860 N. Lake Shore: authentic Mies for $375,000

Last week we posted on the Park Tower Condos building, one of the many Mies imitators loitering around Chicago. Don’t get us wrong; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Park Tower, Harbor Pointe Tower or other van der Rohe doppelgangers, especially if you prefer Buicks to Cadillacs. But, if you want an authentic Mies-designed home, you can’t do better than this $375K two-bedroom in 860 North Lake Shore.
Known collectively as the Glass Houses, 860 and its 880 North Lake Shore twin are two of the most famous residential buildings in the world. Finished in 1951, the towers epitomize Mies’ inimitable stark, utilitarian elegance, and they impacted architecture to no appreciable end. As Neil Harris says in Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Living, the Glass Houses “…helped move Chicago and much of America down the road toward modern steel and glass buildings as the basic prototype for high-rise office and residential structures alike.” More photos.