Former Chicago Bear linebacker Ron Rivera and his wife are selling their single-family house in the Grosse Point Village area of Vernon Hills themselves for $325,000.
Rivera, 37, played his entire nine-year career for the Bears, from 1984 to 1992–including Super Bowl XX–and was their starting outside linebacker for five years.
Since retiring, Rivera has stayed in the area, working as a color commentator for college football telecasts and later as a sports host on WGN-AM. Over the last two seasons, Rivera also has worked with the Bears as a defensive assistant and as a quality control assistant.
On Jan. 22, amid Bears coaching changes, Rivera was named linebackers coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and former teammate Leslie Frazier was named the Eagles’ defensive backs coach.
Now, Rivera and his family are selling their nine-year-old, four-bedroom house to move to Cherry Hill, N.J., near Philadelphia. Their house, which they purchased in 1989 for $213,000, has first-floor hardwood floors, cathedral ceilings, a hot tub that fits six to eight people, and a landscaped yard with a brick sidewalk.
While many celebrities, including former Northwestern University head football coach Gary Barnett, chose to sell their homes themselves and avoid paying a real estate commission, those who do usually have a buyer in mind. Rivera’s house is somewhat rare, because relatively few such owners do all the marketing of their properties themselves, as his wife Stephanie is doing.
“We were offering it first to the coaches that were coming in in the Bears’ coaching merry-go-round,” said Stephanie Rivera. “But I have the time right now to try to sell it by owner, and if that doesn’t happen before we have to move, I’ll probably list it with (an agent).”
The Riveras ask potential buyers to contact them at the following e-mail address: OS2001@aol.com.
Although Vernon Hills is not known area-wide for its celebrity cache, it has had other well-known sports-related homeowners in recent years. Former Chicago Cubs announcer Josh Lewin sold his house in that community last year for $374,750. In the football world, former Bears defensive coordinator Bob Slowik, who now coaches defense for the newly formed Cleveland Browns, has a house in Rivera’s same neighborhood that he is expected to list at the end of the school year, and defensive tackle Paul Grasmanis also has lived in Vernon Hills.
– In an update to an item here July 12, suspected one-time crime syndicate overseer Dominick Basso has sold his 10-room, four-bedroom single-family house in north suburban Hawthorn Woods for $335,000.
Basso, 60, was convicted of syndicated gambling in 1989. He was identified, during a federal investigation of baseball star Pete Rose, as the individual with whom Rose had placed bets.
Basso’s house, in the Rambling Hills East area of Hawthorn Woods, most recently was listed for $342,900 and originally was for sale for $374,900. Judith Fisch of Re/Max Showcase, who said Basso has moved out of the Chicago area, was the listing agent.
– One of the most expensive listings on the North Shore is a brand-new, lakefront home in Highland Park that is listed for $4.25 million.
The house, at 25 Oakmont Drive, sits on two acres and has 318 feet of private beach. Its owners purchased the property several years ago for about $2 million, tore down an existing house, and built the 12-room, 7,000-square-foot dwelling.
Completed in 1998, the house features “soaring ceilings, walls of glass, oak floors, a DeGiulio kitchen and all new landscaping,” according to listing information.
Julie Deutsch and Nancy Bach of Coldwell Banker’s Glencoe and Highland Park offices, respectively, are the co-listing agents.
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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, IL, 60611. E-mail: rgoldsbo@enteract.com
