Adele Caronia has lived in the two-flat home at 2346 W. Ohio St. in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village for more than 37 years. This is where she and her late husband raised their two daughters. She and her family attended morning mass at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church down the street. Her daughters also attended the Holy Rosary elementary school.
The home, which was built more than 100 years ago, has been a special place, full of memories for the Caronia family. It’s been a place where birthdays have been celebrated and family and friends have gathered. With her children all grown up, Caronia is now selling her home. Christina Frank of Rubloff of Chicago lists the home at $419,000. However, for Caronia, saying goodbye to a home where she’s lived for nearly four decades won’t be the only difficult part about moving. She also has to say so long to a neighborhood and neighbors who have essentially been a part of her extended family.
“I’ve lived in this neighborhood all my life,” Caronia said. “I was born a couple doors over.”
Both the first-floor unit where Caronia lives and the upstairs rental unit have three bedrooms. The first-floor unit, however, has 1 1/2 baths, one on the main level and a half bath in the full finished basement, while the second-floor unit has one full bathroom.
When you walk into the first-floor unit, you enter the 15-by-10 dining room. Its open layout lets you to see the living room and the kitchen from the dining room.
The dining room and the 12-by-13 living room have carpeted floors. The dining room is large enough to accommodate a formal dining table and china cabinet for entertaining dinner guests. It is also nice because it is near the kitchen, which would allow someone entertaining guests the ability to check on dinner and still be a part of the party in the other room.
Two of the first-floor unit’s bedrooms are off the dining room. The smallest measures 9 by 9. The second bedroom measures 12 by 9. The 17-by-10 kitchen features a newer refrigerator, oven and dishwasher. Off from the kitchen are the full bath and the master bedroom. This 13-by-10 bedroom as well as the other two bedrooms have ceiling fans, which help to keep the rooms cool in the summer. Also off the kitchen is a 13-by-7 enclosed porch. The porch leads out to a fenced back yard where there is a nice deck and a detached three-car garage. The home also has an attached one-car garage.
The first-floor unit has access to a full, finished basement. The paneledbasement has a laundry facility and extra storage space.
The second-floor unit features an open layout similar to the first floor. It has two bedrooms off the 12-by-10 dining room and one bedroom off the 10-by-17 living room. The two bedrooms off the dining room measure 9 by 10. The bedroom off the living room measures 9 by 12. The former tenants also used their enclosed heated porch off the kitchen area as a master bedroom. This porch, which measures 10-by-19, also leads out to the home’s back yard. This unit’s full bath is conveniently near the kitchen. All of the rooms are paneled except for the kitchen.
Several updates have been made to the home recently. A tear-off roof, new gutters and downspouts and new siding were put on the home approximately three years ago. New windows were also installed throughout the entire home two years ago. Two new hot water heaters were installed two years ago. The three-car garage was added to the home four years ago. The taxes for the property for 1998 were $1,752.
One of the things Caronia said she’d miss most about the home is its proximity to everything.
“It’s so convenient to downtown,” she said. “There’s access to transportation just off of Western Avenue and between Grand Avenue and Chicago Avenue.”
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