From the listing description:
Space is currently home to a private members only club with full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, storage and several meeting rooms.
Well it’s not quite so “private” anymore now, is it? From the decor, I get the feeling that this was a “guys only” kind of club.
You can even check out the full floor plan of this swanky 2,700 square foot pad.
Doesn’t really look like they’re the most organized club of all time, either.
Well, it’s set up to be an office area. But it looks like it’s got the right bones to go full-bore steampunk.
Hurrah for this rare glimpse into how the other, um, enthusiasts live – the increasingly rare old-school, unlike the new-come riff-raff responsible (!) for the overblown, modern geek-o-spheres we’ve seen lately.
I am so admiring the ceiling banners, each one presumably the commemorative relic of some bygone triumph, real or imagined. They inspire me to whip up a large collection of colorful, highly personalized commemorative trophies of my own. The high ceiling of my workroom-cum-den would be perfect, with plenty of room for the future. And gold fringe. Lots of it.
If only I could imagine someone asking me about them, but I fear everyone around me has learned not to do that.
@anodean: It looks like Teddy Roosevelt Central, if you ask me, what with all the Dead Animals. I think that’s even a picture of him on the left, next to the polar bear in the first image above. Leave it to the commander of the Rough Riders to have lots and lots and lots and lots of banners. :D
Whoa… this much space, in this location, for under $1M?! The place obviously has modern plumbing and electricity, even though it was built in 1885. Sure, it’s in the Near South Side, but it doesn’t seem to be within firing distance of the infamous South Side. In fact, it’s within 3/4 of a mile of the Sears Tower. (Sorry, I grew up in the Chicago ‘burbs and it will always be the Sears Tower. “Willis” is that kid from the Different Strokes sit-com. BTW, my dad worked for 8 years at 300 South Wacker, catty-cornered from and 70 stories lower than Sears Tower.) Plus, it’s adjacent to one “pocket park” and only a half block from another.
The space is awesome. Turning this into a private dwelling wouldn’t be too difficult, especially since the materials already lend it loads of ambiance. Just so long as the elevator doesn’t regularly stop working, I definitely want in on this one. :)
@Emerald63: Actually, I’m not surprised to hear that it’s both in a very good location and modestly priced. (It will need a major build-out.) The fellows who met here seem to have been flush with funds in their own. quirky, old-school way; to wit, they had money but weren’t there to blow their dough on the surroundings. It sings of a past generation.
What makes it even more adorable within that perception is that they were clearly doing something financial that required all those low-tech files, desk space, and storage. I’m guessing that it really was an old-school social and philanthropic club dedicated to raising and donating money to charities, whose membership slowly aged out. I sadly note signs that the meeting rooms haven’t been used in a while, and wonder if the place has been respectfully held by some conservator until the last of the members passed, and who is now in the process of dissolving it.
Godspeed, old faux hunting club guys.
@anodean: I think you’re probably right. I hadn’t meant the place literally had anything to do with TR or with his contemporaries. I was thinking more of a group of folks that admired his views and persona. Although… there are a lot of Dead Animals, so maybe there is some connection to hunting, adventure travel, or both. I hadn’t even thought of the hard copy files significance, so shame on me. Big Glaring Clue, Emerald!