One Of Chicago’s Last Remaining Original Prairie Avenue Mansions Comes To Market

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Before Chicago had its prized Gold Coast, there was the Prairie Avenue District running along a main drag that decades before had been a Native American trail&nbsp;going from Chicago’s Fort Dearborn all the way to Fort Wayne in Indiana with miles of prairie land in between.&nbsp;The city’s wealthiest residents began to call this neighborhood home in the 1800s and by the turn of the century it was where everyone wanted to live. Millionaire’s mansions lined the street around the turn of the century, including this 1870&nbsp;Second Empire style one&nbsp;built for a hat magnate at the time named&nbsp;Elbridge Gerry Keith. Now&nbsp;referred to as the&nbsp;’Keith House’, it is one of only a few of the original mansions still in existence in this South Loop neighborhood.&nbsp;It recently came on the market for&nbsp;$2.795 million, including its income-producing potential with a ground floor zoned for public events and the upper floors turned into apartments.

With eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms and a&nbsp;coach house that can be used as an apartment, it is the most expensive house for sale in the zip code. There’s another similar mansion for sale on the same street, asking $2.149 million, but it is still a single-family home and hasn’t been rezoned for event or multi-family space.&nbsp;The Keith House, with 10,000 square&nbsp;feet,&nbsp;still has many of its original features&nbsp;especially on the massive ground floor. The living room above, for example, has those large arch top doorways and a fireplace mantle from yesteryear. Even though the floors have been updated their patterns fit with the era from when the home was built.

The staircase below shows the original millwork and wood paneling that is so much more than just wainscoting.

Here, the dining room shows off more of the intricate wood patterns on the floor and custom lace-like cornices along the ceiling.

There is also a ballroom/art gallery that opens out to the backyard. This&nbsp;room has been given a few modern treatments to make the walls nondescript so they don’t compete with the artwork.

Here’s the perspective&nbsp;from the entrance that shows the large scale of the rooms on the ground floor. It must have been expensive to heat back in the day.

There aren’t any photos of the upper floor apartments, but here’s one last look at the overhead to see&nbsp;the adjacent park and how it still retains its grandeur amongst the more contemporary buildings.

The listing agent Hadley Rue with DreamTown has more information on his website.

Follow me on Twitter @amydobsonRE

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Before Chicago had its prized Gold Coast, there was the Prairie Avenue District running along a main drag that decades before had been a Native American trail going from Chicago’s Fort Dearborn all the way to Fort Wayne in Indiana with miles of prairie land in between. The city’s wealthiest residents began to call this neighborhood home in the 1800s and by the turn of the century it was where everyone wanted to live. Millionaire’s mansions lined the street around the turn of the century, including this 1870 Second Empire style one built for a hat magnate at the time named Elbridge Gerry Keith. Now referred to as the ‘Keith House’, it is one of only a few of the original mansions still in existence in this South Loop neighborhood. It recently came on the market for $2.795 million, including its income-producing potential with a ground floor zoned for public events and the upper floors turned into apartments.

With eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms and a coach house that can be used as an apartment, it is the most expensive house for sale in the zip code. There’s another similar mansion for sale on the same street, asking $2.149 million, but it is still a single-family home and hasn’t been rezoned for event or multi-family space. The Keith House, with 10,000 square feet, still has many of its original features especially on the massive ground floor. The living room above, for example, has those large arch top doorways and a fireplace mantle from yesteryear. Even though the floors have been updated their patterns fit with the era from when the home was built.

The staircase below shows the original millwork and wood paneling that is so much more than just wainscoting.

Here, the dining room shows off more of the intricate wood patterns on the floor and custom lace-like cornices along the ceiling.

There is also a ballroom/art gallery that opens out to the backyard. This room has been given a few modern treatments to make the walls nondescript so they don’t compete with the artwork.

Here’s the perspective from the entrance that shows the large scale of the rooms on the ground floor. It must have been expensive to heat back in the day.

There aren’t any photos of the upper floor apartments, but here’s one last look at the overhead to see the adjacent park and how it still retains its grandeur amongst the more contemporary buildings.

The listing agent Hadley Rue with DreamTown has more information on his website.

Follow me on Twitter @amydobsonRE