also – I am baffled why this listing has remained on the market:”
Personally, if I could afford that size of a house, I don’t think I’d want two separate renters on my property. Yes, it helps pay the mortgage but it seems like if you’re going to spend that amount of money for a family home you would want some privacy.
LOVE the kitchen. Only two things I dont like on this property are the dining room doors and the price. I think this will fetch closer to 1.5mm.
” I am baffled why this listing has remained on the market”
Kitchen and (pictured) baths suck for the price. They look like they belong in a $350k vintage reno condo (would be nice-ish in that context). And non-full-gut conversions of 2&3 flat buildings to sfh almost always have weird room (size, layout or both) issues, and this looks to not be the exception.
“Personally, if I could afford that size of a house, I don’t think I’d want two separate renters on my property. Yes, it helps pay the mortgage but it seems like if you’re going to spend that amount of money for a family home you would want some privacy.”
Agreed 100%. Didn’t see a rent roll for the coach house on redfin. Usually the agent will throw that in there. Didn’t look like any photos of coach house either. Assuming they are adequate size/in decent shape, could probably collect about 4500 (total) in rent. That would cover the taxes in entirety and leave about 1400/month to aid in mortgage.
to be clear, was talking about 1806 orleans, not htis one.
this one’s price challenge is the 3/2.5, as noted above. Like it a lot, otherwise.
“Elliot (July 19, 2013, 9:20 am)
Can’t wait until the Old Town bubble pops. Beautiful home though.”
I don’t know there is an old town bubble (if you are talking OTT). The homes that have been selling there don’t seem over priced to me relative to other areas.
Couple more things:
1. virtual tour link has a floorplan; not sure where the other *2* (1 is easy) bedrooms would go.
2. the one car garage is the frame structure to the left. The brick garage to the right belongs to the neighbor.
3. lot is irregular shape–garage is on a 10.94×23.42 panhandle off the back of the main 27×101 lot.
4. Seems like theres lots of ‘deep’ storage space.
Agreed about OTT (no bubble). Paying premium for LP schools.
What I dont get is the prices in Old Town for these homes West of the Brown Line. You have the Marshall Field apts there that just resigned their lease (6 or 7 years) and while Cabrini has improved drastically, I still would need a massive discount to buy near there.
“What I dont get is the prices in Old Town for these homes West of the Brown Line. ”
Like this one?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1422-N-Cleveland-Ave-60610/home/14117506
I agree.
first Detroit…..next up Chicago. this may be a huge problem going forward. UP UP go your taxes
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-chicago-bond-rating-0719-20130719,0,2790349.story
I wonder if now would be a good time to buy some vacant lots in Detroit and just sit on them and hope that one day they are worth something.
“Agreed about OTT (no bubble). Paying premium for LP schools.
What I dont get is the prices in Old Town for these homes West of the Brown Line. You have the Marshall Field apts there that just resigned their lease (6 or 7 years) and while Cabrini has improved drastically, I still would need a massive discount to buy near there.”
Isn’t everything trading at a discount compared to Lincoln Park? You get the schools and the location with Old Town. You can spend a lot less in North Center or some place far like that and have a commute 3x longer where you start to say to yourself I could move to a nice burb and not have to deal with city riff raff, have a shorter or same commute and have more space. You could live south of North in Old Town, pay a lower price, have better housing stock selection and still be close to everything.
Different strokes for differnt folks.
“I wonder if now would be a good time to buy some vacant lots in Detroit and just sit on them and hope that one day they are worth something.”
People are doing that. The problem is that it’s really stacked against you if you want to see a return in your lifetime.
“first Detroit…..next up Chicago.”
LOL wanna bet?
Chicago in the 1970s was a lot worse than it is today. Detroit lost its tax base which is why it cannot afford to operate as is. Chicago still has a lot of room to cut but if the GZ ever falls out of favor due to rioting or crime or corporate flight,then lets just say the western entrance to ohare ill get built pretty quickly. Last seasons mad men started touching on the downward slide manhattan experienced as the riots and the crime turned the island into the gritty 1970’s urban hellhole depicted in movies like the French Connection. Even as recently as 15 years ago wicker park was just started to emerge from that gritty urban crime ridden hellhole of urban life as places in the outer suburbs continued to grow exponentially. It has all happened before and it will all happen again.
think Chicago is ok Sonies? think we can just keep going along like this and never have to come up with answers?
going along like what? Attracting jobs and high earners to the urban core while replacing poor welfare leeches on the outskirts?
Detroit’s problem was machine politics for 50 years, and decades of negative population and job growth.
Debt is fine as long as you grow your tax base faster than your interest due and at today’s rates it is almost smart to leverage up a few things here and there. Thankfully Da Mayer Daley is gone and someone with some business sense and a vision is in place and is willing to make tough decisions, politics be damned.
“15 years ago wicker park was just started to emerge ”
C’mon. 25 years ago.
15 years ago was the last stand of ‘old’ Wicker Park. 15 years ago “West Bucktown” was created.
You’re old, HD.
The bankruptcy of Detroit is great for Chicago. It is the “stick” in the negotiations that will happen with pensioners. If Chicago / Illinois were to dump all their healthcare obligations to Obamacare (assuming it ever gets enacted) the pension fund would be very close to funded. Do that in combination with changing COL adjustments and everything is fine. And it seems while the cash payouts for pensions are protected the healthcare payments and COL adjustments are not.
And for people calling for the downfall of downtown and rebirth of the suburbs…I think you will be waiting a long time. It will be at least a generation until the burbs to downtown migration changes if it does. There are just so many changes in family dynamics / commuting / etc that favor the city centers.
“There are just so many changes in family dynamics / commuting / etc that favor the city centers.”
Don’t get ahead of yourself here, yoss. Chicagoland is 9,000,000 people and only 2,600,000 live in the city of chicago; and arguably only 1,000,000 or so live in the GZ. So 1/9th of the population favors city centers so to speak, and even the majority of those that live in the city live on the fringes of teh city (far south, west, nw, far north) that it is pretty comparable to the suburbs, despite having a chicago address.
anon(Tfo), I meant to say that WP had just started to emerge from the urban gritty hell hole. 15 years ago was 1998, and a few blocks in either direction of the mil/damen,north ave intersection got pretty gritty. I’d say that it took until the early 2000’s before the tide had turned and they started buildling all those million dollar homes, but you know, I’m old, so give or take a few years.
You could easily say that 15 years ago Logan was an urban girtty hell hole with crappy shops lining milwaukee ave, it was basically the barrio with a few old timers remaining.
“You could easily say that 15 years ago Logan was an urban girtty hell hole with crappy shops lining milwaukee ave, it was basically the barrio with a few old timers remaining.”
this is true. but logan (finallly) started turning bc North/Damen and (east of) Armitage/Western had already turned.
“So 1/9th of the population favors city centers so to speak”
favors and *can afford*–in terms of $$, compromises or both–city centers. There are some number (I think large) of people who would favor the city if the affordability and lifestyle compromise equation were different. Still probably a larger number who would still prefer their 1/3-2 acre suburban wonderland, but all non-grass issues equal (impossible, yeayeayea), more would favor the city.
“and even the majority of those that live in the city live on the fringes of teh city (far south, west, nw, far north)”
Any data to back that claim up?
Population changes
http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/census-2010/population-change/index.html
City core grew in population, the rest of teh city lost population, and the suburbs in general gained population, with greater population increases the further the suburb.
another fun fact…great state we live in
The national unemployment rate stands at 7.6 percent. Illinois’ rate has only been lower than the national average six times over the last 13 years.
“c (July 19, 2013, 2:30 pm)
another fun fact…great state we live in
The national unemployment rate stands at 7.6 percent. Illinois’ rate has only been lower than the national average six times over the last 13 years.”
So approximately half the time its below average and about half the time above? Sounds right to me!
““15 years ago wicker park was just started to emerge ”
C’mon. 25 years ago.
15 years ago was the last stand of ‘old’ Wicker Park. 15 years ago “West Bucktown” was created.
You’re old, HD.”
Check this article from 1989 for confirmation…
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-10-01/business/8901190435_1_real-houses-ethnic
“There are some number (I think large) of people who would favor the city if the affordability and lifestyle compromise equation were different. Still probably a larger number who would still prefer their 1/3-2 acre suburban wonderland, but all non-grass issues equal (impossible, yeayeayea), more would favor the city.”
Yeah, remem OIP HD? No way OIP HD wouldn’t prefer to be in OIP setting aside affordability etc. issues.
I know I’m old, I forgot to take my pills today. get off my lawn! is this the Medicare forum? don’t touch my healthcare Obama, and go back to Kenya!
What a waste of cabinet space with all the shelves in the kitchen.
“Population changes”
Without a doubt,but that was not the question.
I was going to point out that this statement:
“and even the majority of those that live in the city live on the fringes of teh city (far south, west, nw, far north)”
Is patently inaccurate, exactly the opposite of the facts.
http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdccensus1.php 2010 population density map near the bottom of the page.
“City core grew in population, the rest of teh city lost population”
But then you kind of did it for Me.
“Archer Ave and Dunning, Riis Park, etc. are in decline.”
Am I totally naive?
I think Riis Park by the Brickyard Mall and Dunning by the HIP Mall are fine, and I’m not seeing any deals around there these days.
I remember The Groove used to say every house on his block was in some stage of foreclosure, but I think those days are gone.
Everything seems neat and well-kept to me.
The peeps at the Brickyard Mall were diverse and working class/middle class.
I was in a bidding war for a home out there recently which I lost.
I can’t really figure out which way Archer Avenue is going to go, but I love it.
The good thing is that there are plenty of businesses and not many empty storefronts.
I find Brighton Park along Archer Avenue really interesting.
It’s colorful with a ton of Mexican mom and pop retail.
There are super cute SFHs on the side streets.
My bf had Czech and Polish relatives in that area when he was growing up.
We went to scope out a house and the neighbors who were older, white and American were welcoming us to the neighborhood and aggressively encouraging us to buy the house.
My bf asked them if I’d be safe around there because I have an affinity for wandering the streets at night.
They said “well, that depends what you think safe is” and said there was a large, non-diverse, illegal presence in the area.
My bf is white, but I am not.
I don’t know what those neighbors thought I was!
Regarding Chicago’s budget problem, Rahm is doing what he can. He’s laying off the deadwood from the school system, including 1,036 teachers, and spending $55 million for some land to build a new basketball arena for Blue Demons fans. At times like this, everybody knows bread and circuses are more important than education.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/19/1224931/-Chicago-schools-lay-off-2-100-while-city-puts-55-million-into-college-basketball-arena#
The sw and nw sides are still solidly middle class.
Gordon Tech had full capacity, 2,000 all boys in the “gritty 1970?s urban hellhole”, but today it’s only 600 kids co-ed and less stable middle class today than in the Seventies.
You could say the same thing about any Catholic school in any neighborhood in any city/town. Catholic school enrollment has been declining for 40 years. Very few RC schools remain single-sex.
Fairly certain Moonhammy = Dan…….
He is back.
CPS had more middle-class students in the “gritty 1970?s urban hellhole” era, than it does in the selective “gentrified era” of today, how’s that?
CPS had more upper and lower class students in the ’70s, too.
” He’s laying off the deadwood from the school system, including 1,036 teachers, and spending $55 million for some land to build a new basketball arena for Blue Demons fans. At times like this, everybody knows bread and circuses are more important than education.”
You do realize that 55 mill isn’t even close to what 1,036 teachers cost. Not worth relating one to the other even. And overall a 5% cut in staffing doesn’t seem so big a deal. Works out to adding 1 student per class (from 24 to 25:1) When schools like Stuyvesant or Bronx Science are about 23:1 and rank tops in the country, I doubt it is so bad. Problem is the kids at CPS (with exception of the few schools always mentioned here) are pretty f’n hopeless no matter what you throw at them…
“There are super cute SFHs on the side streets.
My bf had Czech and Polish relatives in that area when he was growing up.
We went to scope out a house and the neighbors who were older, white and American were welcoming us to the neighborhood and aggressively encouraging us to buy the house.”
Milkster: this neighborhood has been in transition for about 25 years now. One immigrant group leaves, another takes its place. I knew someone who went to a Catholic church there for years which was predominantly Polish but it went into decline with membership until they added a service in Spanish in the early 1990s. It was a sign of the times. I doubt there are ANY services still in Polish in that neighborhood.
But it was always a working class neighborhood where people kept up their houses. Also some really good ethnic restaurants (the old Polish ones and the new Mexican ones.)
“Like this one?
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1422-N-Cleveland-Ave-60610/home/14117506
I agree.”
Seems like a pretty hefty price reduction for being outside of the prime area of Old Town. If you move that property north 3 blocks the price would be closer to $2.0-$2.5 million.
“Seems like a pretty hefty price reduction for being outside of the prime area of Old Town. If you move that property north 3 blocks the price would be closer to $2.0-$2.5 million.”
It’s a difference between a usable neighborhood school and relying on the lottery or privates (which, x2, would fund a $500k mortgage). And the difference bt the immediate surroundings is substantial, too.
I didn’t mean to say the price reduction was out of line – only that I thought it was appropriate (the earlier post had implied it wasn’t large enough). I’m in that neighborhood all the time, so I’m well aware of how quickly the neighborhood gets gritty south of North ave.
“I didn’t mean to say the price reduction was out of line ”
But who is putting $1.5 into that exact location? A school across the street is enough of a negative. One that you would never (if spend $1.5m on a house) send your kids to worse, and one that got a reprieve from closure only bc of credible concern that the kids there could suffer grievous bodily harm if they crossed Division, well…
It’s a small subset – folks who really like shiny, new and big who have either already resolved to send their kids to Latin, British, etc., or already have a kid at LaSalle or Franklin and don’t want to pay the Lincoln premium.
“folks who really like shiny, new and big who have either already resolved to send their kids to Latin, British, etc., or already have a kid at LaSalle or Franklin and don’t want to pay the Lincoln premium.”
Still wouldn’t spend my money on that–do not like the school across the street, or the general 100 yard radius, at that price.