Rooms that can serve a variety of functions are the latest trend in marketing a home.
“A lot of what I’m reading about in real estate is the trend toward `transitional homes,’ where the rooms can go whichever way you want them,” said listing agent Yvonne Despinich of Prudential Prairie Path Realtors in Elmhurst. “It’s where there’s a room that can be a dining room or a den or a bedroom, whatever you need.
“Here, you have that plus the whole basement, which can be an area for a teen to live in, or an in-law arrangement.”
Despinich is promoting her listing, at 100 W. Madison in Elmhurst, as such a transitional home. It has four bedrooms, or three bedrooms with a dining room or den, with additional bedroom space possibilities in the finished basement. The home is listed at $246,900.
“This is what I’m calling a transitional room,” Despinich said of the 14-by-13 room immediately to the right of the front entry. “At one time it was probably a bedroom, and it has a closet, but I listed it as the formal dining room.” The room has a lighted ceiling fan, grape-tone painted walls and new pine-green carpeting.
To the left of the entry is the 18-by-13 living room with a large picture window. It has beige walls and the same pine-green carpeting.
At the back of the house is a full bath with a ceramic floor and a green sink and tub. At the end of the hall is an 11-by-10 bedroom with off-white Berber carpeting and a lighted ceiling fan.
Also at the back of the house is the 12-by-11 kitchen with an 11-by-8 breakfast area. Like most of the rooms in the house, it was recently renovated.
“In 1989, they started updating everything in all of the rooms except the bathrooms,” Despinich said.
The kitchen area updating is attractively done, with a U-shaped counter area separating the eating area from the kitchen. The sink is angled in the corner, and the range is in the taupe countertop. There is also a built-in oven and dishwasher. The floors are ceramic and the vertical blinds are new. A long countertop lines the wall that has windows overlooking a brick patio.
A step down leads to the utility area, which offers access both to the attached garage and to the yard. A wood deck in the yard is defined by large planters. Despinich said all of the landscaping has been professionally redone over the last several years.
There are two bedrooms upstairs as well as a bathroom with a shower and a charcoal-tone sink area.
Both bedrooms are 17 by 14 feet, but one is actually smaller because it has several offset areas that are not deducted from the measurement. The smaller room again has grape walls and pine-green carpeting (“They liked strong colors,” Despinich commented). It has an attractive ceiling line of angles and peaks, and a single closet.
The master bedroom has two larger closets, and access to a large, unfinished attic room that could easily be converted into a sitting area or office. The walls have beige marbled wall coverings.
The finished basement offers a wealth of possibilities. Most areas are carpeted and paneled, and there are built-in shelves and countertops.
One area is tiled and has a full closet that opens onto the kitchenette, with a small stove and refrigerator, a tile floor, wood cabinets and a yellow-flecked countertop.
The basement also has a powder room done in neutral tones, as well as an unfinished utility area.
Despinich suggested that a family could use the area as a private living space for a teenager and later use it as an in-law arrangement.
The house, which is unoccupied, had taxes in 1996 taxes of $3,580. It is on the south side of Elmhurst, in a section known as Elm Estates.
“This area has very nice homes that are mostly about 25 years old,” Despinich said. “This one is 40 years old, which is why they did so much updating. There are some knock-downs, one just down on the corner.
“There have been a lot (of homes leveled and new ones built on the lots) in the middle and north end of Elmhurst, which has older homes, but now it’s starting on the south side, too.”
