Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Check Out a 'Dazzling' Restored Art Nouveau Condo For Sale in Hyde Park

By Sam Cholke | November 9, 2015 6:08am


Former owner artist Roland Kulla painstakingly restored all of the preserved details of the detailed interior. [KoenigRubloff Realty Group/Matt Driscoll]

HYDE PARK — Possibly the most lovingly maintained art nouveau condominium in Hyde Park is up for sale.

The third-floor apartment in the Lauten Apartment building at 5451 S. Hyde Park Blvd. has an overwhelming amount of woodwork that is in surprisingly good condition.

“It’s the most amazing interior I have ever seen,” said Susan O’Connor Davis, who had written about the building for her book “Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park” and now finds herself the real estate agent selling the condo.

Davis said she was a fan of the 1907 building’s French art nouveau and German jugundstil exterior when writing her 2013 book, but never expected the opportunity to inspect the preserved four-bedroom in the six-flat building.

“The first thing that strikes you about the apartment is the dazzling woodwork,” Davis said. “There are abundant choices of space to enjoy; an inglenook with copper hooded fireplace, large parlor with molded plaster relief ceilings, pocket doors of a sitting room, a tiger-striped fumed oak dining room and, miraculously, the original bathrooms with nickel-plated accessories.”

She said previous owner artist Roland Kulla restored much of the apartment and the current owners have kept up with Kulla’s work.

The building was designed by Emil Frommann and George Jebson, who designed many of the Schlitz Brewery-owned corner taverns in Wicker Park and Pullman.

The 2,100-square-foot apartment is currently listed at $490,000.


The exterior of the six-flat is done in a French art nouveau style.


Much of the 100-year-old interior of the apartment is remarkably well preserved.


Realtor Susan O'Connor Davis said she was excited to work on a building she had written about in her book, "Chicago's Historic Hyde Park."


The condo is full of detailed woodwork in surprisingly good condition for being more than 100 years old.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: