“In a South Shore landmark district, a once-grand house with clay tile roof and the remains of a Spanish-inspired interior, vacant for years and recently foreclosed, is for sale to someone who can take on a thorough rehabilitation project.

“The brick and stone exterior is in relatively good condition, but inside, there are holes in walls and ceilings, rooms that have been stripped down to the studs, and no kitchen fixtures. Vintage touches that remain include twisted columns, an opera-style balcony looking over the barrel-ceilinged foyer, and brightly colored vintage bathroom tile.

“‘When I walked in, I just said, ‘Wow,’’ said Ryan Smith, the Re/Max Properties agent representing the house for DLJ Mortgage Capital, which took ownership in a sheriff’s sale in September. The house, built in 1924 on Cregier Avenue in the Jackson Park Highlands, came on the market Dec. 7 at $224,900. Smith said the house has been vacant since at least 2019, and possibly years longer.

“Smith, who has long experience selling foreclosures, estimated the cost of a rehab at “$300,000 to $350,000,” and said appraisals based on nearby homes in better condition suggest it would be worth up to $700,000 when redone.

“In the first three days the house has been on the market, Smith has shown it to 32 potential buyers, he said, and most of them were investors who would do the work and put the finished project back on the market. [The house sold on 1/31/22]

“The house ‘is so cool,’ Smith said. ‘When it was in its prime, it must have been fantastic.’

“The Jackson Park Highlands was declared a landmark district in 1989, a designation that prohibits demolition without approval of the city’s landmarks commission. But Smith said he doubts a buyer would consider demolition, because ‘the exterior is solid,’ not to mention handsome. Slender on its Cregier side and broad on 68th Street, which it faces, the house is on a lot that is slightly more than twice the city norm of 3,125 square feet. (Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 12/9/21)

Read the full story with interior photos at Crain’s Chicago Business

Who can save this run-down treasure in South Shore? Set in the landmark Jackson Park Highlands section just south of the golf course, the house was recently foreclosed but retains glimmers of its 1920s glamour; Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 12/9/21

More information and photos at the real estate listing for 6757 S. Cregier Avenue