Oct 6, 2008

Sale of the Week—A Lincoln Park Greystone

List Price: $1.495 million
Sale Price: $1.3 million
The Property: This Victorian greystone was built in 1874 on what is now one of Lincoln Park’s most appealing blocks, with the park half a block east, restaurants less than a block to the west, and some of the neighborhood’s finest architectural treasures (including the Wrigley mansion and a row of snazzy 1920s apartment buildings on Lakeview Avenue) close at hand. With the frilly black parapet atop its façade and several original leaded glass windows, the house retains its vintage charm—and, according to the sellers’ agent Judy Pettas, the 4,200-square-foot interior has been thoroughly updated in the past 15 years.

The sellers are Camille Olson, a partner at the Seyfarth Shaw law firm, and Michael Reed, an attorney at Vedder Price. They bought the house in 1993 for $572,000 and began rehabbing it. Olson says the project entailed some major work—such as removing several interior walls to relieve the common problem of dimness in gresytones—and less onerous but important ones, such as commissioning artists to paint landscape scenes on linen that was then applied to the walls of the dining room and kitchen. Some things they didn’t have to worry about: for instance, Olson notes that all of the carpentry trim in the house had been kept free of paint over the years before she and her husband moved in, so they didn’t have an arduous stripping job confronting them.

Olson says they were not looking to move until they came across a very nice piece of new construction nearby and decided to list their greystone for sale. They put it on the market in August 2007. A year later, the couple had a deal with Jett and Doisha Tackbary. Jett Tackbary is the son of the eminent Chicago interior designer Holly Hunt and formerly worked for her, in IT. He is now at West Monroe Partners, a Chicago business and technology consultancy. (Tackbary did not respond to a request for comment.) The sale closed September 2nd. “We miss it already,” says Camille Olson, who has settled into her new home.

Price Points: The sellers initially listed the house with an asking price of $1.695 million, but later cut it to $1.495 million. The $1.3 million purchase price included the $25,000 cost of a deeded parking space in a garage around the corner.

Listing Agent: Judy Pettas, Premier Properties Chicago, (312) 376-4040; jp@premierpropertieschicago.com

Posted at 11:20 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink

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