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Here it is! Look how close it is to the lake & 145/146/Red/Brown lines!
One Bedroom, One Bath, Billions of reasons to love this unit!
3423 N Elaine Place - a place we’ve called home for over four years. We’re moving to a bigger place because we work from home now and need more room. 3423 is a fabulous apartment and will be available on June 1. No utilities are included, parking is rentable at $135 a month, laundry room is across the street, unit comes with one wall unit AC and heat is gas forced air. It’s $925 a month and a one month security deposit is required. It’s a sublease of my remaining lease - so it’s June to April 2012. Email me at marktowns@gmail.com for a showing.
The Living Room is pretty big for a one bedroom apartment. Our sofa is a GIGANTIC king-size sleeper sofa and it fits either this way or against the windows. We’ve had the TV along the red wall or along the white wall. The wall with windows has exposed brick, but we covered the brick with fabric recently for a change. The fabric can of course be removed.
When we have parties with 30+ guests, we move the sofa under the windows and put the coffee table in the bedroom, and then there’s plenty of room. Believe me - when you live this close to the parade route, you can really throw a party!
The apartment has an area that’s probably meant for a dining table and chairs, but I use it as my office. As you can see, there’s plenty of room for either! The custom cut-glass light fixture and ceiling fan in the living room as well as the roman blinds were installed by me and they all stay with the unit. The Elfa shelf/office system does not. (Hey, I’ll still need to work in my new place!)
The kitchen has been the source of many many many incredible meals. As you can see, it’s big enough to house a mixer, toaster, coffee maker, microwave and all the other appliances. The metal cabinets are cool because they’re easy to clean and you can stick magnets on them! We replaced the floor, lighting fixture and sink faucet - and they all stay with the unit. The kitchen has a full sized refrigerator and a gas stove/oven. There’s no dishwasher unfortunately.
Elaine Place is a very short street, bound on the south by Roscoe and on the north by Cornelia. To the east is Broadway and to the west is Halsted. You really can’t ask for a better location. The apartment is set back from the street and you can rarely hear any noise from cars or revelers.
Zale is a great management company, and more specifically - Richard is a great property manager. We’ve had a few leaky faucets and slow drains and he always dispatches the maintenance crew right away. He’s a good friend and I feel lucky to have such a great manager on site! Across the street from this courtyard building is the sister building, which has the laundry room and bike storage. $1.50 to wash & dry, $2.00 for the double loaders.
Zale had the foresight to buy these exquisite sculptures by John Kearney and permanently install them on 3 corners of Elaine Place. You know you’re almost home when you see a shining silver giraffe or goat in the distance. Plus, since Elaine Place is such a short street, when people don’t know where, just say “by the metal giraffe and goat” and they’ll know.
Ethel is the name we gave the elephant in the courtyard. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the OFFICIAL mascot and guardian of the Elaine Place Cambridge House apartments. I rarely missed an opportunity to decorate her as you can see.
Jewel, Treasure Island, Whole Foods!
To get to Treasure Island you don’t even have to cross a street. Jewel is about 2 minutes away on foot. Whole foods is about 7 minutes away on foot. There is excellent Italian (Angelina’s), American/French Bistro (FireFly), Breakfast (Nookies, Ann Sathers, Kanela), Italo/French Bistro (Socca), coffee (Saugatuck Coffee, Starbucks, Caribou), bars (Sidetrack, Roscoes, you know the rest), asian (Ping Pong, Joys, Wakamono, Kanok), mexican (Las Mananitas, El Mariachi), burgers (Halsteds), vegetarian (Chicago Diner) and just tons and tons of things to do and places to eat and shop within a few blocks. Elaine Place is really in the very center of everything. Just beware that when the pride parade comes, you’re stuck on all sides for a few hours! We always just throw a party.
Also - best news of all - a brand new DIY frozen yogurt shop opened around the corner on Cornelia and Halsted!
The deck of the apartment is not much more than a glorified fire escape. There’s enough room for plants, but not much else. It’s great for when smoking friends come over. It gets tons of sunlight because there’s nobody above this unit. I had the best tomatoes and jalapenos last year. There’s no building butting against this unit, so there’s plenty of visual space and enough sky to let you clear your head.
The building is pre-war and very solid. Cats are allowed, but we don’t have a kitty. I’m content to watch the kitty across the courtyard staring at the birds in the trees.
There’s a gate for the courtyard with a buzzer and intercom, and a second buzzer at the 3423 entrance. Double security! There’s a gigantic and brand new laundry room in the sister courtyard building across the street.
The next door neighbor is a super awesome chick who says “the new tenants have some big shoes to fill!”
The bedroom is big enough for a queen (like this) and two nightstands. That’s a brick wall on one side, but we covered the brick with curtains for now. The wall between the window and closet is just big enough for a single-width Elfa system or maybe a chest of drawers. All I know is that my partner makes the best music in that little space. Notice that snazzy ceiling fan? I put it in myself and it stays with the unit. So does the brown roman blind on the window.
The closet is big enough for the both of us and we added extra shelves on top of the regular shelf.
What can you say about a bathroom? Well, it’s small but has plenty of storage thanks to the shelves. Small bathroom = easier to clean. Window means either lots of light, or the ability to shower and open the window while it’s snowing and think of how weird it is that you’re showering while it’s snowing a few inches away.
