Remember This Vintage Gold Coast Mansion? 1500 N. Dearborn Parkway
This 5-bedroom Gold Coast mansion at 1500 N. Dearborn Parkway came on the market in October 2014.
But if it looks familiar, that’s because it is.
We have chattered about it twice before- in April 2010 and July 2011.
The house was built in 1880 and is on a corner lot measuring 33×150.
It comes with a coach house and a 3-car garage with a bricked courtyard between the house and the coach house.
The home has a lot of its original features including crown molding, beamed ceilings and original moldings and doors as well as three fireplaces.
Back in 2010, the house was listed as “priced to sell” and that they would “entertain all offers.”
Additionally, in 2010 and 2011, the main house had light wood floors and the original woodwork was all in its original wood condition.
You can see what it looked like in the pictures in our July 2011 chatter here.
Since 2011, all of the original woodwork looks like it has been painted white and the floors have been stained a darker color (which is “in” right now.)
The walls also have been painted gray.
Otherwise, the kitchen is the same as it was in 2011 with maple cabinets and granite counter tops.
The house has come back on the market at the same price as in July 2011, at $3.95 million.
Obviously, the market is much improved, especially at this price point.
Normally, we don’t talk much about the interiors but when you paint all of the crown molding on a 1880’s house, it sticks out.
Will painting all of the original woodwork and staining the floors get the sale done?
Louise Study at Baird & Warner now has the listing. See the current pictures here.
1500 N. Dearborn Parkway: 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, 8000 square feet (includes the coach house. The house is 6290 square feet)
- Sold in December 2005 for $4.466 million
- Originally listed in July 2009
- Was listed in April 2010 for $5.495 million
- Reduced
- Was listed in July 2011 at $3.95 million
- Withdrawn
- Re-listed in October 2014 at $3.95 million
- Currently still $3.95 million
- Taxes are now $34475 (they were $34569 in July 2014)
- Central Air
- Coach house
- Bedroom #1: 21×16 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 17×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 15×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 21×10 (third floor)
- Bedroom #5: 12×12 (second floor- which I believe is the coach house)
- The listing says you can see the floor plan on the website, but I couldn’t find it.
So many commenters on CribChatter over the years have said, “never paint the original moldings” but look at how much better it looks.
It’s like a brand new house.
Looks like crap, but not nearly the travesty of staining the floors
oh my fsm they completely destroyed the interior of this home! what a pity!
sad face!
All things considered, it seems like a good deal. The floors look better now, and so do the moldings. But that kitchen…”welcome to my stately home, complete with microwave over the stove.”
Not a fan of the condo trend colors, (white, gray, and espresso floors) in a SFH of this age and caliber. That’s what Sabrina was just recommending for 1 bd condo sales (i.e. upgrading the 2004 finishes to the trend)
Please someone shoot the idiot interior designer. The painted roof and wall panels are just criminal.
Roof >> ceiling
A house like this should not be remodeled “for the masses” (ie modern trendy colors/style). This is a historic vintage mansion and should have been restored with that in mind. It doesn’t matter if 99% of the population doesn’t like it – you are aiming for the 1%…..think about it.
I’m with Miumiu and Clio- this “trendy” renovation is a disaster. The antique features have been destroyed- the beautiful paneling will never be restored as it was.
Beware of short-lived designer fads. Friends of mine in my age bracket (a lot older than most of you)have basements and storage lockers crammed with expensive mementos of the design fads of the past 30 or 40 years, to remind their kids that what is fashion-forward and the ultimate in taste now, is going to look downright horrible in another decade.
BTW, pursuant to our dissuasion on wealth in Chicago, the following might interest some of you guys. In short, #6 on the list is East Lake Shore Drive in Chicago with
mean household income: $593,454.
http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-neighborhoods-in-america-2014-2#1-the-golden-triangle-in-greenwich-conn-25
“A house like this should not be remodeled “for the masses” (ie modern trendy colors/style). This is a historic vintage mansion and should have been restored with that in mind. It doesn’t matter if 99% of the population doesn’t like it – you are aiming for the 1%…..think about it.”
What did they do to remodel it?
All they did over the past 4 years, at least cosmetically that we can tell from the pictures, is paint the moldings and beams throughout and stain the floors. The kitchen had been done previously.
Have you ever seen a new construction house with unpainted crown molding or moldings in Chicago? I haven’t seen that in the last decade- if not longer. Maybe 20 or 30 years.
Why wouldn’t you try and update it to modern tastes?
They took a romanesque Gold Coast mansion and updated it to look like a 2-flat flip in Avondale. Score! (Quarter-sawn oak is for geezers. Yuck!)
What a shame; idiots painted the original woodwork!!!
Saw the old photos vs the new ones….the “renovations” is akin to slapping lipstick on a pig. Whereas the pre-renovation look was much better and made the house look stately.