Love Greystones? A Renovated 3-Bedroom in East Lakeview: 657 W. Roscoe
This 3-bedroom greystone at 657 W. Roscoe in East Lakeview just came on the market.
Built in 1901, it’s on a 25×134 lot.
Thanks to Micah for noticing that we chattered about it in 2009.
Back then, it ended up selling for less than the 2002 price. The chatterati comments are interesting as we clearly had no idea what was yet to come with declining prices.
You can see our chatter, and some interior pictures, here.
This single family home still has many of its vintage features including the original wood floors which have been sanded and stained.
The house has original moldings and, on the second floor, the original doors and transom windows.
There’s one gas fireplace.
The house has the layout buyers like, with all three bedrooms on the second floor, including the master suite with a built-in shower.
The chef’s kitchen appears to be the same kitchen as in 2009. It has wood cabinets, what look like stone counter tops and commercial grade stainless appliances including the range, refrigerator, oven and built-in microwave.
The house has a back deck and a large unfinished basement which was also unfinished in 2009. In both listings, it said it could be finished.
There’s central air but there’s no garage or parking.
The listing says this about the parking situation:
“LL unfinished basement could be finished to include attached garage below the home.”
Listed at $1.165 million, which is $265,000 above the 2009 selling price of $900,000, in a much better market and economy, will this sell quickly this time?
Carrie McCormick at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Or see it at the Open House on Saturday, May 25 from 12 to 1:30 pm.
657 W. Roscoe: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in September 2000 for $565,000
- Sold in October 2002 for $925,000
- Was listed in September 2009 for $999,000
- Sold in October 2009 for $900,000
- Currently listed at $1.165 million
- Taxes are now $15,914 (they were $11,297 in 2009)
- Central Air
- No parking
- Living room: 17×12
- Dining room: 16×11
- Family room: 16×12 (main floor)
- Bedroom #1: 15×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×9 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×9 (second floor)
- Storage: 33×22 (lower level)
- Laundry room: 22×11 (lower level)
I question whether you could, or should, put a garage in the basement. Depending on the neighborhood and/or alderman, curb cutouts can be difficult to get (there is no way of getting anything in the back). Add to the fact that you would be playing around with the foundation, I am not sure that it is worth it or cost-effective.
wow that prior chatter is PEAK cribchatter, what a blast from the past
I shudder to think of the damage an underground garage could cause to the facade of this beautiful home. Let’s hope the buyer has enough taste to avoid that.
On the other hand, the parking situation is a big red mark. There’s no alley here, so a back space won’t work. Street parking is a nightmare. This could prevent the home from going at the current price.
Otherwise it’s great.
I used to just down the block from here and yes, street parking is a nightmare. I had a garage space in the alley off Elaine. On a couple of odd occasions where I needed to park on the street, it was awful.
Somebody a few blocks from me put a garage in their basement in a similar vintage row house. However, it’s a double-width house (60’s combination of two seperate houses) and their yard was deeper from the sidewalk. Getting a curb cut would depend on the neighbors, connection to alderman plus street utility location (street lighting, fire hydrants, underground utils). I don’t know, off hand, what zoning and code say about it, but there are probably restrictions on width etc. And historic district as well. There are people near the one I mentioned with parking in their front yards. It looks ok with a big lot and big house, but on a rowhouse it looks awful – like London/UK where it’s common to have the front yard paved for parking.