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Bishop St. 'McMansion' Ugly, Some Say, But Other Neighbors Ready to Move On

By Josh McGhee | July 7, 2014 5:20am | Updated on July 7, 2014 5:23am
 Neighbors have battled the renovations to the home in the 800 block of South Bishop Street for months.
Bishop Street 'McMansion' Nearly Complete
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LITTLE ITALY — The controversial teardown and rebuilding of a home on historic Bishop Street on the Near West Side is nearly complete, and some neighbors say their worst fears about the home some have dubbed a "McMansion" have come true.

"It's just a big brown box sticking out from all the other homes," said Katie Kinnerk, a neighbor who tried to stop the home from being built. "I just spoke to a woman who walked by the home yesterday, and she said, 'It's just really ugly.'"

But the home's owner, Kevin Skarbek, who moved in with his family last month, said he hopes his new neighbors will put the controversy behind them.

"It's a phenomenal block. There's just a couple people who aren't fond of the house," said Skarbek, whose sister also lives on the block.

 Neighbors have battled the renovations to the home in the 800 block of South Bishop Street for months.
Neighbors have battled the renovations to the home in the 800 block of South Bishop Street for months.
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DNAinfo/ Josh McGhee

Josh McGhee discusses the dispute between the home's owner and neighbors:

For decades, the tree-lined, cul-de-sac street has offered a slice of European charm in a cozy corner of Little Italy. The 800 and 900 blocks feature a series of row houses set back far from the parkway and all have connected front yards with no fences between them.

When Skarbek bought the house in December 2012, he said he brought in multiple inspectors and they all told him the house could not be lived in without renovations. Skarbek's initial plan to rebuild the home at 829 S. Bishop St. was rejected by the city. But neighbors objected when he later revised the plans and moved to build a three-story home that jutted into the front yard, interrupting the continuous setback on the block.

At the time, Skarbek, downplayed the impact, saying his home would only stick out about seven feet from the other homes.

Skarbek received approval to go ahead with his modified plan in August as the plans met city code.

Some residents sued; that suit is pending. University Village Association founder Oscar D'Angelo went as far as to offer to buy the house in the fall, but Skarbek wanted $500,000, D'Angelo said, and negotiations fizzled. Skarbek had paid $307,500 for the home.

A green fence surrounded the property for months while it was under construction, but it recently came down, revealing a brown aluminum facade on the home. Nearly every other home nearby has a brick front.

"The block is unique because of the huge front lawns and beautiful tree-lined street. He moved here for those reasons — it's a beautiful street — and he's removed those two attributes. He just shouldn't have moved here," Kinnerk said. 

She also complained that he also removed a huge tree from his front yard.

Richie Zie, a resident of the block, said the construction on the street was a problem for about a year.

"It was horrible," Zie said.

But aside from the construction congestion, Zie supported Skarbek's right to renovate his home anyway he choose. He pointed to other houses on the block whose owners racked up expensive renovations but kept the same feel to the neighborhood.

"Who am I to tell him what he can do with his house?" Zie asked. "Everybody talks about progress like it's a bad word. That old place would've taken tons of money to renovate it so he took his money and bought something he wanted."

Other neighbors on the block also said they had moved on from the controversy, although none would go on the record.

Some visitors to the historic block, however, were taken aback by the new home.

Phillip Readding, a real estate agent from Montreal, was visiting the neighborhood with his family last week when he immediately noticed the newly renovated home.

"It takes away from the charm of the neighborhood. You want people to renovate because it adds value to the neighborhood. I'm surprised the city" allowed it, Readding said.

Claude Hodges, of the Austin neighborhood, was also taking a stroll down the street and thought the home looked peculiar.

"It's not about liking [the house], it's about the community. This is Little Italy, a community where you have cousins-in-law [and] brothers-in-law all living across the street," Hodges said. "I can see that most of these homes have been here for 80 years and this is just more modern. It fits the downtown scenery, just not this community."