Waukegan Talk

When we went to one of the homes on the Waukegan Historical Society tour recently we saw this house. Does anyone know anything about it? Did find some pictures on a realtor's site. It was listed at only $84,000.

What a curious home...it's on Oak Tree Lane. Some beautiful homes on that road.



More pictures of the inside

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tours2.vht.com/Viewer/PhotoGallery.aspx?ListingID=1176936&Style=BWICorp">http://tours2.vht.com/Viewer/PhotoGalle ... le=BWICorp</a><!-- m -->


Go to this link for some really interesting comments!!

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lovelylisting.com/2008/11/its-habitrail-you-know-for-kids.html">http://www.lovelylisting.com/2008/11/it ... -kids.html</a><!-- m -->

Bill's Bayou said...

Quite possibly the worst listing on this site. A link under each photo allows you to see them in their full Nikon D80 10-megapixel glory.

This house appears to be a mish-mash of styles and approaches to stability. There are exposed utilities of EVERY sort throughout. Floor tile on the wall, and carpet on the ceiling. The entire structure appears to be built on spindles. Unfinished drywall and collapsed ceilings with dangling lighting. But here are some interesting points:

Photo 2 (foyer): Blood spatter on the radiator panel. (floor level beneath window, left side)

Photo 6 (family room): What do those 15 switches, three knobs, and rainbow colored pipes control?

Photo 9 (view) Views a SWAMP.

But the BEST PHOTOS OF ALL are photos 1 and 3. There is an orange sticker visible in photo 3 which is missing in photo 1 (left side of photo 1 is the same door). Flipping photo 3 over in Photoshop reveals the message on the sticker "NOT APPROVED FOR OCCUPANCY". This is not mentioned in the description.

The EXIF data shows that photo 3 was taken at 12:49 and photo 1 was taken at 12:50. THE STICKER WAS REMOVED FROM THE DOOR between the two shots by the photographer! I wonder if that's legal.
November 20, 2008 12:23 PM



What a room...

I see it sold for $66,000 last January. What a steal! The people on that one site couldn't figure out why it was so cheap. They speculated from a grisly murder taking place there to a swamp in the back yard to a mold infestation. Not one of them came close to the real reason.

Danno Wrote:I see it sold for $66,000 last January. What a steal! The people on that one site couldn't figure out why it was so cheap. They speculated from a grisly murder taking place there to a swamp in the back yard to a mold infestation. Not one of them came close to the real reason.

The economic times or...can you share what the real reason is? 8-) I'd love to go see that house.

We used to call that place," the house on stilts". I am very surprised it is asking for that kind of money, but again, times are tough for everyone.

The home was bank owned/foreclosure. It had been listed at $109K. It was sold as-is and could only be purchased owner occupied. The low sale price was set by the bank that wanted to dump it. There are many, many homes in Waukegan being sold for prices much lower than 66K. In this economy it is not unusual and does not indicate a defect with the home other than a previous owner not being able to meet their financial obligations to the back.

The home was bank owned/foreclosure. It had been listed at $109K. It was sold as-is and could only be purchased owner occupied. The low sale price was set by the bank that wanted to dump it. There are many, many homes in Waukegan being sold for prices much lower than 66K. In this economy it is not unusual and does not indicate a defect with the home other than a previous owner not being able to meet their financial obligations to the bacn.

Isn't this Joe Legat the Waukegan Architects house?
Did he design it himself back in the day? 60's? ... 70's?
I've always loved that house...!
My sister used to sleep over there as a kid. I was so jealous.
66K!?

Is this house off Jackson St.? I know that there used to be a "glass house"---is this a different one :?:

Yes Simon, Yes Blackdiamond...same house.

Just found Wauktalk after old forum, where I was a frequent lurker. I distantly know who purchased this house (they are of the artistic ilk), and I did visit a few times while on the market. I couldn't help it. It was a DIZZYING experience! We have dubbed it "The Fun House". The moment my mother walked in (to the room in the photo posted!), she looked around and instantly lost her balance - literally, I mean she almost fell down! Her boyfriend got motion sick and couldn't continue. There are no words. It's like a 1960's House on the Rock.
There was outdoor landscaping rocks in the "basement" (in the rear of the house). You can see where a tree used to grow from the outside, up through the house in the rear where it's on stilts. The house was ultra high-tech in its day, in the original kitchen there was a built-in wall toaster, and drawer warmers for food, and an intercom system throughout. All those switches at one point controlled movie screens, very specialized lighting (indoors and out), window blinds, and who knows what else. There is another room that was like a second kitchen, where there appears to be a bar of sorts - except behind it is only a hole in the floor with a narrow circular staircase going down to aforementioned "basement"/lovenest, with a bathroom. You have to climb a few feet from there into a little room to access one of the doors to get outside (!!!). From the highest level in the rear, there's a room with bubble windows and controls to the lights that lit up the "lagoon" in the backyard, as well as a bathroom with no privacy area around the toilet. The "Tube" has a staircase leading...literally, to nowhere.
The lot is unbelievable, the question is if this house can be brought back up to code. When I visited last winter, some of those large windows were broken, though I don't know if it was vandalism or structural issues. I know there was A LOT of open air accessible through that tube though, and rotten floors to avoid. When you stood in most parts of the house on stilts, it was clearly tilted downward to the point you wouldn't walk to the edges of the room (let alone take a bath next to the floor to ceiling windows, slanting MANY degrees downward).
I know the new owners contacted the original architect, still in Waukegan, to consult on renovations. They are going to need the help! The neighborhood is stunning. It is so unique, it would be wonderful if someone COULD restore it's integrity, and add it to the list of Waukegan one-of-a-finds. I think most others, however, would just take that wonderful lot and start from scratch, though.