List Price: $2.8 million
Sale Price: $2.66 million
The Property: Come spring’s return of the Cubs to Wrigley Field, pitcher Carlos Zambrano will be calling this 13-room, vaguely Prairie-style house his seasonal home. On January 18th, Zambrano closed on his purchase of the three-year-old house, which has six bedrooms, four full and three partial baths, and two fireplaces. Set in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood on a block that was, until six years ago, industrial property, the 6,700-square-foot house stands on an extra-wide lot: 37.5 feet (the standard city lot is 25 feet wide). The house was designed by the architecture firm Pappageorge/Haymes and built by Patrick Landrosh.  It has 12-foot-high ceilings, Brazilian cherry floors, and a combined, 650-square-foot kitchen and great room.

A native of Venezuela, Zambrano joined the Cubs minor-league teams as an amateur free agent in 1997 and moved up to the major leagues in 2001. Over seven seasons in the big leagues, he compiled an 82-55 win-loss record and a lifetime ERA of 3.41. In 2006, he became only the second Cubs pitcher to hit six home runs in a single season (the other is Hall-of-Famer Fergie Jenkins.) In August the right-hander signed a five-year, $91.5-million contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2012. Zambrano could not be reached for comment through his agent, Barry Praver.

Price Points: The first owner of the house, who is not clearly identified in public records, paid $2.36 million for it in May 2005. Zambrano’s purchase price represents a 13 percent appreciation since then—pretty good for today’s market. But without comment from the seller or the sales agents, it is impossible to say whether the first owner made any improvements that might have contributed to the boost in price. Several nearby custom-built homes may be valued at significantly more than this one. According to the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, the highest sale price in the immediate neighborhood was the February 2005 sale of the house next door (on the right in the photo) for $2.8 million.

Listing Agent: Daniel Glick, @properties, (312) 334-8379

Photography: (on homepage) Chicago Tribune/Nuccio DiNuzzo; (Image 1) Dennis Rodkin; (Image 2) Chicago Tribune/Phil Velasquez