The Cubs and the Sox recently released their City Connect uniforms, which pay tribute to the city and their particular part in it. The Sox’s Gothic “Southside” jersey, which hearkens back to the 1990s when they were the coolest team in baseball, has been widely praised; the Cubs’ marquee “Wrigleyville” jersey, which is for some reason in the Mariners’ colors, not as much. Due credit for using the undersung municipal device on the practice shirt, though.
Wrigleyville is the butt of a lot of jokes, but residents (and the Cubs) have something to be proud of: because Wrigley isn’t surrounded by giant moats of parking, there are places to go, and live, right next to the stadium. It’s a vibrant neighborhood year-round despite hosting games around 80 days a year. Guaranteedrateville, on the other hand, is mostly pavement.
As a result, it’s easy to find a nice place near Wrigley. There aren’t nearly as many places for sale around the Sox’s park, but you can find a nice spot.
587 West Hawthorne Place, $2,147,000
On the outside, this 1906 house, built just before the Cubs’ first World Series win, shows its age but also its evolution over time, and recent work that’s been done to look simultaneously vintage and contemporary. Inside, it’s much the same: the glass-door built-in bookshelves around the Cubs-blue-tiled living room fireplace, for instance, a combination of old and the subtle new. The master bedroom has two (!) sets of bay windows, one of which is actually a glass door that opens up onto the second-floor porch. Or you could make the master bedroom the one with the big extension and skylight with the long window nook. It’s expensive, but it’s also sneakily huge: seven beds, six baths, and 4,200 square feet.
941 West 32nd Street, $265,000
Maybe not a lot of curb appeal here (except for the huge front yard), but inside you’ll find a well-renovated, large-for-the-price—three beds, two baths, plus an office, an living room and a family room and a sitting room—worker’s cottage in Bridgeport, with living area extending across three floors. And then there’s an attic to top it off. It’s right in the heart of the neighborhood, equidistant from the Sox and the (increasingly clean) Bubbly Creek.
3150 North Sheffield Avenue Apt 402, $230,000
Wrigleyville is a first destination for a lot of new Chicagoans coming in from the greater Midwest, and here’s a good apartment to get started in: one bed, one bath, right by the Belmont stop on the Red Line and right across the street from the Vic. Inside is a simple, open space with a divider separating the bedroom and an intense exposed loft ceiling for some texture and character. Need more room to socialize? There’s a big roof deck.
3510 South Lowe Avenue, $535,000
This is about as close as you can get to Guaranteed Rate that’s on the market now: four blocks to the park, practically on 35th Street. It dates all the way back to 1883, though the age isn’t much in evidence until you go down to the extremely solid, partially finished, very large basement. Otherwise it’s been completely renovated in a very straightforward contemporary style, so it’s pretty much a blank slate inside. In the back there’s a big porch that’s just as friendly as the little one in front.
911 West Addison Street, $877,000
On the other hand, this 1899 graystone in Wrigleyville beautifully shows its age. There’s gorgeous woodwork throughout, a stout brick fireplace in the living room and a cozy small sunporch. Not every room has held up quite so well: the further you get from the main living area and master bedroom the less well preserved it gets, some of the renovations mesh poorly with the house’s aesthetic, and the walkout lower level looks like a stereotype of a Wrigleyville crash pad. But it’s also a lot of space—2,500 square feet with five bedrooms and four bathrooms—just two blocks from Wrigley right on Addison, so the price actually does reflect its place in Chicago.
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