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List Price: $2.499 million
The Property: The view from the rooftop deck of this house takes in much of what makes Bucktown so great: a mix of vintage and contemporary homes, landmark buildings, church spires, and a blanket of trees. What’s more, the vista includes the lakefront and downtown skylines—and there’s also another interesting perspective inside.

Thanks to a glass-wrapped cutout in the middle of the floor plan, there are views of the home from within it. From the living room, the sightline is across that light well into the dining room, and vice versa. In the other direction, the living room’s picture window frames a postcard view of the tree-lined street outside. With expanses of glass on both ends, the living room appears to float, because the home’s main living floor is raised one level. (On the ground level are a glass-enclosed foyer, an office space, and a four-car garage.)

Karen Ranquist, the agent representing the house for the sellers, Chris and Laura Shapland, notes that, while this house and its neighbor touch one another and have light wells in the same location, “it’s laid out so that you’re not looking at each other.” Hallways and well-placed angles preserve privacy.

Past the light well is the large combined kitchen and dining room, both outfitted sleekly, with espresso-colored cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, and a generally sedate atmosphere punctuated by two orange light fixtures that provide what Ranquist calls a “pop of color.” At the rear of this level is a family room that opens onto a very large deck with dining, play, and seating areas.

One flight up is the family bedroom floor, where each of three bedrooms has a wall of windows (one room looks into the light court) and wood floors. Above that is the master bedroom floor, with a large bedroom whose eastern view stretches to the Hancock Center, a bath with a big soaking tub splashed with light from the light court (through frosted windows), more espresso-finish cabinetry, and a large deck with a western view.

Topping things off is the rooftop deck with that panoramic view. It’s a great feature, but its openness is complemented by the family-room deck two levels down, where walls surround the space and provide a more relaxed and contained mood.

Price Points: The Shaplands are relocating out of state, Ranquist says, and listed the house in February. In 2008, they bought the house newly built from Jodi Development for $2.3 million. Ranquist says that her client’s additional investments in the property included a whole-house sound system, an electronic system that controls the blinds and lights, and upgrading and landscaping the family-room deck, among other things.

Listing Agent: Karen Ranquist of Koenig & Strey; 312-475-4542 and kranquist@koenigstrey.com