SOUTH LOOP
LIST $1.75 MILLION SALE $1.65 MILLION

This six-year-old row house on a historic block of South Prairie Avenue has changed hands twice since its builder sold it—and both times the homeowners lost money.

The latest sellers—Timothy Jahnke, CEO of the Oak Brook–based sink and cabinet manufacturer Elkay, and his wife, Sharla—suffered the bigger hit. They sold the home in late September at a 13 percent loss from their 2008 purchase price of $1.90 million—which meant that the 2008 sellers lost nearly 6 percent from the $2.01 million they had paid the builder in 2005. Jahnke did not respond to a request for comment, and the buyers are not yet identified in public records.

The ten-room home’s $1.75 million asking price galvanized buyers. After it had been on the market for only 12 days, “we had two people very interested,” says the Jahnkes’ agent, John Krueger of Koenig & Strey Real Living. “We got a contract real quick.”

With herringbone-pattern wood floors in the main rooms and a vintage-looking staircase, the home harks back to the lavish mansions of Prairie Avenue’s late-19th-century heyday. But it’s also a modern luxury residence, with an elevator, an in-home sound system, and a fourth-floor family room that has views of Lake Michigan and the city skyline.

Send tips about home sales to dennis@rodkin.com.

Photograph: Todd Urban