We sometimes feel like we live in the land of mega-mansions. The behemoth newer single family homes in our neighborhood just don't pique our interest about what lies beyond the front door in many cases. There are, of course, a few notable exceptions like 636 W. Willow - an interest shared by Jennifer at The Place Where We Live. The hint of trees growing in the central part of the home was so intriguing.
After seven years of riding our bike by and wondering, it is nice to finally get the scoop. Because it is for sale we got a peek at the interior through the magic of an online real estate listing. The home surrounds a 37x37 courtyard. The walls that encircle the courtyard have floor to ceiling windows. Sigh.
There is a distinct prairie feel to some of the design details - we are curious to know which architects and designers worked on the project.
After seeing more of the home (and its inevitable price tag) we can say that we won't really pine for this grand place. In the end, the garden which caught our eye from the street is still our favorite thing about it - so we'll just resign ourselves to continue to be a bit envious of that...
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
This place is absolutely stunning! But $50,354 a year in taxes?! That's obscene.
A big part of the price tag is taht it sits on four city blocks...a feat in a neighborhood that has seen 4 million dollar places built with stunning regularity. The thing that most people don't understand is how disjointed the house really is on the inside. The master suite is only available from an odd spriral stair, so it is completely shut off from the rest of the house. A client of mine is looking at purchasing the place, and a sum of over a million dollars to fix the house and make it more livable has been discussed. The place is stunning in every aspect from the exterior (even the gutter downspots are amazing) but the inside has rapidly become dated and out of sequence with how people really live.
I have a new dream house and this is it.
S
The architect is Peter de Bretteville, on faculty at Yale.
Has this house ever been published? Covered in an issue of architectural digest I've missed?
As a student of architecture, I'm really intrigued. I'd love to see a lot more of this house. Sometimes higher end real estate listings will include floorplans, but alas, I'm not finding any here. Even better quality pictures would be nice.
I'd be very content to have a smaller version of this house. Just give me a wing. It really is very Chicago, with the sort of prairie-industrial brick and factory-like windows.
Don't you all think it's obscenely WRONG for the government to bag $50k a year EVERY year from anyone on this BS concept called "property tax"! I don't care how much the place costs.
That is UGLY! - It looks like an office building from the outside!!
Regarding the property tax coment, and I know this probably won't win me any friends, but we all want the government to provide all kinds of things - decent schools, nice streets, police to keep the bad people behind bars, etc - don't you feel some responsibility to pay for all of that? Income tax alone won't do it. My house is worth 1/27 of what this house is worth, and I pay about $2,000/year in taxes - and 27*$2000 actually comes out to roughly $50,000 per year. You want to live like a rock star, you gotta pay like one.
Anyway, I think this house is totally worth it... Or at least I hope it is for someone who can afford it.
About property taxes: in Texas, we pay property taxes instead of income tax. It's great for those of us who rent!
A quick internet search (including of architect Bretteville's website) indicates that the house (built in 1994-95) was commissioned by banker Edward Blair Jr of William Blair & Co. Good investment, I'd say! It's a largely square courtyard house, whose segments are all one-room deep, meaning every room gets lots of light.
I love the idea of a courtyard house, but it really does look like an upscale medical clinic to me-- from the awning and light fixtures, right down to the scale of the hallways.
CN, I agree. I have no idea if Illinois has a state income tax, but I know in Florida, everyone complains about property taxes--which aren't even that bad. They have no state income tax, so the money has to come from somewhere. And if you have a huge, expensive house, you SHOULD pay more in property taxes.
The biggest problem I have with property tax is that the government can reassess the value of your house at any time and increase your taxes at will. This is a huge problem for people who bought houses 10+ years ago. In a lot of areas those houses have gone up 5 times in value in that time, and the property tax has increased at the same rate. If you're making $20k a year and you buy a $50k house, what do you do when the government decides your house is now worth $250k? What if you're retired? A lot of people have no choice but to sell and move. At the very least, property tax valuation should be fixed at the price you paid for the house for as long as you own it.