This Sauganash 4-Bedroom Traditional SFH Has Been Reduced $200K: 6070 N. Forest Glen
This 4-bedroom traditional style home with its center hall staircase at 6070 N. Forest Glen in Sauganash has been on the market since June 2010.
In that time it has been reduced $200,000.
Built in 1930, it has a distinctive slate tile roof.
It also still has many of its vintage features, including original lead glass bow windows in the living room, built-in cabinets, the original hardwood floors, and a dining room with wood paneling and french doors.
All four bedrooms are on the second floor.
Built on a 124×60 corner lot, it also has a finished basement and a 2-car garage.
There are no pictures of the kitchen or the bathrooms.
However, there IS central air.
What price will get someone to bite on this vintage home?
Eileen Quinn at Koenig & Strey Real Living has the listing. See the pictures here.
6070 N. Forest Glen: 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 4400 square feet, 2 car parking
- I couldn’t locate a prior sales price
- Originally listed in June 2010 for $899,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $699,000
- Taxes of $9943
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 22×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 16×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 16×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 17×9 (second floor)
Oh my god. I love this house.
This place is fantastic.
I imagine this house probably needs a lot and is difficult to rehab without destroying much of the original character. Thats just my educated guess.
There are a LOT more pics on the virtual tour, including kitchen/baths/floorplan. Needs updating in ktichen and baths but nothing you couldn’t live with for a while. Looks like you could do a lot with the kitchen, and make it exactly how you want it.
HD — I’m sure you’re right, but the house deserves it. Beautiful.
Great curb appeal and wood paneling. The price looks more than fair for a property this distinguished. The one strike against it, besides the fact that it’s a corner lot, is that aside from the living and dining rooms and the front hall, the rooms don’t seem very charming.
Agent Remarks: “Agent Remarks: Seller has lived in home for over 50 years. Short notice ok. Close to school, park, and public transportation, 17 rooms in total. Amazing neighborhood. Loads of storage. See virtual tour and interactive floor plans.”
Same owner for that many years may indicate that maintenance and updates haven’t been made in a while. The photos of the kitchen and bathroom seem to confirm that suspicion. http://www.seetheproperty.com/presentation_v2/presentation.php?order_id=62799&mode=unbranded&ws=1
Wow. This is the most beautiful house I can recall seeing on CC. Stunning, and I’d say its a fabulous deal. 4400 sqare feet!
After looking at the virtual tour, I partially rescind what I said earlier. The master BR is also lovely.
The kitchen needs a complete overhaul, but the space and layout look good, plus it has a separate eating area.
Looking at the floorplan, is it possible they made a mistake? At least judging from the outside photos, the living room should have two windows facing the front of the property, right?
this side of peterson in saug all the house are this sized old school mansions on oversized chicago lots
Geez – just looked at Chris’ link and love it even more. The kitchen and breakfast room could be combined into a fabulous, large kitchen, wtih the sunroom being an eat-in area if desired. And the bathroom situation on the second floor isn’t ideal but there is plenty of space for a master suite, then 3 bedrooms and 1 bath for the kids. If I weren’t such a Victorian girl, this would be my dream project. And I still think the price is right, even in light of the work needed.
“Same owner for that many years may indicate that maintenance and updates haven’t been made in a while.”
I don’t understand why you can make this comment? A lack of updates, perhaps, but maintenance is usuall kept up..especially if the owner has lived in the place for 50 years.
What am I missing in this comment?
50 years same owner almost inevitably means 50 years of deferred maintenance and updates.
“50 years same owner almost inevitably means 50 years of deferred maintenance and updates”
no just means updates needed and really only about 5 years deferred maintenance.
in a house like this i can almost guarantee that all work was by a contractor and when done up to that years code.
its the smaller portage park houses that the work was done by a family member and wasnt brought up to code.
does anyone have 700k to borrow me?
Dan #2? what is your beef with corner lots? why is this a strike against a property?
This place is in the realm of affordability for me. Too bad I can’t just uproot my family.
Icarus,
Corner lots mean that two sides of your house face streets, with the corresponding lack of privacy and more noise. Also, it typically means you have a small backyard.
“slate tile roof”
Those are stone, not clay? Really?
Dan #2, I respectfully disagree about the smaller backyard. though I do suspect you have more front yard to mow. As for the privacy and noise issue, i don’t think it’s that big of a deal.
i guess it really means you and I will likely never get into a bidding war over the same property 😀
“does anyone have 700k to borrow me?”
Didn’t check the basement pix, did you? Lots of professionally installed paneling.
Regarding lack of maintenance, just an educated guess based on the likely age of the owner and the condition of many estate sale homes. However, I see no indication that this is an estate sale. Either way, the actual cost of this house will be much higher than the ultimate sale price.
Right, Icarus! Actually, the backyard on this one seems OK from the Google Map photo.
“Either way, the actual cost of this house will be much higher than the ultimate sale price.”
Yes.
Where’s the 3d shower/bath to make this into a true 3 bath? I count 2.5 on the floorplan, with one of the bath/showers off of the kitchen. That would be the major impediment–the reconfiguration needed to add a 2d upstairs shower. There’s clearly enough space, but re-plumbing old houses is expensive and disruptive.
Someone replaced the original Sloan Valve toilets with tanks,
Furnace looks under 20 years old
Original Kitchen is long gone, should be replaced with a period vintage New England kitchen NOT stainless Subzero nonsense,
This is the best place CC has posted in a long time,
Congratulations to the future owner, sad it will not be me.
I’ve looked at a bunch of similar houses out in Oak Park and River Forest. These huge old houses with so many rooms require imagination and the right buyer to figure out what to do with all the space. In addition to the plumbing, if the current owner has been there for 50 years, how old is the electrical? How much of the house has been rewired for today’s standards?
I also like this place, but yes it’s going to need a lot of work, only made more expensive by the fact that you have to respect the existing beauty. Seems like it’s a great time to be a buyer with a $700k-1m budget right now.
I was actually wondering about what style of kitchen you’d put into a place like this. I fell in love with this house in Lake Forest that needed an update to the kitchen but struggled with what exactly would suit the house as it is.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Lake-Forest/1257-N-Mckinley-Rd-60045/home/17666193
this one is truly baffling, wonder what the catch is.
tfo, looks like 2 half baths add up to 3
Might not be a catch. I’m aware of a house in Oak Park that has been on the market for the same length of time as this one and recently received multiple offers on it.
“tfo, looks like 2 half baths add up to 3”
I dunno about you, but I prefer neither to shower in the sink, nor bathe in the toilet.
Been looking in Sauganash for a long time. When these houses have a big price cut they get scooped almost immediately. This house will certainly readjust some prices in the neighborhood, like this one on Peterson….
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5955-N-Kenneth-Ave-60646/home/13514272
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the O’Douls in the wine room. This is a lovely house. From the photos it looks like significant updating was done, maybe in the 80’s. The central air can’t be *that* old either.
oh my god I would have to do weekly runs to costco to get pledge if I owned this place
cool house though but just too much wood paneling for my liking, especially if its in sad condition.
no furniture makes me think this house has not been maintained in a while
looks like a solid deal at this asking price though
Jennifer
The house in your link should have the existing cabinets remain, perhaps a restorative sand-refinish on them and for sure you would want to put in period refurbished 1940s appliances.
“This house will certainly readjust some prices in the neighborhood, like this one on Peterson….”
I dunno. Seems like this one needs $150k+ of work to meet the updated appearance of the Kenneth house. Might convince them that a 10% off offer (say, $599) is a winner, but I don’t know that this at $700k means that much less for Kenneth–they’re not likely to get the same people seriously considering both.
5955 N Kenneth:
The problem with that property is a) it’s in the difficult to finance $600 to $800k range (due to the need for a large down payment) and b) the owner has $624,000 in recorded mortgages against the property, now granted some of the principal has been repaid but probably not very much given the 04-05 vintage of the notes ($434,000 plus $195,000).
Oh Jennifer I almost forgot,
You’ll want to do vintage red or green formica on the counters,
look for actual 1950s formica not the new stuff, You will also want to do an alluminum strip around the edge of the counters. The floor…..Period 1950s Linolium perhaps black,
This Forest Glen house just crushed this ugly one on Knox for 150k over…
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/6255-N-Knox-Ave-60646/home/13515490
The Knox house is about to have it’s third birthday.
“This Forest Glen house just crushed this ugly one on Knox for 150k over…”
Yeah, that one needs to come to jesus.
@ Jennifer, I would for sure put an Aga cooktop for this house’s kitchen update, see:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.agalinks.com/images/ImagesHeader/298KitchenWarmth.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.agalinks.com/community/1663.htm&usg=__escw0E7GUGfUjhwS711bFmFzXiU=&h=298&w=298&sz=15&hl=en&start=71&zoom=1&tbnid=s2zzUMednBcatM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=172&ei=YUjdTavkLcbDgQfLufgP&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daga%2Bkitchen%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1570%26bih%3D1015%26tbm%3Disch0%2C1391&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=984&vpy=502&dur=399&hovh=189&hovw=195&tx=88&ty=142&sqi=2&page=3&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:71&biw=1570&bih=1015
OMG, I cannot stand Linolium. Vintage houses all over the world had tile or wood floors before Brits came with the abomination. No need to get the L word! and you make fun of others for their midwestern taste?
“Period 1950s Linolium perhaps black,”
You said it miu, not me.
miumiu
Vintage / period kitchens with authentic materials and reconditioned appliances are the new hotness right now,
off course this trend has not reached the midwest po-dunkers yet.
the only frame of reference you have to go on are you own limited and uneducated opinions,
my hope for you is that you will wake up and realize,
you dont know WTF you are talking about.
then you may be able to accept some new ideas,
Aren’t vintage period kitchens with authentic materials and reconditioned appliances really just old ideas?
“you dont know WTF you are talking about.
then you may be able to accept some new ideas,”
James, I think you should take your untravelled smug ass across the pond and see some real vintage houses. After utterance of the L word I have made my decision about how much taste you have. You can use the F bomb all you like, but the cat is out of the hat…lol
“Didn’t check the basement pix, did you? Lots of professionally installed paneling.”
i caught it but as in life there are trade offs, as i will trade you a high five and throw in a low five for 700k 🙂
Lol Miumiu no way I would put linoleum down! It has the original hardwood still I think.
The place was priced a little out of our comfort range anyway, without taking into account the work – that wasn’t ‘needed’ but we wanted. I still love the place though and hope it will somehow magic it’s way back on to the market once my oldest is at Lake Forest High School.
miumiu
Ive been over the pond several times,
while I am happy that you found someone to knock you up,
this does not make you informed or an authority on any subject let alone design.
“Been looking in Sauganash for a long time. When these houses have a big price cut they get scooped almost immediately. This house will certainly readjust some prices in the neighborhood, like this one on Peterson”
Phil,
the keneth house is ON a four lane 55mph street (30mph posted). cant get passed that and a disccount should be made for the noise and the pollution trucks going to the perterson pulaski business district cause.
From Elle Decor:
http://www.elledecor.com/image/room_finder/87?page=169
Also laughing at James calling Miumiu an uneducated Midwestern po-dunk with limited frame of reference. Haha! Wahaha!
Of course you wouldn’t Jennife…lol…I am sure you will find a lovely house and make it even look nicer.
This school thing is so complicated. I am sure we will mess it up. I have started becoming more economical to save for schools after all I read here. Of course looking like the way I do these days helps stopping the shopping urge : )
“From Elle Decor:”
Are those SS appliances? How gauche!
Elle Decor? And I love the line “Her only caveat: Avoid placing hot objects directly on the surface. “We’ve only had one accident,” she says, “and it was because we forgot to tell our babysitter about how to treat the counter.”” Not useful.
Groove, I totally agree with you. The Kenneth house is right on Peterson. If I lived in that neighborhood, I would like to open my windows without hearing the roar of traffic. The Kenneth house is very nice inside, but smaller than it looks in the pictures. If you drive by the two houses, Forest Glen is much more impressive from the outside. That said, it needs a lot of updating and I would want to get a thorough test for lead/asbestos.
I found a boring but easy house that I won’t really do much to, but it means we will be able to get the pretty house in a few years.
I hear you on the school thing. Just when you think you have it sorted another spanner gets thrown in the works. But you can only do your best.
James you are definitely keeping me entertained today. An Elle Decor piece from 2008 about a place in Hollywood is your reference to what’s the hottest trend right now?!
“while I am happy that you found someone to knock you up,
this does not make you informed or an authority on any subject let alone design.”
what does this mean …is mm claiming preggers makes her omniscient?
My point is that the Forest Glen house makes the Kenneth house look that much more unattractive at $660k
In fairness to James, I have spent the last 10 years of my life living in midwest and I love it and it’s people. If that makes a midwesterner, I am proud of it.
“Elle Decor piece from 2008 about a place in Hollywood is your reference to what’s the hottest trend right now?!”
most of my reference comes from actual hardcover books,
Im at work and cannot find the more interesting bits on retro kitchens on the web, ill keep looking, even though
the midwest design school has gotten to you.
I wish CH. The only major effect I have detected is that I cry for every sappy thing. I even cried couple of month ago because my friends dog’s paws were in bad shape as a result of walking on salted pavement…hehe
“Groove, I totally agree with you. The Kenneth house is right on Peterson. If I lived in that neighborhood, I would like to open my windows without hearing the roar of traffic. The Kenneth house is very nice inside, but smaller than it looks in the pictures. If you drive by the two houses, Forest Glen is much more impressive from the outside. That said, it needs a lot of updating and I would want to get a thorough test for lead/asbestos.”
Phil,
i found many better option in saug around the same price or lower, ther was a short sale that sold 5901 kilborn for 550k
and on a 70′ wide lot;
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5616-N-Kolmar-Ave-60646/home/13514154
or that if wait can get it below ask;
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5814-N-Forest-Glen-Ave-60646/home/13514518
This place is pretty cool – reminds me of my frat house back in college, before we renovated it. I hate baseboard heating though… yuck. Is this neighborhood any good?
I love this house and it has impressive curb appeal.
No need to ruin the lovely vintage details in rehab. It looks like a forced air heating system has been installed without wrecking the appearance of the place.
Kitchen is hideous, but it will do for a few months.
I’d hesitate to renovate the main bath upstairs. It’s beautiful and the tile is in perfect condition. You can perhaps access the plumbing to replace it by going through the walls in adjacent bedrooms without disturbing the tile.
Looks like only a half bath in the 2nd bedroom, so this is really on only a 1 bath 2 half-bath house. The lack of two full baths will put any buyer qualified to buy, and to form a second, you will have to sacrifice closets.
How is the electrical? Since the house looks like it has had a lot of work in the past 30 years, you probably won’t have to do too much there.
This is an EXTREMELY good neighborhood. One woman there, wife of a city official, said that “this is where you live if you have to live in the city”. It is very much like a top suburb. The public schools in that area are very good. It’s a rather dull neighborhood, but the place attracts upper-middle-income professionals over age 40 with kids who aren’t exactly looking for excitement and urban “buzz” anyway.
This is a whole lot of old house for the money. It reminds me of a rectory, formal layout with many oversized rooms, but not very livable for a typical 2011 family that could afford this house and seek this neighborhood. It will need another $200,000 just to address its floor plan problems:
No master bathroom, much less lux master bath, no master bedroom privacy with its mid-room entry door, and inadequate closet space. Need to create a new spacious bathroom on one end of bedroom, route plumbing chases, and find way to furniture a room entered mid-wall and with remaining multiple windows.
No closet in fourth bedrm, and third bedroom has weird “tandem”, plus both bedrooms are narrow at 10′. House accommodates two to three kids, unless two share larger bedroom. Most buyers here will want a guest bedroom/2nd office.
Half bath at entry hall is full bath in kitchen. Did owners really shower and cross kitchen with their clothes, towel, etc? Save original 2nd floor full bathroom, but gut kitchen and its bathroom (new laumdryroom?), plus add a master bath and a better located half-bath.
No 1st floor family room. Basement rumpus room doesn’t equal 1st floor space. Many families want livingroom for formal entertaining/grown-ups and 1st floor family room for TV/kids/everyday living. “Library” too small for family room conversion. Time to convert diningroom? Forget about formal dining?
Etc.
Architect, your posts are always so informative. Excellent point on bathrooms.
miumiu, congratulations! I must have missed that your pregnant… me too:)
master bath doesn’t connect to the master bedroom = you sharing the bathroom with your kids and entire family, especially since there is no other place to bathe in the house… wow that is an epic fail, no wonder this place seems so cheap, they should really consider adding a second shower at least
how can someone diss Chicago for design options. I assume that River North – Merchandise Mart area should be the most concentrated design area in the country.
Great TS. Congrats to you too! Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? How far along are you?
@ Sonies, first floor has a full bath. I know it is weird as architect pointed out.
I wonder if one could open up the bathroom up stairs to the masters, open up the two smaller closets to the 2 other bedrooms and combine the closet of one of the bedrooms with the half bath and make it a shared bath between the other two bedrooms.
I can’t believe I’m actually saying this bearing in mind we only have 1.5 baths for the four of us, but wouldn’t you want 3 baths upstairs with 4 bedrooms? A master, a shared for two of the bedrooms then a guest bathroom? As much as I wouldn’t want to share my bathroom with my kids, I wouldn’t my guests to have to share with them either!
You make the guests use the one down stairs and walk around in their towels…hehe…What is a Tandem, cannot that be turned into a bath?
BTW, I bet the library down stairs was a maid’s room and that is why there is a full bath there. One could potentially make that the guest room.
Since the only guests we ever have staying over are my parents in law, ew!
“but wouldn’t you want 3 baths upstairs with 4 bedrooms? A master, a shared for two of the bedrooms then a guest bathroom?”
A “guest bathroom” is going to become one of those passe things from the bubble, similar to vacation homes for most.
You might not realize it but you are ahead of the curve living four people to 1.5 baths.
The new America, that without asset bubbles, is going to be very different from the normal experienced between 1995-2008.
Well my kids are only 7 and 1. This is not a long term plan. I grew up in a house of 7 using only 1 bath and it was a nightmare.
bob.. No pre 1995 bubbles??… Nothin will change except it won’t be available to those for whom it never should have in the first place…. People want their amenities… Very hard to give up what you become accustomed to.
As for america..my bet all will be fine and 15yrs from now Clio will rightly laugh at us..
Elegant house, but tough to adapt to today’s living without a lot of money. Living room will have to be used by family, just as in previous eras. Agree with Architect that this house will need about 200K in work. This house has a lot of those special and custom features that can quickly escalate costs. For example the flashing may need to be replaced, and that may mean taking up the clay tiles, redoing the flashing and then relaying the clay tile. Do the leaded glass windows need to be renovated (this can cost more than replacing windows)? Does the woodwork just need cleaning or stripping? Are the water supply pipes copper? Redoing the wood floors is expensive, as there is a lot of area. And if the kitchen is redone, a cheap set of cabinets and appliances will stick out like a sore thumb, once again escalating costs.
I never understood the one shower on the main floor away from the bedrooms.
Even nasty vinyl siding tract homes in Plainfield have better layouts and more open and usable floor plans.
“It will need another $200,000 just to address its floor plan problems:”
even if putting 250k to “modernize” the floor plan and kitchen and bath(add) and windows, if its solid house, this place is well worth it.
as is if you just update the kitchen this is a AWESOME large beautiful home in a wonderful hood.
i mean come on people pay 800k for a 2br duplex down in lincoln park w/o parking. this place is a steal 😉
miumiu-
11 weeks left! A boy:)
What about you?
@ TS: Mine is boy too, less than 2 weeks left (if he is on time), but doesn’t look like it! I really wanted a girl and bought ton of hello kitty stuff…lol…so now the boy has to be open minded about his room decoration.
I agree Groove this is a beautiful house and worth the extra improvement if folks have the money. Also while sharing a bathroom as jennifer said with 6-7 people is a nightmare, we are all spoiled thinking everyone needs their own. In fact, 1.5 bath for a family of 4 is pretty reasonable almost everywhere in the world (unless your husband is a splasher and splashes water on your creams! and leaves water stains every where).
“In fact, 1.5 bath for a family of 4 is pretty reasonable almost everywhere in the world ”
we share one bathroom with the kid and guests and visitors without a problem.
well ok the only problem is when new towels are bought i dont know which are for decoration or can be used.
but a house this size does call for a master and maybe a jack and jill bath.
lol…color coding is the key, I have whites for me (and the guests), my husband can only use blue towels…hehe
“well ok the only problem is when new towels are bought i dont know which are for decoration or can be used.”
Easy in my house – the guests (the ILs) get the scuzzy towels. Discourages them from coming back. My husband is a messy sink user but that was solved by making cleaning it his job, and my 7 year old has to clean up after using it too.
I grew up with one shower (and a small hot water heater) for four people and it was a frickin disaster M-F.
HD: How I wish that tankless water heaters had made a bigger impression on suburbia when I was growing up for that same reason.
I don’t know how big the tank is on the hot water heater in my building but there seems to be a virtually endless supply of hot water.
Oh Jennifer my husband’s cleaning quality is very low. He does not consider water stain a real stain. You are a lucky gal. Also remember I am married to a an Italiano who is the only boy so his mummy has cleaned up for him all his life and that woman is amazing. I love her house. It is so clean! To be honest marrying me was definitely a down grade for my husband : )
I don’t mind a little divergence from the primary discussions here and there, but why don’t you use e-mail if you’re going to carry on extensive discussions on completely unrelated topics?
Contingent.
Saw this like 3 mos ago and was impressed – a little rich at 900K but for $699 someone got themselves a bargain. I bet it closes at $650K
BUT THIS IS west of Western!
closed at 650k