1000 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill.
For sale: $499,500
The scent of fresh-baked goods is nothing short of irresistible — some real estate agents have even been known to capitalize on that, sticking a pan of cookies in the oven shortly before an open house. In this case, the entire penthouse living room was once an oven, filled with Nabisco biscuits, but unfortunately the baked goods and the scent are long gone.
"The ovens were converted in 1995," explained listing agent Duane Shumaker of Prudential Rubloff Properties. "The oven, they had on the uppermost floor of the factory, so they wouldn't have factory workers on top of the heat source."
The unit is four levels, and the majority of the living room is where Nabisco once made its Uneeda Biscuits. Built out of brick, the oven walls stretch high, meeting in a coved ceiling. The workmanship, noted Shumaker, is incredible.
Nabisco started as the National Biscuit Company and by the turn of the 20th century was riding on the success of its biscuits and fig bars. The company built a larger factory space in early 1902, adding on to the structure in 1915. In 1995 the factory, long abandoned, was transformed into condos.
Each of the units is unique, and much of the original architecture remains intact. The result is a set of live-work lofts unlike anything else.
When the condos were built in the mid-'90s, this area of Chicago was "the Wild West," Shumaker said. But the neighborhood has become increasingly popular, and Google is currently building its new Chicago headquarters nearby. Shumaker notes that you can see the structure from the condo.
Measuring 2,000 square feet, the condo has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a private rooftop deck.
Erika Riggs, a real estate writer for Zillow Blog, covers celebrity real estate, unusual properties and home design trends. Read more of her work here.
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