Roscoe Village SFH with Basketball Court Reduces Again: 3540 N. Ravenswood
This 6-bedroom contemporary single family home at 3540 N. Ravenswood in Roscoe Village came on the market in May 2018.
Long time readers will recognize it because we chattered about it several times in 2011 and 2012.
You can read our 2012 chatter here where we debated the pros and cons of having a basketball court.
If you recall, this house is on a corner double lot measuring 50×125.
It was built in 2007 just as the Great Recession was about to hit.
It has many unique features including 2 kitchens: one that is stainless steel and one that has white cabinets and a large island.
There are four en suite bedrooms and a large master suite.
It has 3 laundry areas.
It has a home theater and a small indoor swimming pool.
If you recall, one of its big selling points was a 4,000 square foot outdoor rooftop deck with a basketball court.
The house also has a rare 4-car attached heated garage.
It’s also now available fully furnished.
Originally listed at $2,899,900 in May 2018, it has been reduced $400,900 to $2,499,000.
Is the luxury market going to seize up this summer?
Marta Landrosh at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has the listing. See the pictures here.
3540 N. Ravenswood: 6 bedrooms, 6 baths, 7200 square feet, 4 car parking
- I couldn’t find any original sales price but it appears to have been built in 2007 (from our prior chatter there appears to be several PINs on the property)
- Was listed in March 2010 for $3.75 million
- Reduced
- Sold in June 2013 for $2.4 million
- Originally listed in May 2018 for $2,899,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $2.699 million
- Withdrawn in March 2019
- Re-listed in March 2020
- Currently listed at $2.499 million
- Taxes are still $46,097 (they were $13,329 in 2012)
- 2 Kitchens
- Indoor Pool
- Basketball court
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 22×50 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 22×18 (main level)
- Bedroom #3: 22×18 (main level)
- Bedroom #4: 22×18 (main level)
- Bedroom #5: 12×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #6: 12×12 (second floor)
- Family room: 25×25 (main level)
- Theater: 25×25 (main level)
- 2nd Kitchen: 15×12 (second floor)
The location is a dealbreaker at this price point.
kind of looks like a prison from outside.
JohnnyU on April 28th, 2020 at 7:47 am
The location is a dealbreaker at this price point.
Why do you say that? Million dollar homes all over this area.
I’d have a hard time not being able to see out of most of the windows. Sure, they let light in and provide more privacy, but not seeing any signs of life when looking out of a window is kind of depressing.
I can’t believe the owners (or previous owners?) poured much cash into a property at this location with no windows and zero curb appeal.
“Why do you say that? Million dollar homes all over this area”
Property is between 2 train lines. @ $2.5MM that’s a no-go.
A sports agent should by this and lease to some Flubbie who has his main residence in Fl or Az
I could live here. My dream in-a-city home is pretty much this. Love the indoor pool. I too would probably would change to roof top basket ball court into a garden/yoga area. I like the fact that the trains are close…very urban vibe. The windows are perfect – – if you really want to see people gawking at your house, just add cameras or go outside 🙂
not a lot of green space for all those kiddos…
The sad truth is this is most appealing to a transplant who is either an athlete, actor or whatever and isn’t necessarily going to be in Chicago for more than 5 years, so at just over $14K a month (including taxes, insurance and upkeep and assuming a sweet $540K down payment), could you rent something comparable? Six bed rentals of this caliber are probably few and far between so I am guessing, yes, you are a buyer (and a baller), but wow. This is just funny money. Locking up a half a mill for the pleasure of spending another $170K a year on housing (much closer toe $200K after utilities). And then having to have a marketing horizon that is multiple years long….and I truly don’t think you can actually afford this if this is your only home. These folks have AT LEAST one other “country home” somewhere and travel a lot so…. Just wow. Some serious living expenses.
Why would this be appealing to buyer with a short term horizon?
Looking at the sales history doesn’t paint a pretty picture.
Unless the family absolutely fell in love with the place, it looks to be a horrible economic decision.
“Property is between 2 train lines.”
You really only barely notice the Metra here. But the El is super loud, and still a bit higher than normal from crossing the Metra.
“I couldn’t find any original sales price but it appears to have been built in 2007 (from our prior chatter there appears to be several PINs on the property)”
To the extent there were multiple pins, that’s past–50×124 lot, one pin, ending -032. AMV = ~$2.3m, so very fairly assessed, and at basically the same value as that “not found” ’07 sale price of $2.25m.
How can they NOT have the floorplan in the listing? totally necessary to get the feel of the place.
Like The Cat, I totally dig it, and wouldn’t much mind the trains. I don’t love the exact location for non-train reasons (would rather be a little north or south).
This place is cool. I’d ditch the basketball court and make it into a grassed yard.
I don’t like that it really doesn’t have much by way of windows. I’ve seen some similar type places that have an inner court yard with windows and it works well for providing natural light and something to look at. This place really doesn’t allow you to look outward at all which is probably why it isn’t selling.
@JohnnyU – – because the rental options for someone needing this much space for their family and in-laws or frequent guests, is very limited. Folks that this appeals to are not real estate investors. They are looking for a swanky pad to make living in Chicago winters (that pool!!!!!) tolerable. They are the “work hard play hard” type. If an athlete, they are fairly young and even though they worked hard to get where they are, haven’t got a full appreciation of how difficult this particular piece of real estate will be to sell, as it has been for every prior seller. Folks tend to think they are unique and not the real estate itself.
“every prior seller”
One prior seller. Developer sold to original owner (and it may have been a custom job), who sold to current owner.
Those 2012 comments brought back some great memories. What ever happened to Groove77 and Clio?
That said, this is still a cool place. Back in 2012 we were still living in our West Loop loft. I really liked the design of this space and envisioned us creating a similar place with an older building on an odd lot. Then in 2014 there was a former gas station turned house that hit the market. Check out 1424 W Ohio. Super cool renovation.
Eight years (and three kids) later we moved to the burbs. I love being in Park Ridge and in a SFH. For various reasons I don’t think that living in one of those places would be that easy or fun today. Evidently I’ve grown out of that stage of life.
The reality is that pre-Covid it needed to be sold to an experienced AirBnB rental host. The place could be an amazing weekend rental for tourists coming to Chicago for Cubs games etc. That would suck for the neighbors. Don’t think that they would enjoy living next to a 52 week bachelor party house?
Noticed it closed on 7/2 at $2,340,000.
Thanks for the update Sid V.