List Price: $1.299 million
Sale Price: $1.5 million
The Property: Trusts in the names of the two daughters of the financial whiz and philanthropist Richard Driehaus have sold a storybook-style Italianate Victorian that they had owned since 2001.
According to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, the sellers were trusts named for Caroline and Tereza Driehaus, as well as the Richard Driehaus 2001 Children’s Trust. Richard Driehaus declined to comment, but Tina Culver, the selling agent, confirmed that his two daughters—pictured here with their father in 2009—did live in the home, which is in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood. Richard Driehaus is generally reported to live downtown, near the Driehaus Museum (which is inside the Samuel M. Nickerson Mansion at 40 East Erie Street) and the headquarters of his $8 billion firm, Driehaus Capital Management (inside the Ransom R. Cable House at 25 East Erie). He also has an estate in Lake Geneva, where his over-the-top birthday parties are legendary.
Dripping with wooden gingerbread on the exterior, the five-bedroom house also has intricate woodwork inside, as you can see in this video tour that YoChicago posted in early January. Built in 1872 or 1873 by the Chicago brewer Frederick Wacker (a partner in the Wacker & Birk Brewing Company), the house was remodeled by his son and successor Charles Wacker, the civic leader after whom Wacker Drive is named.
The listing sheet for the house said it has 13-foot ceilings, four fireplaces, a four-car garage, and a separate coach house. In the YoChicago video, the agent shows a fully remodeled kitchen, with a big granite island and stainless steel appliances. After the house went on the market December 20, it received four bids, all above the asking price. The house went under contract on December 23. The sale closed January 6, and it was a cash deal. The buyers are not yet identified in public records.
Price Points: According to the county recorder, the Driehaus trusts bought the property in November 2001, for $1.9 million, which was the full listing price. When they put the house on the market in December, they were asking just 68 percent of the 2001 purchase price, but it sold for more than they asked. At the $1.5 million sale price, the trusts took a 21 percent loss on the home, not counting any investment that had been made over the years in renovations.
Listing Agent: Tina Culver of Sergio & Banks; 773-235-6100 and tina@sergioandbanks.com