Celebrated Chicago radio personality Larry Lujack and his wife have sold their home in the Heatherleaf area of northwest suburban Palatine for $170,000, according to public records.
Lujack, 57, was a 20-year veteran of rock and roll stations in Chicago from the 1960s until 1987, when WLS-AM management bought out his contract amid sliding ratings. The self-proclaimed “Superjock” and purveyor of the “Animal Stories” and “Cheap, Trashy Showbiz Reports” features then retired. After spending the last decade playing golf and acting as an advocate for the disabled, Lujack moved to Santa Fe, N.M., last year and built a retirement home.
A longtime Palatine resident, Lujack first listed his 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath home last year for $189,000. It subsequently was listed for $186,900 and $179,900, according to real estate information, and featured an all-white kitchen with ample cabinet space. Listing information also touted the home’s deck, paver patio and “lovely” yard, which was the setting for several riding mower-inspired “Animal Stories” bits.
The inexpensiveness of Lujack’s home is baffling, considering that in 1984, Lujack, then a morning man, signed a 12-year, $6 million contract with WLS–at the time considered the most lucrative in radio history. A move to afternoons caused his ratings to wane and prompted his ultimate decision to retire, but it’s safe to say “Uncle Lar” left the business with a small fortune.
By comparison, several top-flight radio personalities in Chicago have purchased far more expensive homes within the last year. Last summer, Lujack’s old colleague, WJMK-FM’s John Landecker, paid $469,500 for a Lincoln Park home, just one block south of the $510,000 digs that rocker Liz Phair bought in January 1996.
Landecker’s 3-level, 3-bedroom townhouse, which was built in 1985, originally was listed for $484,900 and was on the market for about three months.
Plus, WGN-AM’s John Williams bought a house in LaGrange Park in September for $284,000 that had been listed for $290,000. And, Jonathon Brandmeier’s home in Burr Ridge remains on the market for $750,000.
– Micah Materre, the new morning news anchor and medical reporter at WGN-Channel 9, has purchased a single-family house in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood for $375,000, according to public records.
Materre, who broke into broadcasting while working for Chicago’s WBEZ-FM, joined Channel 9 recently after eight years as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter at a Fox affiliate in Detroit. A 1984 graduate of Drake University, Materre previously worked for a TV station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and has taught at Columbia College.
Materre’s 11-room, 3-story Victorian has 4 bedrooms and was built in 1991, according to listing information. It had been on the market for $379,900.
The Rogers Park move is a definite step up for Materre, whose previous home was a single-family dwelling in Detroit that she bought for $130,000 in 1994, according to public records. Her Detroit home has not yet gone on the market, according to a listing agent in the city.
– A luxury model spec home in Vernon Hills that previously was listed for $750,000 is hitting the auction block next month with a suggested opening bid of $400,000.
Ferris Homes is auctioning its “New Haven” single-family model, which is a brick and cedar home with a golf course view and 3,500 square feet at the Gregg’s Landing community.
Sheldon Good & Co. will conduct the auction on June 25 at the Sheraton Gateway Suites, 6501 N. Mannheim Rd., Rosemont. Ferris officials insist the auctioning of the home, 1715 N. Pebble Beach Way, is not a “distress sale” but rather a marketing venue.
The New Haven model features a two-story foyer, four bedrooms with a second-floor master suite, 3.5 baths, a living room, a dining room, a family room with a fireplace, and an optional den or fifth bedroom. The kitchen features a sitdown island and breakfast area. The home also has a three-car garage and walkout basement.
Open houses for the property will be held Sunday and again on June 6 and 7. If you’re going to the auction, be sure to bring a certified or cashier’s check for $25,000. For more information, contact Michael Berland, Sheldon Good’s auction project manager, at 312-346-1500.
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Have a tip about a home sale or a piece of property being put on the market that involved a well-known Chicagoan or a well-known piece of Chicago real estate? Write to Upper Bracket, c/o Chicago Tribune, Real Estate section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill., 60611. E-mail: rgoldsbo@enteract.com
