Imagine setting a romantic dinner for two at a table by a window in the dining room of this apartment at 1257 W. Flournoy St. The Chicago skyline view would set the mood for entertaining on an intimate scale, particularly in the dark of the evening when city lights gleam in the distance.
Because this is a three-bedroom unit, roommates might well be part of the living arrangement. To ensure that a romantic dinner proceeds on course, the host might tactfully suggest that roommates agree to banishment–for one evening–to the first floor of this spacious duplex.
A temporary exile, however, would hardly be unpleasant. The first floor of this apartment features one of the three bedrooms, as well as a nook where a home office or study could be located. Both floors are in mint condition, since reconstruction of this apartment was completed just weeks ago.
The 1,200-square-foot unit is in a brick coach house that was built in the 1870s. Standing on West Flournoy Street, it is impossible to see that the coach house is here because it’s behind a three-flat. Walk down a gangway on the side of the three-flat, however, and there’s the rustic-looking coach house.
One also would come upon a lovely courtyard that separates the two buildings. This pleasant area is an urban oasis featuring a stone fish pond and a perennial garden.
A wooden staircase on the outside of the coach house provides the entry to the unit we visited. In keeping with the structure’s former use as a horse barn, this building has a plain exterior, although brass coach lights have been added to provide a bit of old-fashioned charm.
The foyer is the first space one enters, and it, like the rest of the apartment, has a neutral decor.
There is a beige tile floor that could easily be wiped clean if mud were tracked indoors from the courtyard. Immediately to the right of the foyer is a small area where a computer or home office might be situated.
Just a few feet away from this study is one of the apartment’s full bathrooms. It has a beige tile floor and an oak vanity with a cream marble top accented with veins of pale burgundy. This counter matches a burgundy stripe in the mostly cream-colored tile of the bathtub/shower. There also are two shell-shaped sconces flanking a mirror over the vanity to add light to the space.
This bathroom is in close proximity to one of the unit’s bedrooms. Like all of the bedrooms in this apartment, this one measures 12 by 12 feet. This bedroom also has a mirrored double closet, a ceiling fan and a double-size window that offers a view of neighbors’ yards and gardens to the rear of the building.
A staircase from the first floor leads to the second floor. Although most of the apartment features shiny hardwood floors, the staircase is covered in a toast-colored carpet.
The second floor is where the adjoining dining and living rooms are located. The floor plan is open, but the staircase, which has white spindles, delineates the living and dining rooms from the unit’s kitchen.
The kitchen is just next to another door that provides entry to the unit from the outside via a wooden staircase on the building’s front. Above this door is an arch of blue and yellow, stained glass windows.
This open kitchen features gray marble counters and oak cabinets. It has updated white appliances, including a dishwasher.
The living and dining rooms combined measure 25 by 14 feet. There would be plenty of room for guests to nibble on chips in the living room, where hors d’oeuvres might be placed on a coffee table near a sofa situated in front of the fireplace.
The final rooms to be seen on the second floor are the two bedrooms and another bathroom. This bathroom, which is near the kitchen, is decorated much like the other one.
Rent is $1,750 a month. For more information, call 630-789-0730.
