Is This 3-Bedroom One of Chicago’s Oldest Houses? 5455 S. Ridgewood Ct. in Hyde Park
This 3-bedroom single family home at 5455 S. Ridgewood Court in Hyde Park came on the market in May 2011.
The listing says it was built in 1865.
Wouldn’t that make it one of Chicago’s oldest houses?
Built on an oversized 50×76 lot, it also has a rare side driveway with a 1-car garage. Other homes on this street don’t even have parking and/or garages.
Given the age of the home, it is also surprising to find it has central air.
All 3-bedrooms are on the second floor.
There is an office on the main level and apparently an unfinished basement.
Keep in mind when looking at the pictures, that it hasn’t been on the market in 26 years.
Given its location and amenities, is this a deal?
Jeanne Spurlock at Century 21 Kennedy Ryan has the listing. You can watch the YouTube video here (warning- music!)
5455 S. Ridgewood Ct.: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 1900 square feet, 1 car garage
- Sold in 1985 (can’t determine a price)
- Originally listed in May 2011 for $489,000
- Currently still listed at $489,000
- Taxes of $5721
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 19×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 10×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 9×12 (second floor)
- Office: 13×14 (main floor)
- Unfinished basement
I always thought that the oldest SFHs in Chicago located in the portion of Pilsen east of the Dan Ryan expressway. There are like 5 or so remnant buildings in the area which date back to the 1860s and 1870s.
The Clark House in the Prairie Historic District dates back to 1836, and is often referred to as Chicago’s oldest remaining building. The Glesner House next door dates back to 1887.
This property/house is not on the Landmarks Survey, but one that is two blocks away on Blackstone is, and it is on the survey as “pre-1870s” which is the earliest vintage category.
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/landmarksearchWeb/pageflow/getResult.do
Yeah, I’ve seen those in Pilsen just east of the highway. Not sure on the dates they were built, but they appear to be early 1870’s or prior. This particular house had been standing for 28 years before the 1893 World’s Fair. I wonder how large the original lot was compared to the one today.
Not sure why that link is broken. Try this one, and put Pre-1870 in for your search to see the full list.
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/landmarksearchWeb/
LMAO WHAT!
I was expecting this to be like 200k, not almost 500!
Yeah, this isn’t 2006. That price is absurd.
What? Couldn’t find the 1865 price?
Policeman Bellinger’s cottage, in Lincoln Park, survived the Chicago fire. I think it was built a couple years before the fire. I believe it’s on Hudson.
Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know how to research the history of a particular house in Chicago? I live in a house that was built in the 1880s/1890s and would really like to know more about the house/street/neighborhood.
Funny how times change, but how many Chicago cops could afford a SFH in Lincoln Park these days?
I’m not sure what could be done with this house in HP. Could be updated in the kitchen and baths, but I really don’t think I’d ever want it. It’s just an old house.
Observer — the Chicago History Museum has staff researchers that can point you in the right direction.
Also a bit off topic and not related directly to this post: What do you think the high crime rates in certain areas this summer will do to home prices? Anybody doing their homework in the Gold Coast, Streeterville, East Lakeview areas, etc. will surely become aware of the increasing violence. How much would this affect your bid (if at all) on a property you potentially liked in one of these areas? As a NYC transplant, I love Chicago but the crime is out of control and would expect it to create some type of a ripple effect on the real estate market in tradionally “nicer” areas.
“I’m not sure what could be done with this house in HP. Could be updated in the kitchen and baths, but I really don’t think I’d ever want it. It’s just an old house.”
true but it is nicer than some of the condos we’ve seen here and even in better shape than some of the SFHs that also have been featured.
@danny – thanks much
“Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know how to research the history of a particular house in Chicago? I live in a house that was built in the 1880s/1890s and would really like to know more about the house/street/neighborhood.”
The UIC library has microfilm of the permits pulled for the house, including the original permit for construction. That will tell you the original cost, builder, etc. Also, you can go the Cook County Recorder of Deed’s office downtown and look at all prior owners of the house back to the 1871, when the city’s records were supposedly destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire.
Is it just me, or does that garage look like a 2-car?
So was it not built in 1865?
as the years go by…
….Old has declining value, while vintage or historic has appreciating value.
at the moment this is just old so 500k hyde park is not right, find a way to label it historic and 500k hyde park is a steal.
“Is it just me, or does that garage look like a 2-car?”
might be going out on a limb here but the garage(stable) my have been built a few decades past the 1865 expiration date.
but its a 1 car garage some may say 1.5
Re: the garage — in 146 years, no one could get around to paving the driveway?
Dave M:
Good point about cops living in LP.
When Officer Bellinger built his house, the location (Hudson south of Webster) was the very edge of the city, and probably an inexpensive place to live. Back then, the best address was South Michigan Avenue, about where the Auditorium Theater is today. Lincoln Park was a backwater. Bellinger reportedly saved his home from the fire by draping wet rugs over the roof. The home was on the market about 10 years ago, it seems to me, with an asking price of well over $1 million.
It took a while for the North Side to develop as prime real estate because for a long time, there wasn’t much access north across the river due to lack of decent bridges.
I’ll agree the garage is far newer than the house, Groove and I definitely agree on the old vs. historic comment. I’m not sure in this condition though that historic in hyde park could get $500k. Also, I still think that garage looks no smaller than most two car garages in Oak Park/Berwyn. Yes, it is tight for two cars, but the doors of one car garages I know of in OP are literally a few inches wider than a car these days.
It doesn’t look too bad today. 2121 N Hudson
http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/lpnc1&CISOPTR=48&CISOBOX=1&REC=9
Here’s another story about the 2121 N Hudson property, which only cost $500 to build. What would $500 in 1869 be in today’s dollars?
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-07-23/news/8801170150_1_chicago-fire-policeman-cider
So what will this sell for? $275K?
Dave M.,
Obviously there have been some additions to the cottage since the fire, so it’s not really an apples to apples comparison. The asking price of $475,000 in 1988 is the equivalent of about $800,000 today, but I’m guessing the house would go for far more than that if it went on the market. It’s a piece of history, with a very large lot and in a perfect location. Definitely would list it for $2 million or more. Wishing I could have bought it in 1988 (alas, I was in high school at the time, and $475,000 was a lot of money then for a house, even if I had been an adult).
According to an online inflation calculator, $500 in 1869 would be worth about $7,000 today. That sounds kind of low to me, meaning values have only gone up 14 times in 140 years.
Another way to look at it: In 1873, the U.S. president made $50,000 a year. This is equivalent to $865,000 in today’s dollars. That means today’s prices are 17 times what they were then. Not the most scientific way to calculate, but interesting.
I was referring to the HP house – $275K. Probably cost a little more to build than the LP house as the location in the late 1860’s would have been better in HP than LP. The LP house is probably worth at least $1.5M today.
“As a NYC transplant, I love Chicago but the crime is out of control and would expect it to create some type of a ripple effect on the real estate market in tradionally “nicer” areas.”
How is crime “out of control”?
It doesn’t seem any worse than any other year. You’re just reading about it more in the papers (because of the flash mobs etc.)
The Cook County Assessor website says this house is 141 years old – so that would put it at 1870.
Amazingly, their photo of the exterior is better than the listing photo of the exterior.
The City of Chicago GIS website says that this house was built in 1868.
So… it’s old. Probably so old that nobody knows exactly how old it is. The city and county don’t agree on an age.
Was this area widely developed in 1868? They probably don’t agree o the date because it was built before it was officially part of the city. I’d love to see a picture of that area from that era. That would have been well before the U of C was started and the World’s Fair. When did that HP area get annexed to Chicago?
Chicago newspapers finally realized that nobody cares or wants to read about violence in southside or westside neighborhoods because that local demographic doesn’t read much.
So the newspapers/stations make up a bunch of nonsense fabricated from a typical mugging or petty teenage theft in some nice neighborhood that you would find in any major city, and declare things are out of control to get people to read about it.
“The Cook County Assessor website says this house is 141 years old – so that would put it at 1870.”
“The City of Chicago GIS website says that this house was built in 1868.
So… it’s old. Probably so old that nobody knows exactly how old it is. The city and county don’t agree on an age.”
They do agree. The assessor’s website actually shows the age as of the last reassessment year, which was 2009 for Chicago. So, you have to add 2 years to any Chicago prop age from the AO website to get it right this year. Likewise, you have to add 1 year to suburban Cook properties north of North Ave (2010 reassessment.) Only suburban Cook properties south of North Ave have current ages listed on the AO site since they are being reassessed this year.
“How is crime “out of control””
I think it HAS gotten out of control in some neighborhoods. My tenants in lakeview moved out a few weeks ago (breaking their lease) because they couldn’t even sleep at night because of the noise and yelling/screaming weirdos.
I was doing work on the condo last weekend and stayed there and was SHOCKED at the nonsense that went on all night (on Halsted street). People screaming, shrieking, yelling and harassing people on the street. When I took my dogs down for a walk (after 11pm) it was hard to navigate the sidewalk with all these scary looking people trying to kick, steal and punch my dogs. I truly felt I was in Englewood. It was surreal.
I don’t ever remember anyone complaining of something like this happening before. When I talked with my neighbors, they all agreed – crime and disturbances (at least in lakeview) has gotten out of control!!!
5475 Ridgewood, which the listing says was built in 1885, meaning post-fire and much less interesting, is now @ $350k
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5475-S-Ridgewood-Ct-60615/home/13948352
In arguably better condition (hey, it’s 20 years newer!), it’s got the same short lot but half the width.
5455 was reduced to $425.