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Dennis Rodkin
Thoroughly Moderne Rebori—Gold Coast
By Dennis Rodkin
In the mid-1930s, Frank J. Fisher, a Marshall Field’s executive, commissioned the architect Andrew Rebori to design a residential property that would also generate some income. Rebori recruited the muralist and craftsman Edgar Millerto help detail the spaces with stained glass and other finishes... Read more
A Foreclosure with a Happy Ending
By Dennis Rodkin
Three years ago, Stephanie and Bob Walker paid $799,000 for a three-bedroom house on a ridge in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles with a view of the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Park Observatory. This summer, they were camped out in the Barrington home of Stephanie’s mother, having lost a yearlong struggle to hang onto their house in... Read more
In a Modernist Mood—Oak Park
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $650,000
The Property: On an Oak Park block of mostly traditional, two-story homes, this low, linear modernist house looks like the shy one. It has a long, almost blank brick façade; the only visible breaks are for the entry courtyard and the carport. (There is also a single set of windows, but landscaping hides them from view.)
But that street-front reticence disappears when you get inside, where the house... Read more
Will You Get the Nod for a “Loan Mod”?
By Dennis Rodkin
For a homeowner whose mortgage has become unaffordable because of a lost job, an interest-rate reset, or some other reason, the prospect of getting the loan’s terms modified sounds good—but the process can be confusing and dispiriting. That’s why a California company led by a veteran mortgage banker has devised... Read more
A Separate Peace
By Dennis Rodkin
At a North Shore home, traditional Japanese garden elements offer contemplative counterpoint to a wooded ravine Read more
Sleek, But Not Slick, in Bucktown
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $2,199,900
The Property: The exterior of this ten-room home on a Bucktown corner lot is a strict geometrical composition of glass, block, and aluminum, but you only have to get one step inside to feel it loosen up. There, on a coat closet in the foyer, builder Darek Nisi hung a pair of rough-hewn antique doors from India that counteract the cold or sterile feeling of some exactingly contemporary interiors. Read more
Google’s Home Sales Tools
By Dennis Rodkin
For people selling their homes in this withering sales climate, every little bit might help. One place sellers might not have thought to look for an edge is Google, where there’s also now a new tool for buyers.
On July 8, Google introduced a Google Maps addition that calls up listings for real estate at or near a mapped... Read more