Summer is Coming, Time to Get the Pool Ready: 850 W. Willow in Lincoln Park
This 4-bedroom single family home at 850 W. Willow in Lincoln Park has a secret you rarely see in the dense neighborhoods near the lake.
It has a heated in-the-ground pool in the backyard.
It’s able to have that because the house is built on a double lot measuring 50×99.56.
As you can see from the pictures, it looks almost like a California oasis in the backyard as the pool is surrounded by lush vegetation.
The house also has a rare 2 car garage that is in the front of the house (and not on an alley) which allows for guest parking on the front driveway.
The listing says there is an “upgraded kitchen” with stainless steel appliances.
The master suite has a large marble spa bathroom.
Originally listed in October of 2011, it has been reduced $66,000 since that time.
What’s a pool worth?
Jennifer Ames at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
850 W. Willow: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, no square footage listed, 2 car garage
- Sold in September 2004 for $1.75 million
- Originally listed in October 2011 for $2.445 million
- Withdrawn in December 2011
- Reduced
- Re-listed in March 2012 for $2.379 million
- Taxes of $32669
- Central Air
- Heated, in-the-ground pool
- Bedroom #1: 22×15 (third floor)
- Bedroom #2: 16×13 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 13×12 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 28×13 (main floor)
Looks like a very nice home. But what warrants that kind of price increase from 2004. I thought prices were going down?
Nice! Very rare for the city. I think it is tastefully updated and priced reasonably.
The pool lowers the price in my estimate. North side of house in shade, surrounded by trees: looks like more upkeep than usability. The house is nice but to me needs some “updating” based upon the price. I think 1.9 is more realistic.
That is definitely the highest sq ft fridge : sq ft cabinet ratio, I have ever seen.
I wouldn’t go as far as calling this a pool. It is more like a water feature of sort. Before two strokes one finishes the length of it.
Also I don’t like the exterior. It looks like it was transplanted from some other place and time. Just doesn’t make me think of a house in Chicago.
Ah, I’ve walked by this place many times and am flabbergasted there is a pool in back. What an interesting place!
I wonder if anyting could be done about the exterior. Redo the outside with a more modern look…think Studio Dwell. The color of the brick and the fact that its so monotone really hurts the asthetic.
I LOVE pools, but think I would rather have a yard somewhere, than a small pool there. Great single family but the price just feels way too high.
An inground pool is never a net advantage when selling a home in a cold weather climate. For every potential buyer that considers the pool a plus there will be three or more who rule the property out completely because of the pool. This one is no exception.
“It has a heated in-the-ground pool in the backyard”
wow the pool is a disadvantage as in ground pools are illegal with in chicago. you need a minimum of four feet high above the ground.
“Before two strokes one finishes the length of it.”
WAIT? Cant believe my wife told you that. it only happened once.
Lived over by this place a while back and actually i really like the exterior. It’s not one of those F U mansions that screams out for attention. It’s definitely very low profile which I like. I personally love the pool and if you can afford this place it’s a nice extravagance to have. (people in this range are not worried about the cost of upkeep and hell, then can get rid of it if they want.
As for being illegal…..yeah right, it’s Chicago, remember? I actually know of someone who lives three blocks from here on another double lot that also has an in ground pool.
““Before two strokes one finishes the length of it.”
Groove, when I read it I ran out of the house screaming to myself.. No! No! Too easy…Not to miumiu… Not to her.. Not going to say anything!!! Must run away!! Groove will do it!!! He will be summoned out of his stack of 1040’s by some 6th sense, like my dogs when they hear the food lid open. he will set this right…
Thank you.. my Ze day may now continue in peace. The world has regained balance.
Do want! Looks like a nice surburban retreat on the inside and in the backyard, but in the city!
“Groove, when I read it I ran out of the house screaming to myself.. No! No! Too easy”
when i read it, i typed as fast as i could trying to get a post in before Ze could.
“As for being illegal…..yeah right, it’s Chicago, remember? I actually know of someone who lives three blocks from here on another double lot that also has an in ground pool.”
yes, i know. but everything i did in my house is sans permit, all fine and dandy until you need to sell.
Cool house. I think the interior is tasteful, and I like the backyard privacy. I think it will go for $2MM+
Sounds like they want all their updating costs, and then some, back. But if they’d take $1.75 mm, and if I could afford that, this place would pose the biggest threat yet to my geographic preferences. Want a grassy yard? Move to the burbs. The pool would get daily use for three months out of the year, and I imagine kids/adolescents would use it at least 6 months out of the year. Perhaps it’s just the Ames listing magic, but this place is awesome.
lo @ Ze and Groove. I need a lawyer before I post on CC. You guys always manage to read something nutty into even the most innocent comments : )
BTW, now I get the negative votes. It reminds folks of certain lets say shortcomings ; )
Awesome – Really? I find it very nice and some decent finishes but not awesome. And I am usually a defender of unusual places. I guess that for my vote the kitchen does not resemble what I would expect for being a 2M house. And the layout and room count actually seems somewhat cramped for that price point.
Other than those two points it is a very nice home. Are in-ground pools really still illegal in Chicago? What is the logic for that rule?
“in ground pools are illegal with in chicago”
Um, no. From the building code:
“The term “private residential swimming pool” is hereby defined as a receptacle for water, or an artificial pool of water having a depth at any point of more than five feet, intended for the purpose of immersion or partial immersion therein of human beings, and including all appurtenant equipment, constructed, installed, and maintained **IN** or above the ground outside of a building used for a single-family dwelling unit.”
So, legal, and (apparently) only need to comply with the (super-ridiculous) restrictions if it is over 5′ deep. Which I would bet this one is not.
“You guys always manage to read something nutty”
well only two good strokes can cause some nutty
” I imagine kids/adolescents would use it at least 6 months out of the year”
Longest I ever kept my pool open, in the northern climes, was very early May to 1st week of Oct. By that time of year the nights make the water too cold and the sun is no longer strong enough to warm it up by day. Once you are no longer using it and the leaves start falling, you want to close it A.S.A.P.. the Polaris just can’t handle it any more… . That was in D.C., which is much warmer than Chicago.
“So, legal, and (apparently) only need to comply with the (super-ridiculous) restrictions if it is over 5? deep. Which I would bet this one is not.”
so this pool would be waist high then? and would be completly legal? and who the heck came up with 5′ feet?
second question is there still a law/code about fences? my aunts neighbor just put up a 9 foot monster. yes the did the lattice trick at the top but from ground to lattice its 7 feet. yes they pulled the its starts about 6″ from the ground
“Longest I ever kept my pool open, in the northern climes, was very early May to 1st week of Oct. By that time of year the nights make the water too cold and the sun is no longer strong enough to warm it up by day.”
This one is heated. I can see a lot of appeal to it with kids.
pools are a liability, especially if you have children. rip it out, I say.
“second question is there still a law/code about fences?”
Yes there is. W/o doublechecking, believe that you can go over 6′, but then you need a bunch of approvals–can’t use the easy permit process, which is limited to 6′ fences.
Get one of these:
http://www.websweeper.com/php/pool_domes/do-001.php
I agree that for most people, especially those with small children, the pool is a disadvantage rather than an advantage. But pool or not the place is awesome and in a stellar location. Not sure what price it might command as I am definitely not in this price range, but I would think 2 million or just under is not far off?
This is a nice house, but once again I’m not a fan of living on the second floor of a SFH. I think it does seem to need some updating too (that black toliet for instance!) and while the pool would be nice for older kids, it takes up all the yard so you have practically no outdoor space other than the pool. I’d be worried about little kids near the pool too. Lastly, I agree with a few others, it just does not scream $2M house to me. Small kitchen, useless bedroom on the first floor and not very large secondary bedrooms on the third floor for this price.
” useless bedroom on the first floor and not very large secondary bedrooms on the third floor for this price”
Show me the Lincoln Park houses with 4 bedrooms up, with at least two (non-master) larger than the 2d and 3d bedrooms here. My quick scan of about a dozen (yes, starting at $2m) showed 1 that fit the bill. The others either had a much smaller 3d bedroom, or (most of them) had the same layout of 3 up and a 4th in the lower level–thi one at least has the advantage of that lower level being entirely above grade.
And, it’s absolutely not useless–it’s perfect for live in nanny or regularly visting parents.
“yes, i know. but everything i did in my house is sans permit, all fine and dandy until you need to sell.”
Even then, it doesn’t usually matter.
“(that black toliet for instance!)”
Don’t all toilets need to be replaced with new regardless?
“Show me the Lincoln Park houses with 4 bedrooms up, with at least two (non-master) larger than the 2d and 3d bedrooms here. My quick scan of about a dozen (yes, starting at $2m) showed 1 that fit the bill. The others either had a much smaller 3d bedroom, or (most of them) had the same layout of 3 up and a 4th in the lower level–thi one at least has the advantage of that lower level being entirely above grade.
And, it’s absolutely not useless–it’s perfect for live in nanny or regularly visting parents”
Alright, scrap that about the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, they looked small in the floorplan, but they are decent sized. The bedroom on the main floor I can see being useful for a nanny or guest room, but I was imagining 3 kids each in their own bedroom and I wouldn’t want one of them two floors away on a floor with nothing else but the garage and entry/exit.
“Yes there is. W/o doublechecking, believe that you can go over 6?, but then you need a bunch of approvals–can’t use the easy permit process, which is limited to 6? fence”
thank you, now off to see if a permit was acquired for said monster fence. Yes evil groove mode now, as the fence is blocking the sun of garden, and i need my aunties fresh tomatoes and cumber’s
“I was imagining 3 kids each in their own bedroom and I wouldn’t want one of them two floors away on a floor with nothing else but the garage and entry/exit.”
Certainly. But it’s tough to find the 4th bedroom up, with all 4 bedrooms bigger than 12×12 (and a master bigger than 15×15) in Lincoln Park, and especially east of the el, even at $2m. The 25′ lots constrain things.
“but I was imagining 3 kids each in their own bedroom and I wouldn’t want one of them two floors away on a floor with nothing else but the garage and entry/exit.”
If you’ve got 3 kids and want a SFHs (in this range), wouldn’t you be looking for a 5 bed, and not a 4 bed?
For everyone who’s sounding the alarm about having a pool with little kids, if you were to move to, say, FL or SoCal, and were looking at 4 beds between $1.75 and $2.25 mm, are you telling me that you’d opt for no pool? Assuming you found a nice house without a pool, would you move to a place with a pool once the kids are a bit older? If so, how old? In doing so, wouldn’t you be living on the 2/2 condo short-term ownership schedule, rather than the long-term SFH schedule? Or would you just stay put for 15-20+ years, living in your $2 mm+ SFH in a warm coastal climate *without* a pool?
Annoyme,you ever haveto open and close a pool? It is a pain in the ass for 4 months a year. Warm climate is a different story just to begin with. And in those warm climates you see commercial after commercial warning about child drownings and fences.
Groove… if you can’t make him laugh just tickle his sphincter.
My pool costs about 7-10k/year (which includes opening/closing/heating/weekly cleaning). If anything breaks, that is extra. The pool company told me to “put 5k/year away for major repairs” (to re-surface the pool – which should be done every 10-15 years would cost about 35k – but that is for my pool which is probably 4 times the size of the one in the pictures above”.
You just have to figure out how much you are going to use it. I know that, for me, it is totally useless. I didn’t go into to the pool once last year
“Annoyme,you ever haveto open and close a pool?”
I think he used to do nothing but open and close pools for rich people, be they of warm climates or slightly cooler ones, from whence he acquired his dream of being a rich person, with a pool that he could hire someone reliable and upstanding to open and close, with said person thereinafter continuing the circle of annoyme.
“And in those warm climates you see commercial after commercial warning about child drownings and fences.”
I’m going to get one of those anon-domes for the whole house.
“I’m going to get one of those anon-domes for the whole house.”
Isn’t that a termite tent?
Is the anon dome anything like the one in ET? Or that biosphere paulu shore movie. Saw him once at a home depot in chicago. With some real worn out looking ex stripper type chick. It was sad.
i tend to agree with pools just not being worth the cost. especially up north.
kind of like boats imho. best to have a good friend who has one.
place is not for me, but it’s got a lot going for it.
sub 3% price cut though…not sure how that’s going to change things much. my guess is it sits all summer unless they keep cutting.
“With some real worn out looking ex stripper type chick”
He was trying to make his mom cry.
“Isn’t that a termite tent?”
Was thinking the union rat folks might be another option. Speaking of which, why not a inflatable rat over the pool/house?
“Speaking of which, why not a inflatable rat over the pool/house?”
Love it!
btw, forgot to mention I saw one on clark (erie-ish) a couple weeks ago. Nice big one, probly 12′. Made my day brighter–would have been a first week purchase had we won the megamillions.
“from whence he acquired his dream of being a rich person”
You don’t need to make money anymore to be rich. You can just say it on the internet and it immediately becomes true. Like Clio is a Doctor, or how I tell people I am Jewish. Heck, I’m not even circumcised!
“how I tell people I am Jewish. Heck, I’m not even circumcised!”
You told your mom about this site, didn’t you? Don’t be like Pauly.
Lol.. i need to tell the story of how i told my mom that i was married, the day after. To a shiksa from brazil. Wife goes to the bathroom and mom turns to me and asks “well, did she at least grow up in a house or was it a hut”
““well, did she at least grow up in a house or was it a hut””
And you said “her wardrobe was all banana leaves when I met her!”
Before safety fears*, common A/C, and video games, kids loved to swim. My grandparents had an in ground pool, popular in their area. Had to be cleaned often and closed by mid Sept.
If someone can afford over a mill for a house, they can afford a ‘pool boy’.
*If parents taught kids to swim and to not run amok, there’d be no accidents.
The problem with this house and its design/decoration is: Not enough brown.
“Heck, I’m not even circumcised!”
i am but it was on odd accident and a long story.
Its a great story on a first date as the intrigue builds, and curiosity is an evil fellow, so at some point i will be asked to have a viewing and all things are positive from there.
Was just using Bing to see the view of the house and it reminded me of a really cool property across the street on the point. It was on rezoned and featured a former gas station that had been turned into residential home by a school teacher that could otherwise not afford LP. Really cool place. I recall thinking that it could have been finished with some better upgrades but it still was an interesting property and cool project.
“Was just using Bing to see the view of the house and it reminded me of a really cool property across the street on the point. It was on rezoned and featured a former gas station that had been turned into residential home by a school teacher that could otherwise not afford LP. Really cool place. I recall thinking that it could have been finished with some better upgrades but it still was an interesting property and cool project.”
any link to info on it?
Groove…here you go. It has been recently renovated. Not sure if it’s the same owner though.
http://goodbuildings-blog.tumblr.com/tagged/1737_N_Bissell
GB thank you thats a cool link. off to check it out now