Kenwood mansion built by owner of Goodman Theatre sold at loss of at least $500k

A Kenwood mansion built by the couple that created Goodman Theatre, one of Chicago’s most biggest theater companies, sold for at least half a million dollars below its original asking price as home bidding wars that had driven up Chicago prices begin to decline.

The 17,800-square-foot, seven-bedroom Greenwood Avenue home sold for $3.96 million, according to Crain’s. Pauline and James Montgomery renovated the house at a cost of over $4.5 million, according to Crain’s, which reported the Montgomerys paid $1.79 million for the property in 2003.

While the house sold at a loss, it’s the highest recorded sale price for a Kenwood mansion. It exceeded the $3.95 million that buyers paid for the former home of the founder of the Adler Planetarium in 2013.

William Goodman and his wife Erna Goodman built the house in 1892, with wood paneling, ornamental ceilings, and fireplaces decorated in tile, brick, and wood. A makeshift theater space that their son Kenneth Sawyer Goodman used on the third floor still exists, according to Crain’s.

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama own a home on the same black.

The buyers are not yet identified in public records.

It’s the second sale of a Kenwood mansion in a month. The Archdiocese sold its Kenwood mansion for $1.57 million last month, a discount of nearly $1 million from its original asking price. The sale was part of a sweeping downsizing in the Chicago Archdiocese which has been underway since 2018. Dozens of churches and schools have been closed or merged as the church deals with financial challenges.

Chicago’s housing market continues to see growing demand. The median home price in Chicago in the second quarter increased 23 percent compared with a year ago. Home bidding wars dropped nearly 9 percent to 52.7 percent last month from June, but are still higher than the 43 percent level from last year.

[Crain’s] — Connie Kim