The house at 526 W. Deming Place just sold for $4.075 million. It had recently had a $1 million facelift, but its history is priceless. Once upon a time, in the late 1890s, a young Russian prince moved to Chicago. Like many members of Russia's nobility in the 1800s, Prince Nicholas Engalitcheff had a title, but not a lot of cash, and was not in line to the throne. Perhaps Engalitcheff knew that his lack of fortune would scarcely matter to Americans who were easily impressed by titles.
Chris Sweda / Sun-Times
Prince's house
VIDEO: The house, the prince
Perhaps he even had heard of America's "Dollar Princesses," the daughters of wealthy families whose money was new and who had not been accepted by high society. In those days, many an impoverished duke or prince had had a change of fortune by marrying an heiress.
Shortly after his arrival, he met a likely prospect, Evelyn Pardridge Clayton, daughter of the fabulously wealthy Chicago real estate investor Charles Pardridge. Perhaps this was not a marriage of convenience, in which she got a title and he got financial stability. Perhaps they were truly in love. They married in 1898, when he was 26. (See our accompanying story on all his princess brides.)
The prince's new father-in-law suggested that insurance sales might be a fitting profession and he set up an office in the Board of Trade building. The young prince also was soon named Chicago's Imperial Russian Vice Consul.
The young couple needed a new house to complement their elite social status. Many of Chicago's wealthy were starting to move north from their South Side Prairie Avenue mansions. Deming Street was one of the more fashionable addresses, and it is here that the prince and newly titled princess built a home.
The house, at 526 W. Deming Place, went up for sale this spring for $4.5 million. Its most recent owners spent more than $1 million refurbishing the home and today it shines like a new penny. They restored the original moldings, leaded and stained-glass windows, and the original hardware. The home's kitchen and seven bathrooms were updated to modern standards. New mechanicals include four heating and cooling zones and the house now has central air conditioning. The owners also completely rehabbed the front porch with all new masonry, stairs, columns and metalwork.
Set on a large-for-the-city, 60-by-190-foot lot, the home has generous front and rear yards, both private with side fencing, and a four-car detached garage.
Throughout the home are high-end finishes that suggest the young royalty spared no expense in its stylings. Hand-laid mosaic surrounds the fireplaces with a repeating pattern; a sweeping leaded glass double door foyer sparkles with light; the staircase is hand-carved with fleur de lis; the first floor is resplendent with restored, cherry paneling, even in the powder room.
The home has seven sets of working pocket doors, all of heavy paneled wood. The moldings are hand-carved and restored. The library has an inlaid wood floor and built-in bookshelves that surround a fireplace.
The home also has a first floor-conservatory, with wall fountain and a glass ceiling.
On the next two floors are bedrooms, including a two-room master suite with fireplace, turret sitting room and a bath lit by a flank of leaded cathedral windows.
Coldwell Banker real estate broker Jennifer Ames listed the house and had multiple offers within 30 days.
"I look for the sweet spot," she said, regarding price, "and this house is such a gem. There are newer houses on smaller lots for the same price."
The house was somewhat difficult to find price comparisons for, she said. "There are only four to five streets like this in the city."
The sellers -- who had to move out of state due to a job transfer -- accepted an offer of $4,075,000, "a very fair price given the size of the house, the scope of the improvements and the quality of the historic finishes," Ames said. The buyers are a young family who currently reside in Lincoln Park.
The home's first owners, the Engalitcheffs, had one son, but did not stay in the house too long. They had a residence at the Plaza in New York City, as well as another apartment in New York. The couple separated, with Evelyn moving to the apartment, and the prince staying at the Plaza. They divorced in 1916.
