A Stunning Penthouse Rises at The Elysian in Chicago
Searching for gold.
Much like 49er’s in days of old, sifting at the river bank for ingots, nuggets and glimmers of gold. That’s what a modern-day Realtor is like, helping clients discern between fools gold and the real thing.
A few days ago a new Gold Coast luxury listing caught my eye, suggesting that it is the real thing.
Located at The Elysian at the corner of Rush and Walton, the unit is offered for $6.35M USD and features 6500 square feet on a single level with 360 degree views in a Five Star setting. Delivered unfinished, the home has four bedrooms, an office, a library, and a terrace.
But perhaps the singular difference maker in this mansion in the sky is a 20-foot window in the living room that sports unmatchable views.
The word “soaring” comes to mind. Efficiently, effectively and effusively describing what you witness as you stand in the midst of this home.
Spying something akin to a view forever, whether you peer upward to the clouds veritably lofting by your windows or as you look toward the ground and find your view punctuated Chicago’s magnificent skyline and bracketed by the azure of the lake.
Either way you look, things are looking up from this luxurious abode in the heart of the Gold Coast where anything you might want is a short walk away whether it’s the casual luxury of Gibson’s or the timeless style of Louis Vuitton, 11 East Walton is ensconced in the rattle and hum of a world class district.
And should staying in be more to your liking, The Elysian offers world class services via in home dining, spa services, and an absolute spectrum of services associated with a five star hotel.
If you have any questions about this property, wish to view it or any other luxury listing in Chicago or the North Shore, I invite you to contact me directly at 773.848.9241.
And don’t hesitate to share this information with someone who may have interest in this unique and appealing home.
Plumbing the Depths . What’s in my Pocket Today?
What’s in your pocket?
Today, I bet, what’s there is different than what was there five years ago. And of course it’s different than when you were five years old. Every stage there’s something different taking up space in our pocket(s).
I thought of this yesterday as my hand struggled into and out of the pocket of my fleece jacket.
The jacket has two marsupial side pockets. Plus there’s a single exterior breast pocket beneath the Patagonia insignia. Relying only on my right hand to try to find my SUV keys so I could head to a showing appointment in Lakeview I stumbled across an iPhone ear piece, a clump of my sons’ silly bands, some intact Starbucks napkins (perfect for my ubiquitous runny nose) doing battle with ATM slips and Target receipts and a few single floating pieces of gum.
Just a few short years ago, I thought, more than likely this pocket would have held a pacifier, readily available to soften the mood of one of my two boys . Before I became an award-winning Chicago and North Shore Realtor buzzing around town showing single family homes and condos to my buying and for my selling clients this pocket may have held a CTA pass, to bounce me to some downtown desk for a day in the life.
Occasionally the same pockets would hold funny fortunes from fortune cookies that I always intended to save but never quite got around to it. Ticket stubs from both movies and Cubs games would wind up in there along with loose change, spare keys and random bits of this and that simply stopping for a moment before the next destination.
The next destination. Sometimes we know it’s off in the horizon and we await its arrival. Last year at this time Nicole and I and the boys were prepping for a trip to Paris. This year we are getting ready for a family adventure that has us driving to New Mexico and Texas for the holidays.
Sometimes the next thing is an unknown thing. Earlier this summer we had no idea that come fall the boys would be at Baker Demonstration School in Wilmette, thinking instead that the fall would have Jackson in Kindergarten at Nettelhorst and Lucas hanging out with mom and dad with a year to spare before heading to school.
The point, I guess, is things change. The goal, perhaps, is to be able to adapt easily and comfortably. Not that I always succeed.
What I have noticed, though, is that when it comes to my real estate practice, I tend to make the shifts pretty smoothly, pretty gracefully. And like carrying the items in my pocket that are relevant to me today my “tool kit” related to my work as a Chicago and North Shore real estate broker is geared to seamlessly respond to my buying and selling clients’ needs as they are today.
To roll old school with air quotes clawing the space in front of me this is a “win win.” Clients are happy. I am happy. And life goes on with giggles and grins just like in musicals and fairy tales.
Speaking of giggles and grins, the market right now is extremely active in the city and the North Shore. So if one item you are thinking of adding to your pocket is a set of new house keys, let me know. I will be more than happy to help you realize this goal.
My direct line is 773.848.9241. Giggles and grins are complementary.
By the way, the dance card is pretty full Sunday with my Andersonville townhome at 1801 Winnemac Unit C open with Mitch Aronson from 11-1, 1224 N Dearborn in the Gold Coast hosted by me from 11-1 and 3315 N Lakewood in Lakeview with me from 1.30-3.30.
Every Day a New Beginning (Mind, That Is)
Beginner’s mind.
Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki brought this notion to full flower when he said – In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.
For more than 10 years I have assisted buyers and seller in the Chicago and North Shore real estate markets with their real estate transactions. The trust placed in me by my clients since I became a Realtor has placed me among the highest echelon of real estate brokers associated with the Chicago Association of Realtors.
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When Things Don’t Go According to Plan
It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.
The map of life has more than a few detours that could so aptly be described.
Whether it’s us looking at ourselves, at others or others at us, the prism through which we view distorts, distends and distinguishes. And sometimes it wasn’t supposed to happen that way.
I had just such a moment yesterday. Look, I am the first to admit that I’m not going to build my own house. I know my limitations. But basic repairs aren’t too much for me to handle. And with this in mind I shimmied under the kitchen sink yesterday to chase the demon of a pesky leak.
Things were going well enough until that fateful final turn of a connector from a shut off valve that indeed was shut off. But the valve evidently didn’t get the memo. And so instead of being shut off it simply spat cruelly like one of the malfeasant creatures who sought to harm Harry Potter. But rather than venom this hideous enemy spewed terribly hot water at a pace rapid enough to make my kitchen a wading pool in a matter of seconds.
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A Cardinals’ Win and a Shift of How I View Things
Disappointment.
Things don’t go the way you want them to. I’m not talking cataclysm, catastrophe or that which is colossal. I’m talking the more mundane. Like when you don’t get an invitation, or the pair of pants you wanted to wear are incontrovertibly in the laundry, the North Shore home you liked goes under contract after a price reduction.
Or like when the Cardinals win the World Series. Blah.
Years ago I attended the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. The experience was tremendous, truly shaping me into something resembling the man I am today. But the colors would have inspired a tragic psychic split in even the most non-aesthetic sort. We had the school’s Orange and Blue (to which we were loyal, according to the school song). Not the most meaningful nor pleasing palette.
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