Address: Bourbon Square, 500 Constitution Drive, Palatine.
Size: Two bedrooms, two bathrooms; 1,440 square feet.
Rent: $855 a month.
Security deposit: A half month’s rent.
Age of building: 7 years.
Number of units: 612.
Parking: 200 garage spaces at $75 a month. Free outdoor parking also is available.
Utilities: Resident pays electricity.
Special amenities: Indoor pool, fitness center, party room, continental breakfast served daily to residents.
If you live in this two-bedroom unit at Bourbon Square in Palatine, you won’t be late for work because you had to wait your turn for the bathroom. The apartment has two full baths.
But if you are still running too late to fix breakfast, you can head over to the community’s clubhouse, where a free continental breakfast is served every day. Between 50 and 100 residents a day stop by to grab a bagel or sweet roll as they dash to work or, perhaps, on weekends, go to swim laps in the indoor pool, which is also located in the clubhouse.
Unlike some planned parties or events that many apartment communities host, this daily breakfast sounds like a great way to get to know your neighbors on a more regular, informal basis.
If swimming-even in an indoor pool-sounds less appealing as cold weather approaches, you can curl up next to your own woodburning fireplace. It’s in the living room of the 1,440-square-foot apartment we visited.
As you enter the apartment, you find yourself in a small foyer. This area is carpeted in taupe and the walls are off-white. Both a coat closet and a closet concealing a hot water heater are located here. Just like the living room of Dick and Laura Petrie’s house in television’s old Dick Van Dyke Show, you must step down from the foyer into the living room.
The focal point
One wall is finished in brown brick. It matches the rustic-looking fireplace that juts from one corner into the room. Track lighting emphasizes the fireplace as the decorative highlight of the room, which is about 264 square feet. A wooden mantle adds to the cozy aura.
The living room room is not lacking for an outdoor view. There is a sliding glass door that overlooks a balcony (first-floor units have a patio). At 100 square feet, the balcony is roomy and there is an extra storage closet here for bicycles or other bulky items.
Just next to the living room is the dining room. At 131 square feet, it is about half the size of the living room, but is certainly large enough for a four-seat dining table. At one of the end of this space is another sliding glass door that opens to the balcony.
From either the dining room or living room, you can enter the walk-through kitchen. Its 133 square feet makes it plenty big enough to be called an eat-in kitchen. A small table and several chairs would fit in one corner. The kitchen is decorated in beige tones. Cabinetry that wraps around half of the room is beige with oak trim.
The appliances-all almond-colored and new-include a built-in microwave oven and a dishwasher. Next to the entryway to the dining room is a large pass-through window, which adds to the sense of space.
From the kitchen, you can walk back into the living room and down a hallway to the bedrooms. Along the hallway is one of the bathrooms. And while the two full bathrooms in this apartment may avert early morning fights over the shower, this bathroom is certainly the larger and better lighted of the two.
Like the kitchen, this bathroom is decorated in beige tones. It has an oak vanity and an off-white tile floor. The shower is glass enclosed and the mirror over the vanity is huge.
As most women will attest, it’s easier to apply makeup in a well-lit room than a dark one. And this bathroom is a winner on that score because a long bar of Hollywood lights shines down on the mirror. A mirrored medicine chest is on one wall.
Stairs to the laundry
Opposite the bathroom and down the hall a bit is another short hall that leads to a door to a common hallway. This hallway leads outside or to the basement, where laundry facilities are located. Two washers and dryers are available in each six-apartment building.
The bedrooms are next to each other at the rear of the apartment. The smaller one offers 143 square feet, a double window and a medium-size walk-in closet. The master bedroom-about 47 square feet larger than its mate-also has a double window and a very spacious walk-in closet.
The master bath is decorated in the same beige tones as the first bath and also has a glass-enclosed shower-but the room is much smaller.
Bourbon Square also has one-bedroom apartments, offering a whirlpool bathtub and 1,380 square feet. They rent for $815 a month.
The 35-acre complex has its own lake, complete with a gazebo. It is located just off of Illinois Highway 53. Commuters can take the train downtown from Metra stations in either Palatine or Arlington Heights. A PACE bus stops Monday through Friday at a nearby convenience store.
For rental information, call 708-358-8888.
