New on the Market – Gold Coast, Chicago

Update: The property has been taken off the market; the Trafelets are negotiating a private sale. List price: $649,000 The Property: A duplex in a classic 1920s Gold Coast building designed by Andrew Rebori, this five-room, two-bedroom apartment manages to create elegance in an economical space. Except for the dramatic two-story living room-with a charming … Read more

Housing Bulletin – Real-Estate Agent Parking Permits

For people whose job demands that they park all over the city, there may be nothing more frustrating than hunting for a parking space in a permit-zoned Chicago neighborhood. A potential solution to that problem isn’t working-most likely because of tinkering by city hall. Permit-zone parking started on the Northwest Side in 1979 in the … Read more

Sale of the Week – Oak Lawn

List price: $569,000Sale price: $569,000 The Property: This newly built 11-room, five-bedroom house set the sales record for Oak Lawn when it was sold on April 6th. It is on the same street as-and within two blocks of-this southwest suburb’s two previous top sales. The developer Timothy Desmond of Leeside Builders built all three of … Read more

New on the Market – Beverly, Chicago

List price: $1.4 million The Property: Designed in the late 1920s by Scipione Del Campo for John Tiberi (the owner of a cement company), this 12-room brick house on the city’s Far Southwest Side resembles Tiberi’s boyhood home in Italy. While its blond good looks would stand out in any neighborhood, the house literally rises … Read more

Sale of the Week – Gold Coast gem

Neighborhood: Gold Coast, ChicagoList price: $12 millionSale price: $11 million The Property: This imposing stone mansion-23 rooms in all-is a relic of Lake Shore Drive’s early days as an avenue dotted with opulent single-family homes. Built in 1890 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the house declined in the 20th century. When he bought it in … Read more

New on the Market – Lake Forest

List price: $11.495 million The Property: What used to be a contemporary flat-roofed house is now a sophisticated French château with a gracious mansard roof sheltering a new second story. The makeover is the work of Don and Jan Zordani, the husband-and-wife team behind Milestone Development. They began, says Don, with an “extremely dark” 40-year-old … Read more

Housing Bulletin – Incentives to Buy

The real-estate market has been giving off conflicting signs for months. That’s making anybody who has a property to sell eager to get rid of it, just in case the signals go from confusing to bad. Most expert observers agree that the worst-case scenario-the bottom dropping completely out of the local housing market-is not going … Read more

Sale of the Week – Lake View, Chicago

Neighborhood: Lake View, ChicagoList price: $1.399 millionSale price: $1.312 million The Property: Built in 2004 by Pat Heneghan, this nine-room wood-frame home has four bedrooms, three-plus baths, three fireplaces, two wet bars, and a deck atop the two-car garage. The homey front porch belies the elegance of the interior, which has numerous windows and skylights. … Read more

New on the Market – Highland Park houses

List price: $1.85 million / $1.65 million The Property: When the Northbrook developer Greg Weissman built on these two neighboring lots in Highland Park, he decided to go as green as he could while still building houses that would appeal to the upper-end North Shore market. Designed by Nate Kipnis (see “A Place in the … Read more