You Can Still Buy This Keck & Keck Mid-Century Modern 4-Bedroom: 2939 W. Catalpa in Budlong Woods
We last chattered about this 4-bedroom Keck & Keck mid-century modern single family home at 2939 W. Catalpa in Budlong Woods (which is just north of Lincoln Square) in September 2009.
See our prior chatter here.
Since that time, the house has been on and off the market. It has been reduced about $300,000 in the last 2 years.
Built in 1946 on an oversized 120×125 lot, it has a 9-zone irrigation system along with a Koi pond.
The house also has Terrazzo and walnut radiant floors, a commerical grade stainless steel kitchen, and a glass studio/greenhouse.
Will this house finally sell to a Keck & Keck lover in 2012?
Edward Hester at Dream Town Realty now has the listing.
Here’s more on what a Keck & Keck design means from a Dream Town press release.
See the property’s website, with a video and pictures, here.
2939 W. Catalpa: 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2.5 car garage
- Sold in March 1995 for $499,000
- Sold in March 2004 for $800,000
- Was listed in May 2009 for $1.399 million
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $1,099,000
- Taxes are now $10,063 (were $12,080 in 2009)
- Central Air
- Master suite with marble bath
- Bedroom #1: 32×18
- Bedroom #2: 15×14
- Bedroom #3: 15×15
- Bedroom #4: 13×10
Awesome house, pretty great location and lot, but a million dollars? Certainly will take a unique buyer at that price point no clue what this will sell at and I don’t think ‘dreaming town’ will figure it out either
Fantastic looking house, but like Sonies, I think it’s unrealistic to ask for $1 million in this neighborhood. Something like $850,000 would probably get it done.
I also think the ask is a bit high. I love the style and outdoor space, but the layout of the family room and bedrooms is odd and not very functional.
I just did a Google map view of the area and it looks like a nice neighborhood. Just a block from the river and the trail that runs alongside the river. Lots of big old trees. Not really convenient to walk anywhere from here, but the area is kind of like suburbs in the city, anyway, and the buyer would have to be able to live with that.
The owners look like they’ve put in a lot but I doubt they will get over a million here. I do think they can get more than the 2004 price though.
I’ll agree with Mimi too that the family room/bedroom layout and office accessed through the long mudroom that doesn’t access the garage is odd but beautiful main rooms and layout/views.
Cool place.
I like the area and love the house, great architecture and a fab yard. Wish I had the money to buy it.
The dude totally ruins the kitchen and has the nerve to ask for 300K more than the 2004 price. And despite the new boilers, with 65 year old radiant heat pipes set into concrete are bound there’s be a corrosion problem. Hence, so many K&K houses get torn down.
I bet he dry walled the ceilings instead of restoring the typical wood found in Keck & Keck houses, as well.
Sorta reminds me of the famous Farnsworth House in Plano, from roughly the same historical period. Definitely needs to be niche-marketed to architecture geeks.
You can appreciate this house without being an architecture geek. I’m not a big fan of midcentury modern, but I sure like this home!
Like the home and think that the layout is manageable but that they need a true second family room. The small space that acts as a hallway for the bedrooms is really just a great study hall or play area for the kiddies.
Finishing off the sun room into a practical and usable space would have been money well spent. Then it could be used for a true family. BTW I do like some of the ktichen features and would pay extra for them although my wife and I place a higher value on that than some others would.
Cool house and great lot. I don’t think the video which features the owner giving a tour is helping. It was too personal..’this is my kitchen..”etc. It just made me think, yup it is yours bud
This mid-century masterpiece reminds me of Northwoods Shopping Mall in Peoria, IL. It’s going to take a special buyer that’s for sure. A special buyer who also doesn’t mind over paying by several hundred thousand.
“It’s going to take a special buyer that’s for sure. A special buyer who also doesn’t mind over paying by several hundred thousand.”
I tell ya when Sabrina uses verbiage such as that, I almost think it’s an inside joke and exactly what you stated.
Budlong Woods??? I could have sworn that I knew every Chicago neighborhood, park, and Forest Preserve, but I’ve never heard of Budlong Woods.
Beautiful house!
Budlong Woods is between Lincoln Square and Albany park. Lyman Budlong elementary school is on Foster.
So, the neighborhood is named after a pickle farmer….interesting. Who knew Chicago was good pickle growing soil?
Very familiar w/Budlong Woods. Nice city neighborhood, but uneven, with many blocks a mix of single-family and multi-family buildings including some larger apartment buildings along eastern edge. Western edge is nicest, but again inconsistent. Michael Mann’s first big movie (w/James Caan?) had a major scene filmed in Budlong Woods, but that house burned down during the faulty pyrotechnics. I recall Budlong Woods had a number of greenhouse/truck farm vegetable farmers in early 20th century.
Anyways, Keck & Keck houses require a discerning owner who will spend time and money to restore, repair, and sustain building elements that are aging and sometimes difficult to service/replace. Aging hydronic piping in concrete floor slabs can be a nightmare. Don’t recall whether this particular house has that problem, but current owner took design liberties that detract from integrity of house. And not everyone likes the “restaurant kitchen” look, which is a cheap way to renovate a kitchen.
Not sure whether this seller is really motivated to sell, because pricing strategy isn’t working for him yet price reductions don’t reflect market, location, or eccentricities of house. This house either sells to a wealthy design geek who doesn’t investigate neighborhood or house issues too closely for price in $900,000 range, or for $700,000 range to someone who wants a big house in Budlong Woods. That’s as likely to be an ethnic buyer who isn’t necessarily attuned to architectural pedigree as someone who appreciates Keck & Keck houses. Many Chicago architects are aware that this house is for sale, but it’s priced well above average architect’s buying power.
In this instance, assessor appears to have it right. Funny that seller’s price is so inflated while assessor granted a significant tax break.
The “seller” is one of the founding owners of Dream Town Realty. A few months from now the listing will hit 1,000 days on the market. One would think that he should have a bit of perspective on how to price a house to sell.
“the “restaurant kitchen” look, which is a cheap way to renovate a kitchen”
Architect – Get serious! That is not a “cheap” kitchen reno. Drive down to my hood and look at the restaurant supply houses around 1200 W Madison Ave. There you will see the “true cost” of this kitchen. It was not overly expensive as the number of items used was low however the items were not cheap.
While it is a minimalist industrial look, and definately not my taste, it is not the look that many people attained by stopping over and consulting with the local Menards/Lowes/ Home Depot showroom for some cherry stained raised panel maple cabinets and then picking out a sale priced Kitchen Aid dishwasher, GE stove, and Amana fridge. Oh and don’t forget the countertop microwave. Now that is a “cheap” kitchen reno.
I cook an awful lot and love the look and apparent functionality of that kitchen.
I think the kitchen, particularly that sink, looks borderline gaudy. I guess they can barely get away wirh it given the postmodern theme but I dunno..
That kitchen didn’t cost $60,000, which is the threshold cost for a high-end small kitchen remodel. I’m not speaking of a Home Depot/Lowes “custom” kitchen.
I grew up in Budlong Woods. In fact, my mother still lives there, though, as Architect notes, in a more “uneven” block east of California Ave. As Architect noted, the neighborhood had some notoriety in the early 80’s when the Morrie Mages home caught fire during the filming of Thief. The Mages home was located across the street of this house and there are now two houses on the old Mages lot. http://everything.explained.at/Thief_(film)/. Some of the one-time grander homes in that little pocket have trouble selling and have deteriorated considerably since I was a kid. I seem to recall that as late as the late 60’s there was a green house / vegetable grower on the corner of Bryn Mawr and California…. thanks for the flashback Architect. Jamieson and Mather used to be great schools. In fact, Jamieson->Mather->UofI Urbana->med school was not an uncommon career path for the kids in the neighborhood. Now a days there is North Side College Prep on the other side of the river.
Jp3 just got schooled. Jp3 the seller is asking over a mill for this place hence this isn’t/shouldn’t bebmenard’s bush league level.
“That kitchen didn’t cost $60,000, which is the threshold cost for a high-end small kitchen remodel.”
Never said it did but to say that terrazzo flooring, a commercial range, stainless steel tables, and the faucet & sink combo were cheap options is flat out wrong! Not all remodels and $1,000,000 asking price homes will have 60K kitchens. Today’s Old Irving Park home is a perfect example. This does not look like a super expensive kitchen either.
http://www.mredllc.com/photos/property/798/07950798_3.jpg
Bob perhaps you should go back and read carefully. Sometimes full comprehension takes more than one pass. If you concentrate you will see that I had responded to Architect’s comment that “restaurant kitchens are cheap way to renovate a kitchen.” My comment was not to determine an artificial price threshold (apparently 60K by his standards) that the owner must spend to consider it a high end rehab. My comment was to point out that they chose very high end items however they kept the number of pieces to a minimum. I still say that this idea was at least better than someone that goes to a big box store and picks out run of the mill stuff for the same dollar amount. Although I would not like either remodel I suspect that this plan would have looked even more “cheap.”
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I can understand why Architect did not get the point as he is thinking about this from a professional standpoint and has great eye for detail, design, and true cost of products. You on the other hand missed the point altogether and tried unsuccessfully to jump on a bandwagon!
I’d sure rather buy this than the Villa home if I HAD to spend $1M on one of the two….
jp3 – 10K on the kitchen equipment, at most. It all comes from China nowadays. The house came w/ terrazo floors, which is why when the radiant floor heating goes kaput, it will not not be replaced. Unless they’ve come up w/ a way to reline those miles of 1/2 in copper pipes underneath.
Db – You are quite close. It looks like about $5k for the fridge as it appears that they put two $2500 units together side by side.
http://www.efoodserviceshopping.com/IACart/catalog/index.php?dIerots=0A6CC1D47E5943457B0B11470157186B767F&&categoryId=201
Add another $8K for that range, a few thousand for the tables, spice rack, and the sink como. Add a bit of installation costs and there you have it. That was not cheap per say as you could have purchased average appliances for the same cost as the fridge. I have to agree that it was also not overly expensive by Architect’s standards.
Shame about the copper pipes. That makes total sense and would really suck!
jp3- If for some reason you’re shopping for restaurant equipment go here:
http://www.shortorder.com/
you can’t beat their prices.
I don’t know much, but 20 years of owning a restaurant and 2 years looking for my own Keck & Keck house, one picks up bits and pieces.
DB – Thanks for the tip but no I just walk the dog by the ones on Madison frequently and dream of my next kitchen. It will be complete with commerical range with a wok, glass front fridge, deep fryer, steam tables, slamander broiler, perhaps a popcorn machine, and a hot dog cart next to my back yard in ground pool. A man can dream….. oh and it will be in my Keck and Keck inspired home.
drove by this gem out of curiosity … Budlong Woods is a far cry from the mismatched paradise that is this home/lot. the house and grounds are spectacular, but what is that saying about “the nicest house on the street?” more like, the nicest house in the zip code.
Dropped another $100K this month. Hopefully it will find a buyer soon. Someone will love living here!
Under contract, from last list of $1MM.
Still under contract almost 90 days later. Hope to see the closed transaction soon!