Author: joejarvis
Olympia Centre Chicago's only kosher condo tower?
Olympia Centre was considered the height of luxury by many when it opened in 1986. It's long since been bumped in the ranks by other high-profile buil [...]
Fantastical facades: is that a bay, or you just happy to see me?
The outside of this three-bedroom 3.5-bath cottage might look a tad unbalanced, what with the enormous ivory bay jutting out from the otherwise unrema [...]
How low can you go? Chicago homes for under $100,000
How can anyone afford to buy in the city? It's a question we hear a lot, and today, Yo supplies a few answers, mostly to the far north and far south - [...]
We like to watch: the ultimate coach house
Luxurious accommodation and amenities might not come to mind when you think of coach houses, those dowdy satellite residences eclipsed in the shadows [...]
More is less for Uptown condo
Our friends on the development team for this building at 4114 N Kenmore Ave would have done well with a "less is more" approach when they designed t [...]
Hidden fireplace, funky cornice and other treasures in Pine Grove home
The top-floor cornice at 2735 N Pine Grove Ave caught our eye, but we quickly found out that the Victorian stylings are only part of the building's [...]
1550 North State: old-school starchitecture
We posted an item earlier this week about some homebuyers' tendency to talk of themselves as living "in a Helmut Jahn," or a Mies, or whichever starch [...]
Houses in Humboldt Park and proud of it
The Chicago Public Library's Community Collection tells us, "...Humboldt Park has remained a neighborhood of persons 'passing through,' being an area [...]
Lincoln Park luxury home for auction
If you're in the market for an ultra-luxury single-family home, Sheldon Good & Company will accept sealed bids for 1909 N Mohawk St until May 16. The [...]
Chicago buildings battle for weakest name
Flipping through Neil Harris' Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury, we noticed that some buildings in the City of Big Shoulders have migh [...]
The world's first community association thriller novel
This might be old news to avid fans of both thriller novels and community associations, but we just stumbled across Special Assessment, real estate la [...]
Who's afraid of Humboldt Park?
Check out this remodeled two-bedroom condo (you might have to log in at the Koenig & Strey site for the link to work): hardwood floors, full complemen [...]
Battle for snob appeal: Astor Street vs East Lake Shore
Home buyers who have $55,363 of wiggle room in the monthly budget might want to consider this $10.8 million single-family abode at 1524 N. Astor St (t [...]
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 [...]
Is Edgewater's Statesman removed from lives of ordinary citizens?
Across the street from the Edgewater Beach Apartments stands --or floats -- The Statesman, at 5601 North Sheridan Road. If Chicago is the city in a g [...]
El Lago: another of Edgewater's architectural Bad News Bears
One might expect to find a building named "El Lago" painted with pastels or deep marine-green -- something breezy, at any rate. But our Edgewater "El [...]
Granville Tower: Sheridan Road's scrappiest high-rise
If high-rises were dogs, Granville Tower would be the three-legged SharPei you can't help but root for. Completed in 1965, the Seymour S. Goldstein- [...]
The pink beacon of Sheridan Road: Edgewater Beach Apartments
It's our own little taste of South Beach right here in Chicago, and given the Midwestern sensibility that permeates the city more than any of us would [...]
N Sheridan Rd: beachfront living, mainland prices
Often thought of as tatty hinterlands--when thought of at all--N Sheridan Rd boasts several buildings that once represented Chicago's highest standard [...]
Chicago houses under $90,000 (yes, houses)
It's easy to start thinking you have to be a millionaire to buy a home in Chicago, an idea we no doubt contributed to with recent posts on luxury cond [...]