Chicago House Hunting: The One I Loved the Most

Of all the houses we’ve seen, this was the house I had the most immediate emotional response to. Originally listed at $525k, sold for $400k, in a lovely Chicago neighborhood called Peterson Woods. It caught me by surprise because I’m rarely sentimental. I’m also wary of kitsch – I like mid-century design because it’s practical and clean-lined – not because I want to live in a time capsule. This house, however, felt truly special.

It was owned by an elderly woman who had finally reached the point where she could no longer live alone. She bought the house from the architect when it was first built (in 1954) and had lived there ever since. The seller’s agent clearly loved her, and exclaimed “She’s 80-years-old and still drives at night!” Her home was beautiful. Alas, we decided it was too far from the CTA for it to be a serious contender.

I’m a sucker for cove ceilings and corner windows.

Such a kitchen!

Both of the bathrooms had amazing metallic wallpaper.

We called this one “Kimberly’s bathroom,” after our friend who most definitely has this decor in outfit form.

And the basement bar was the ultimate Golden Girls party room.

What got me the most, though, was when I opened the master bedroom closet and saw these shoeboxes:

This was exactly how my grandmother organized her shoes. I took some photos of her ranch house — which she lived in until the day she died in 2002, with her Keds on her feet and her head on her pillow. Even the multi-color plastic hangers are the same:

No good way to end this post, so I’ll link to this Courtney Barnett song that is the perfect soundtrack for emotional house-hunting: Depreston.