Inside the rehabbed vintage building at 940 W. Carmen Ave. a couple would find a cozy home less than a block from Lincoln Park.
The two-bedroom condominium, in the Margate Park section of Uptown, offers a bright sunroom for daytime lounging and a woodburning fireplace for chilly evenings. The home is listed by Century 21 Illinois Home Realty for $141,900.
Built in 1910, the structure went through a major rehab about 10 years ago, with developers knocking out walls to convert the building to six apartments from 12, said condo owner Marilyn Mulholland at a recent open house.
You pass a black wrought-iron fence on the way to the front door of the red brick-and-stone building. From the small tile and marble vestibule, head up a Tudor-accented staircase to get to the front door of Unit 2 West.
A social setting
Inside is a long hallway with a dark hardwood floor stretching almost the full length of the apartment. Straight ahead is the coat closet.
Through an arched doorway down the hallway to the left is the 24-by-17 living room, an inviting space with a woodburning fireplace and an exposed red brick wall. A set of built-in bookshelves grace another wall. It’s easy to imagine this as the setting for relaxed evening parties.
Projecting off one side of the room and up a half step is a 10-by-7 sunroom recently redecorated. The wood floor here is paler than in the living room and laid in a herringbone pattern for a garden-like effect. Although bordered on three sides by 10 large windows, the room in the summer draws shade from the leafy branches of a tree stationed right outside, Mulholland said.
“If you’re sitting in the living room looking out, you wouldn’t think you’re in the city,” she said. All of the home’s 17 windows are Thermopane, she said.
Follow the hallway to the right from the front door and you will first pass the 14-by-12 master bedroom, which has milk chocolate-colored carpeting, white walls and a long closet. Adjoining the bedroom is a brown- and beige-tile bathroom.
Next off the hallway is another full bathroom, this one done up in shades of yellow and gold, including a bamboo-printed wallpaper. A new owner might want to update the decor.
Temperature control
Across the hall, a door conceals the furnace and hot-water heater. The unit has its own controls for the gas forced air heat and air conditioning.
An arched doorway off the hall leads to a 14-by-11 dining room, which has a parquet floor and equally dark wood molding near the ceiling. Windows across one wall are bayed, offering a view of neighboring rooftops.
Another arched doorway leads you out of the dining room and into the 17-by-9 kitchen, a warm room done up in shades of orange and yellow. On one side of the room, a set of accordion-style doors hides a laundry nook supplied with storage cabinets. A door on the other side of the room opens to a 12-by-10 bedroom with light gold carpet and a very long closet.
The kitchen’s food-preparation area has plenty of wood cabinets above and below orange counters. Along one wall is a built-in planning desk and more cabinets. An extra wide counter has space to accommodate a couple of stools underneath; on the other side of the counter is the 9-by-7 breakfast area with room for a table underneath two large windows looking out on the alleyway and roofs of the buildings in back.
Off the breakfast area is a small office, which has two storage closets and enough room for a large desk under two windows. The area also has a back door leading downstairs to the basement and outdoors.
Half of the basement is held as common storage area for the building, and the other half has separate storage lockers for each condo. Out back is the garage, where the condo unit has its own deeded space behind its own door. The alley leading to the garage building is secured with a locked gate.
