Mansion on the Boulevard: 2954 W. Logan Boulevard
The housing boom has rejuvenated the Boulevard System around the city.
The Logan Square area was originally part of the Boulevard system. From the Logan Square Preservation Society:
In 1985, Logan Square Preservation convinced the U.S. Department of the Interior to designate the best-preserved 2 1/2 mile segment of the original boulevard system in Logan Square as the “Logan Square Boulevards Historic District.” This national registry landmark designation was the first step in preserving the grand boulevard system of Chicago.
This house at 2954 W. Logan Boulevard, which was built in 1905, is a wonderful example of preserved architecture from that era.
2954 W. Logan Boulevard: 6 full bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 half baths, 8000 square feet, 3 car garage
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price
- Currently listed for $1.899 million
- Taxes of $9,956
- @Properties has the listing
That place is the shizzy.
wow.
What is the history on this place? Was it a multi unit property at one point?
How realistic is this price?
the location is beautiful. it is ALL about proximity to the blvd in logan sq, and this one is ON it. super close to the blue line, 90/94, western ave., target!, and all of “the happenings”/nightlife/daylife in the area.
it was listed last fall for 2.195mill (now, 1.899mill) and the listing came down in feb. of 08. the agent currently representing the seller is a different agent. old listing doesn’t show the last sale price, as it was a transfer from owners back to themselves. maybe a trust? mortgage taken out (bank of america), per the mls, in ’04 for 714k. no info re whether it was a multi-unit building previously. old and current listing describe it as “historical logan blvd mansion.” — nothing about it having been converted.
i’m looking at some comps super fast.
*”tear down” frame victorian sold in 05 – on the blvd – at 2445 W – for 620k.
*house at 2522 W Logan Blvd sold in 06 for 579.9k. lot was 55×105, 3bed/3bath. frame victorian, again.
*i know condos (this is gonna be a generalization, but i’m in a hurry! sorry!) with 3beds/2baths, new construction, one outdoor parking spot, sold for mid-400s 4yrs ago.
this is a 6bed/4.2bath mansion. plus history, plus 3 car garage. there are only so many buyers who can afford it, but . . . 😉
This house sounds worth the money. I wouldn’t argue with this price, and there aren’t many places now that I can say that about.
In fact, it almost seems like a bargain. What an incredible house on a beautiful street. Logan Blvd. is one of the most beautiful streets in the city. How lucky for the surrounding neighborhood it’s there, for the rest of the area would be hopeless without it.
The architecture and details are beautiful, and the place is huge. It’s a rare house.
Logan Square is a pretty unsafe area, though the Boulevards are quite lovely. Frankly if I were in the $1.9 million sfh price range, I’d probably be looking in Lincoln Park or Bucktown, not Logan Square, which is pretty far from downtown and, like I said, still struggling with some street crime issues.
It’s a lovely desirable house, set on a beautiful boulevard, but $1.9 bills is steep – $238 per square foot. I don’t know if I’d pay that for Logan Square.
Agree it’s a dangerous area. I did a comparison of crime rates in that area with those of Rogers Park, and Rogers Park is way safer, in spite of our well-known problems.
However, I still think this house is worth the money. Places offered for similar prices in Lincoln Park tend to be much smaller. This place is 8,000 sq ft, after all, with great architecture; and it’s in great condition if the photos are any indication.
And Logan Blvd is still a wonderful street.
Bucktown is really only somewhat safer, and has horrible older housing stock. All those ugly little late-19th-century worker’s cottages with sunken front yards, that some folks are forking over $400K for. I rolled over Chicago Ave, past the fugly, unbelievably overpriced little house belonging to the friend of friend, and I was struck by the ugliness of the street from downtown clear to Western, AND by the presence of some of the nastiest-looking bars I’ve ever seen. One saloon, near the friend’s place, was housed in a bldg. so decrepit, you’d be afraid to sneeze near it for fear of triggering a collapse, and it had some of toughest-looking men lounging outside it I ever saw.
Laura,
I’d like to know more about the crime rates in Logan Square and Rogers Park. Which beats did you compare?
Thanks!
“Bucktown . . . has horrible older housing stock. . . . Chicago Ave . . . from downtown clear to Western”
Well, Laura, that ain’t Bucktown. It isn’t even adjacent to Bucktown. It’s Uke Village, sort of, then you pass through Wicker Park, THEN you get to Bucktown. It’s sort of like saying Ridge from Devon to Howard is Lincolnwood.
Yeah I agree with Anon. Generally Bucktown has pretty good housing stock from what I’ve seen, although that was east Bucktown. Even Wicker Park has some nice areas. Uke Village..not so much.
IMO you can tell the quality of a neighborhood or block by the amount of litter and pet droppings in the area.
When I moved to Wicker Park in the late 1990s, many Lincoln Park types called everything in that area “Bucktown.” I think it was because Bucktown was gentrifying faster than Wicker Park, but it was really annoying. The funny thing is, many of those people probably now live in Wicker Park.
I live around the corner from this house. The neighborhood just north and south of the Blvd seems pretty safe. We’re getting new restaurants all the time, and the Blvd is filled with dog walkers and strollers. Logan Square is currently a neighborhood with many different personalities. The areas around the Blvd and adjacent to Bucktown are generally pretty safe. As a female, I have no concerns taking the shortcut to the El through several alleys (something I would have never done in my last neighborhood in Washington, D.C.). However, I wouldn’t be comfortable living much farther west as there does still seem to be quite a bit of crime.
No, Logan Square isn’t Bucktown or Lincoln Park. But, it’s far more affordable and still fairly convenient to much of the city. We’re two blocks from the Blue Line El and under five from the Kennedy. I can be at my job in the South Loop in under 30 minutes, door to door. And, when there isn’t construction on the Edens, I can be at my mother’s house in 15 minutes.
Plus, unlike many nicer neighborhoods, our lovely old housing stock has not been torn down to make room for tons of mid-sized condo buildings and $1+ million SFHs that all look pretty much the same inside and out. Instead, for the most part, folks are renovating beautiful old graystones, many of which still have their original wood floors and dining room built-ins.
We’re currently renting, but are hoping to buy in the neighborhood in about a year. We hope to be able to afford a small SFH or multi-unit in the area, something we certainly couldn’t do in Lincoln Park or Bucktown, especially not close to an El stop.
Anyway, feel free to scare folks away from Logan Square. I appreciate anything that will keep the home prices from increasing.
I compared Shakespeare District with the 24th (Rogers Park). The Wicker Park/Logan Square looked worse.
Not that Rogers Park is clean. There are certain streets and areas that are great, like from Farwell on south into Edgewater, but other areas, like Morse and Lunt by the el, and the area around Clark and Howard, that are really intractable. We have two or three very bad pockets, and all in all, Edgewater has done a much better job of getting things in hand. I’d prefer to buy there.
Thanks, Laura.
If you looked at District 14, you looked at more than just Logan Square.
I visited chicago.everyblock.com and viewed all crimes in the city by beat. In District 14, the seven beats with the most crimes, in order, were 1422, 1434, 1424, 1433, 1423, 1421, and 1423. All seven are south of Armitage and therefore outside Logan Square.
Quick correction. Beat 1423 is north of Armitage but east of Western.
I’m on the same block as this building. It was a 2 flat converted into 3 condo’s in the late 1970’s. (Any of you remember the popping of that bubble). Over the years the current owner acquired the other 2 and converted it into a single family. It’s a great building.
I have been here 30 years. There is very little serious crime. The tough neighborhoods of Logan Square are as far from us as Cabrini Green is from Michigan Avenue and just as relevant.
By the way, as I remember, the 3 condos sold for roughly 125,000, 165,000 and 185,000 around 1980. Just guessing, but it doesn’t seem like much inflation adjusted appreciation.
DBA, thanks for supplying the interesting history of this place.
I’d have to walk through it to really see, but from the photos here, it looks pretty cohesive- doesn’t have the disjointed look so many combined units have. Combining units to make a larger one takes a lot of thought and a really good design sense, and sometimes it’s just not possible to combine them really well.
A really beautiful and unusual house.
“Logan Square is a pretty unsafe area” and “Agree it’s a dangerous area.”??? *RIDICULOUS*. That’s like saying there’s a danger of drowning in Rogers Park. It’s all about LOCATION.
Logan Square has had its ups and downs, but where that house sits is fantastic. “Safety” and “crime” become an issue the further west you go from Kedzie, and south of Fullerton. South of Fullerton, things are rough near Western, rougher still at California, and past Kedzie it’s still an untamed wilderness.
Really, though, there’s an huge swath of Logan Square that is neither unsafe nor crime-ridden or gang-infested. Heck, the one time I got mugged, it was when I lived in Lakeview, not Logan Square. Let’s cool it with the too-broad generalizations, please.