Windy City Rehab: The Lincoln Park Fourplex

This home in the upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago was built in 1893 as a single-family home but later converted into four apartment units. Alison and her partner Donovan opted to maintain the building as four separate rental apartments with hopes of selling the building. The newly renovated exterior now features a refinished entry with stylish black arch, black framed windows, exterior sconces, window boxes and new landscaping. 

For Alison and Donovan, restoring a multi-unit apartment building was new territory design-wise and, from an investment standpoint, something of a risky endeavor. "We're going out of the safe zone," said Alison, "and that's scary."

The living space for the lower front apartment gets a feature wall made from reclaimed barn-wood salvaged from a barn outside Chicago. The integrated entertainment center in this and the other units features open shelving and wall-mounted TV.

The four individual units are all slightly different, but each comes with two bedrooms, kitchen and living space and is designed with amenities like in-unit washer-dryers. 

The kitchen in this unit came with dingy, dated wallpaper and old linoleum flooring.

During construction, new kitchen tile was installed improperly in the first remodel. Alison insisted that it be ripped out and replaced. "We're selling sophisticated living," she said. "It's on our signage, it's on our brand. If it's not looking great, it's not sophisticated living."

Alison gets hands-on with some custom touches in the latter stages of the renovation. "Flipping houses in Chicago – it's my dream," she says, "but it is not for the weak." The underlying objective in this project was to successfully rent out all four units of the newly renovated fourplex to help make the building a more enticing property for potential buyers. 

The building dates back to 1893 and, prior to Alison and Donovan's renovation, it had probably not seen any significant updates in around 40 years. Prior to the remodel the front exterior was solid but lackluster – with glass-block surrounding the front door, white plastic frame windows and a bare front yard.