Evanston, IL 60202 1144 Asbury Avenue

Wonderful one-of-a-kind home is on the market for first time in 35 years. Owners did a total renovation and restoration that took 1.5 years to complete when they bought it and have continued to take care and improve as needed. Their desire was to save the elegance of the past and yet update it to current standards so home would meet the modern amenities needed for today's living. Spacious home has 8614 square feet sitting on over 1/3 acre of land in the Ridge Historic District nestled in a private secluded section behind a fence of bushes. Entry hall with wonderful leaded windows welcomes you to spacious living room with beautiful crown molding, leaded windows, hardwood floors, wood burning/gas fireplace and a music room with grand piano and 2 harps. Large footprint provides considerable room sizes as seen in the formal dining room with wood burning/gas fireplace and room for large seated dinner parties. Home has great traffic pattern allowing for flexible use of space and is great for entertaining. Lovely architectural details are abundant throughout the home. Large kitchen has center island, granite and Corian countertops designed by Carlson. Butler's pantry has a working dumb waiter, glass-doored cabinets butcher block counter tops. New hardwood floor in family room has entertainment center with bookcases on two walls and one door opening to patio overlooking wonderfully landscaped spacious yard and garden as well as large side yard and 2-car garage. Another door opens to screened porch which also opens to the patio. Second floor has 4 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and 2 offices. Third floor has 2 bedrooms and a large office with a tandem room and a hall bath. The full basement is unfinished. The fascinating history of the house covers the original house from 1872 which was a smaller home, set on a large piece of land and enlarged over the years including the addition of a school house in 1914 and later a redo of the home in 1918 by well-known North Shore residential architects Mayo and Mayo. An addition of a garage in the 1920s and later an apartment added over the garage to make a coach house. Home was known all over the country for being a jazz house in the 1930s with many musicians staying at the house and jamming together. In 1988 the owner sold the majority of the land to a developer but kept the portion with the school house and coach house for himself. Raymond Chou, the developer subdivided the land he purchased in order to build 4 new homes on the grounds. Since the home now had no garage, a new one was built. This is a fabulous home in an ideal location, close to both Main Street and Dempster Street shopping and eating areas as well as short walk to schools, parks, transportation - both the "EL" and Metra at Main Street, and on to the lake.