“A prominent, five-bedroom, 19th-century mansion in Wicker Park that once was listed for $6.5 million sold on April 30 for $4.8 million in an off-market transaction.
“The sale is a record for the Wicker Park neighborhood, where the previous high-water mark for a single-family home was a 22,000-square-foot former orphanage that sold in 2014 for $3.1 million. That building subsequently was renovated and now has had two duplex units carved out of it, and is on the market for $8.45 million.
“The buyer of the 8,200-square-foot Wicker Park mansion, an opaque land trust, has engaged Woodhouse Tinucci Architects and is proposing a major overhaul of the entire property that would include installing an underground pool on the property with a glass roof. The proposed plans for the property are before the Wicker Park Committee and the City of Chicago.
“The red brick imitation castle is a neighborhood landmark. Built between 1878 and 1891, the Second Empire-style mansion sits on an unusually large, 0.25-acre corner lot on North Hoyne Avenue and has a domed turreted top and a multicolored porch. For decades, it had been divided into multiple apartments, but after a couple, Timothy and Robin Sheehan, bought it in 2007 for $2.466 million, they deconverted it to single-family use and renovated it.
“The Sheehans’ deconversion required a significant rehabilitation of what had been a 22-room mansion. Their work included preserving certain historical features and touches, such as leaded glass transom windows in the living room, Lincrusta wallpaper in the entry, built-in walnut cabinetry in the vestibule, original moldings and ‘carpenter’s lace’ detailing in the turret area with five large windows.” (Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 8/26/21)
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Prominent Wicker Park mansion sells for record $4.8M, slated for renovation, Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 8/26/21