Mike Hagenson calls his Lincoln Park residence his “speakeasy house” because it’s hidden in plain sight. From the sidewalk, 1147 West Webster Avenue seems to be your average two-floor storefront, tucked among a block of businesses across the street from Trebes Park. But walk through the simple black front door of the greystone, which was home to an early 20th-century bakery, and you’ll find yourself in a bright, modern house that’s shockingly larger than you imagined.
Hagenson, co-owner of the real estate investment and development firm New Era Chicago, and his wife, Lexi, an acupuncturist and holistic nutritional counselor, have decided they’re ready to relocate to the burbs and have listed the house for $2.25 million through @Properties. The couple purchased the residence six years ago and overhauled the 5,300-square-foot space for their family of four. “My goal was to open it up and bring in as much natural light as humanly possible,” Hagenson says. The main living space features a 23-foot atrium anchored by a two-story brick wall original to the bakery with a massive black-framed window. “It feels like you’re outside sometimes during the day in there,” he says.
Opposite the dramatic wall is a kitchen filled with Italian white lacquer cabinetry and an 11-foot quartz waterfall island. Beyond you’ll find a sunken family room that leads to an attached two-car garage. You can see it all from the open stairwell and second-floor catwalk hallway, which are both framed by a sleek glass railing. All three bedrooms off that hallway have their own bathrooms. (There’s a fourth bedroom in the finished basement.) The biggest bedroom has a view of the park from its window alcove, while the other two look out onto a 324-square-foot patio with built-in grill, refrigerator, and bench seating. Of course, you can’t spot the roof deck from the house’s shallow front steps because nothing about this building is what it seems from its exterior.