Chicago magazine's Deal Estate: The Blog

In Sheridan Park, Prairie Style Meets Arts and Crafts

2012-05-24T13:22:34-05:00

List Price: $799,000
The Property: There’s a pretty street view framed by the long rectangular porch of this Prairie-style house built in 1908 in the Sheridan Park section of Uptown. Inside the living room, there is another framed landscape view: a mural of woods and a mountain meadow that’s set into the mahogany beams above the brick mantel...

Laura Ricketts Plans New Mansion on Wilmette Lakefront

2012-05-23T09:35:00-05:00

Laura Ricketts, a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, and her partner, Heidi Grathouse, have filed plans with the Village of Wilmette for a new mansion to be built on the 1.2-acre lakefront site they bought two years ago...

Rodkin on a Condo’s Value Loss Due to Obstructed Views

2012-05-22T15:16:17-05:00

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Ryan asks if there’s a way to estimate the loss of a condo’s value due to future building projects obstructing the lake view.

Posh Penthouse Purchased for Bargain-Basement Price at Water Tower Place

2012-05-21T09:15:00-05:00

List Price: $2.649 million
Sale Price: $1.95 million
The Property: The homeowners who struggled to sell their posh top-floor penthouse at Water Tower Place eventually gave the property back to their lender, which sold it May 16 for $1.95 million...

Crate & Barrel’s Carole Segal Flips a Winnetka Mansion—Literally

2012-05-17T11:24:57-05:00

List Price: $6.499 million
The Property: Most people who talk about flipping a house don’t mean it quite as literally as Carole Segal does. At a Winnetka mansion she set out to restore and resell, Segal, who launched Crate & Barrel nearly 50 years ago with her husband, Gordon, flipped the front and back of the house...

Pangea Is Reviving Neighborhoods, Building by Building

2012-05-16T09:55:16-05:00

“We don’t want to fix up just a building,” says Al Goldstein of Pangea Properties. “We’re fixing neighborhoods, bringing them back...”

Rodkin on Selling When Your Mortgage is Underwater

2012-05-15T11:53:09-05:00

Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Larry asks for advice on selling his home even though his mortgage is underwater.

The Kenwood Home That Houses the ‘Boss’

2012-05-14T09:15:00-05:00

List Price: $1.65 million
Sale Price: $1.525 million
The Property: Because trees obscure most of its front, you can’t see much of the façade of this Kenwood Victorian...

In Bucktown, A Room with a View of a Room with a View

2012-05-10T15:10:42-05:00

List Price: $2.499 million
The Property: The view from the rooftop deck of this house takes in much of what makes Bucktown so great: a mix of vintage and contemporary homes, landmark buildings, church spires, and a blanket of trees. What’s more, the vista includes the lakefront and downtown skylines—and there’s also another interesting perspective inside...

Two Prairie Homes Go Green—and One Is for Sale

2012-05-09T09:35:00-05:00

Two Prairie-style homes about 25 miles apart have undergone significant green upgrades in the past few years. This month, the owners of the Highland Park house, a Frank Lloyd Wright design from 1905, moved in after a year of renovations...