Anyone interested in a home theater system, complete with curtains? A 2,000-bottle wine room? An in-house elevator or dumbwaiter? Radiant-heated floors in your children’s bathrooms?
These are just some of the features inside the most expensive houses in the city that have changed hands over the last year. And despite clear signs that the high-end real estate market has slowed down dramatically compared to recent years, the steady pace of “tear-down” construction–especially in Lincoln Park–suggests that the well-heeled city buyer loves bells and whistles, particularly in newly constructed homes.
A quick look at some of the most expensive sales in the city over the last 12 months:
1900 block of North Orchard Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $5.65 million. Originally listed for $6.75 million, this five-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot, all-brick mansion was newly built across three lots and has a lower-level gymnasium, a center courtyard, a library, a one-bedroom nanny’s quarters, an attached four-car garage and a children’s wing, complete with three bedrooms, according to listing information.
0-100 block of East Erie Street, Gold Coast: Sold for $4.732 million. This is the penthouse unit in a newly built, white concrete condominium building, which is the tallest all-residential building in Chicago and the second-tallest residence-only tower in the U.S. Because the penthouse was sold by the builder, there’s no information available about extras.
800 block of North Lake Shore Drive, Gold Coast: Condominium units in this new, Paris-inspired 26-story building next to Northwestern University’s Lake Shore Center have sold for $4.702 million, $3.075 million and $3.035 million. No information is available about the features in the condos.
2000 block of North Mohawk Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $4.125 million. Also newly built, this 16-room, 7,650-square-foot stone mansion has two private heated terraces, a roof terrace, two fireplaces, six bedrooms, seven full baths and two half-baths, according to listing information.
1400 block of North Astor Street, Gold Coast: Sold for $4.04 million. This vintage house has more than 6,000 square feet and dates from the 1890s.
1900 block of North Orchard Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $2.77 million. Dating from the 1800s and recently rehabbed, this brick-and-limestone house’s top-floor master suite has an oversized private marble bath, a large private terrace and cathedral ceilings with skylights, according to listing information.
2000 block of North Fremont Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $2.74 million. Measuring 7,200 square feet, this newly built, three-story brick-and-limestone house has most of the additional features that multimillion-dollar new construction houses have these days. These include a great room, a rooftop deck, top-of-the-line millwork and a master suite with a whirlpool, double sink and steam shower, according to listing information. The mansion also has radiant heated floors in the master bathroom and the children’s bathroom.
1900 block of North Burling Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $2.5 million. This newly built, 6,500-square-foot mansion has an attached four-car garage and a dumbwaiter that serves all of four stories in the 14-room house, according to listing information.
1800 block of North Fremont Street, Lincoln Park: Sold for $2.2 million. Built in 2002, this three-story Georgian mansion is 40 feet wide and has a heated driveway, a heated garage and a 2,000-bottle wine room, according to listing information.
2200 block of North Janssen Avenue, Lincoln Park: Sold for $2.05 million. Probably the most interesting feature in this five-bedroom, 5,700-square-foot house is its theater, complete with curtains to enhance the movie-watching experience. The house has 12-foot ceilings and three fireplaces, according to listing information.
Still up for grabs
It’s worth noting that some of the most luxurious features out there are in houses that are on the market but haven’t sold. For example, the 8,000-square-foot Lakeview mansion owned by R&B star R. Kelly from 1994 to 2002 recently failed to meet a minimum bid price at an auction and has come back on the market for $2.3 million.
The converted Baptist church has a 40-foot indoor lap pool, an indoor basketball and racquetball court, a digital theater, a 1,600-gallon aquarium that has housed sharks, a private rooftop deck, a 27-foot stairway, a bar area with murals from the movie “Space Jam” (the soundtrack to which Kelly contributed the song “I Believe I Can Fly”) and a marble chess board embedded in the floor.
And a 15,000-square-foot duplex loft building in the 1100 block of West Monroe Street, which is listed for $2.85 million, contains an indoor driving range, a 16-by-16-foot deck with a hot tub, 20-foot barrel-vaulted ceilings and indoor parking for up to 15 cars.
–Bob Goldsborough.
