Historic house for sale

[Gob]

The former Chicago family home of gangster Al Capone where he was living when became one of the richest gangsters in history has been put on sale for $225,000.



The six-bedroom house was where the crime boss lived when he moved from New York and established himself in Chicago in 1923.

The criminal was sent to Illinois to run the infamous Four Deuces club which offered gambling, alcohol and prostitution in prohibition era America.
According to the real estate listing: 'This was Al Capone's Chicago home. Wow, there are three bedrooms on each floor.'

The listing states that the first floor was reconditioned in 2008 and a new kitchen was installed. There is even a Jacuzzi in one of the two bathrooms.

The second floor comes equipped with hardwood floors and there is a garage which will fit two cars.

However, any crime fans looking to visit the house 'must show proof of funds before showing'.

The Chicago Tribune reports Capone purchased the Chicago home for $5,500 as he worked as a bouncer in a brothel before he became Prohibition-era America's most infamous gangster

Capone buys 7244 Prairie Avenue in 1923 and moves in his wife, son, mother as well as his brother and sisters.

The house is located in the Greater Grand Crossing area in south Chicago.

His brother Frank is waked in the front room of the house after he was shot and killed by the Chicago Police Department in April 1924 while trying to intimidate people trying to vote.

[wesw]

mini castle

[Crackpot]

Bad neighborhood? Our house cost that much.

[Lord Jim]

Really not very impressive...

He had a much nicer place in Florida:



I believe that in Chicago, Mr. Capone lived in The Penthouse Suite of the Lexington Hotel...

[rubato]

Re: the Capone house. Blow it up and use the bricks to make public toilets. That would be a fitting remembrance.


yrs,
rubato

[wesw]

hey! that s the Taliban way of dealing with history they don t like....

[Gob]

$225,000 is very cheap, you wouldn't get a 2 bed apartment here for that.

[Jarlaxle]

Considering it's in Chicago, the neighborhood is probably lousy, the schools sewers, and it seems to be a stone's throw away from two major highways. Also, I wonder how much the property taxes would be!

[Sue U]

From a brief tour of the neighborhood on Google Street View, it appears to be a nice if unexceptional middle-class neighborhood. Most of the homes on that block are bungalows, but there is a house of similar style directly across the street. This is Econoline's territory.

[Guinevere]

South Side CHicago can be iffy, this one is almost in the burbs though.

And Jarl, seriously, Chicago is a GREAT city. You just don't like cities, and you are excused from doing so, ok. But that doesn't mean every city is a sewer. Like most places, there are good parts and bad parts, and its all part of the fabric of the town.

[Sue U]

Taxes are a little over $3k (2012). Neighborhood schools do get a pretty shitty rating, though. Five years ago the house was listed for $450,000; didn't sell.

[Econoline]

That neighborhood, Greater Grand Crossing, is not particularly good but far from the worst in the city. It's a solidly working-class African American area; and yes, the property values are low because the population in that neighborhood is 99.6% non-white. That particular building and the ones immediately surrounding it appear to be well-maintained. I'm not at all surprised that it didn't sell for for $450K but $225K sounds like a pretty realistic price for that particular area.

However...

Jarl, seriously, Chicago is a GREAT city. You just don't like cities, and you are excused from doing so, ok. But that doesn't mean every city is a sewer. Like most places, there are good parts and bad parts, and its all part of the fabric of the town.

Location, location, location. In the neighborhood where I live, Hyde Park, that same building would probably be worth around 2½ to 3 times that price.

[Guinevere]

That neighborhood, Greater Grand Crossing, is not particularly good but far from the worst in the city. It's a solidly working-class African American area; and yes, the property values are low because the population in that neighborhood is 99.6% non-white. That particular building and the ones immediately surrounding it appear to be well-maintained. I'm not at all surprised that it didn't sell for for $450K but $225K sounds like a pretty realistic price for that particular area.

However...

Jarl, seriously, Chicago is a GREAT city. You just don't like cities, and you are excused from doing so, ok. But that doesn't mean every city is a sewer. Like most places, there are good parts and bad parts, and its all part of the fabric of the town.

Location, location, location. In the neighborhood where I live, Hyde Park, that same building would probably be worth around 2½ to 3 times that price.

Absolutely - one of my dearest friends lives in Ravenswood Manor, http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... /1043.html, and that's a 750K+ 2-flat in her neighborhood.

[Jarlaxle]

So, quick recap: it's right near two highways, the schools are absolute sewers, taxes are $3k/year. Pass!

And I have been to Chicago. Serious question: can you drive ANYWHERE in that city without paying a damned toll?!

[Econoline]

The only tollway inside the city of Chicago is the Chicago Skyway, which is a diagonal 7.8 mile toll bridge connecting the Indiana Toll Road with the Dan Ryan Expressway. (If you want to avoid it, you can just take I-94 all the way into the city; except during rush hour, that route takes <5 min. extra.) All the rest of the toll highways are out in the suburbs, mostly designed to let long-distance travelers bypass the city completely. None of the streets, highways, or expressways in Chicago require a toll. If you had to pay a toll, Jarl, you probably never got to the city of Chicago itself; you just drove past the city on the Interstate.