EDGEWATER — One of the last surviving homes built by Edgewater's founding father John Lewis Cochran was demolished this week.
The two-story home at 6027 N. Kenmore Ave. was built in 1907 as part of Cochran's second addition to the neighborhood — a series of "mini-mansions," like the Colvin House, that best exemplified his "original vision" for the community, according to the Edgewater Historical Society.
Historians also say some of the neighborhood's oldest sidewalk slabs can also be found in front of the home, which was possibly once a funeral parlor.
Most recently, the building was used as Chicago House's TransLife Center — a nine-unit home that provided safe housing for trans women.
Scott Ammarell, Chicago House's CEO, said his organization put the house on the market in December and is offering more programming and housing in the community as opposed to at a single site.
"Given what's going on ... in the social service climate, we either had to put that building back to good use or we had to do something else with it," Ammarell said. "The timing was such that we wouldn't really be able to get the financial support we needed for programs for quite some time.
"So we made the very difficult decision to sell the building."
Its buyer is Mike Kaplun, a Chicago-area developer and head of KPLN Holdings LLC who also owns other residential buildings throughout the city.
According to real estate site Redfin Kaplun closed on the sale Feb. 24 and paid $900,000 for the house — $50,000 below its asking price.
Five years before Chicago House took over the home, the Edgewater Historical Society made a push to save the property with the Commission on Chicago Landmarks by adding it to a list of other homes in a proposed historical district.
Though the home is now gone, leaving few nearby remnants of old Edgewater, Ammarell said it won't be lost in vain.
Using a scattered-site housing model, Ammarell said the TransLife program has been able to find homes for 15 clients.
"We'll obviously use the proceeds from that to increase other housing opportunities for the various people that we serve," Ammarell said. "It's really a positive development for Chicago House."
