We’re betting the folks at development company Senco double-majored in English and art history. Their new 16-unit single-family development California Estates, at 1838 N California Ave in Humboldt Park, features six different facades, each named after a famous artist. To boot, the development’s tag line touts the new homes as “luminiferous,” which no doubt will send some real estate shoppers scrambling for their Webster’s.

Let the lowest common denominator take note — we find this audacious escape from monosyllabic marketing quite refreshing… vivifying, even. We were, of course, all atingle about the names Botero, Picasso, Diego, Kahlo, Miro and Dali being lent to the homes. The renderings of the homes — like the Dali model, above — are rather, well, soporific.
None of the homes seems to have been inspired by the artists whose names they bear. There’s nothing cutting-edge about the Dali, certainly no giant plastic lobster crawling across the facade. The Diego doesn’t have especially egalitarian features, much less a communist motif.

The interiors will have all the now-standard luxuries too: stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, Jacuzzi tubs and terraces. The four-bedroom five-bathroom homes have a nice starting price in the $670s, though, which is much less than you’d pay for a work that legitimately bears the name of one of these artists.