UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — A neo-Romanesque mansion at the northwest corner of Hoyne Avenue and Cortez Street is priced at $2.5 million, according to the home's owner who says she is planning to put the multiunit property up for sale in March.
The limestone and brick Art Nouveau style home at 1036 N. Hoyne Ave. was built in 1900 as a single-family home for Edward Bankes, a coffee and tea merchant. Bankes also dabbled in real estate development and sold lots on Cortez Street for what were considerable sums at that time, according to a historical consultant's detailed report on the home.
After the Depression, the home was converted into a multiunit apartment building. Banks, who had later moved to River Forest in the 1920s, died in 1936.
Though an architect is not listed in city records for the home, Henry Worthmann — the same architect who later in his career designed Bucktown's Saint Mary of the Angels Church and Saint Nicolas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral with a partner — was the home's architect, according to the historical report as well as DesignSlinger, an architecture blog.
Cherubic faces are part of the home's architecture, hinting at a church-like influence. A renovated kitchen, finished basement family room with a home theater and all new electrical, HVAC and plumbing add a modern flair.
Parts of the home's exterior. [VHT/Provided by Diamond]
Situated on a double lot with a wrought iron fenced-in yard, the property offers a separate entryway and address at 2106 W. Cortez St. for a three-bedroom apartment in the home's second floor rear and an attic studio.
Billie Diamond, an @properties agent who is both the home's seller and its owner, bought the property in 2006 with her husband, Joe.
The couple restored the home's 14 leaded stained glass windows and three original murals.
They also upgraded the kitchen.
Diamond, her husband and three children live in the main part of the home, which offers a 5,500-square-foot, seven-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom single-family home layout. Working fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom were converted to gas.
"It's a very open, livable sort of gracious living space, which is really unusual in this city. Moving was not an easy decision. We're headed to the suburbs, seeking a change of lifestyle on the North Shore," Diamond said on Wednesday.
The home's entryway. [VHT/Provided by Diamond]
Located one block west of Damen Avenue and three blocks south of Division Street, the home is part of the Ukrainian Village District, a landmark-designated area that is roughly bounded to the south by Haddon Street but has extended to Cortez Street to include the home, according to a Dec. 2003 notice from the Landmarks Commission mailed to the home, county records show.
According to the city's Historic Resources survey — a starting point for assessing if a home has any historical value — the home is rated orange, meaning it "possesses potentially significant architectural or historical features."
"It could be converted back into a single-family home if someone wanted to live in a 7,000-square-feet home, though a huge perk of living here is living in a $2 million home but your mortgage payments are offset by the rental incomes of $36,000 yearly," Diamond said.
Since 2006, it's never been necessary to advertise the three-bedroom apartment because it was rented on long term leases passed to previous renter's friends though word of mouth, she said.
"And when we have rented the attic studio, it rents in a day," Diamond said.
Diamond credits her husband for accumulating a lot of research into the home's history and documenting the various restorations.
Diamond said she will describe the home as "a rare opportunity" when she lists the home, which also has an attached two-car garage and decks.
"This was so lovingly restored; it's hard to leave. "There is a spectacular painting above the staircase. I still pinch myself when I look at it," Diamond said.
Restored frescos. [Joe Diamond]
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