Two historical mansions located on Prairie Avenue are set to return to their original residential purpose, marking the end of their three-decade tenure as the U.S. Soccer Federation's office.
Recent buyers have successfully concluded a transaction, acquiring the 19th-century properties at 1801 and 1811 South Prairie Avenue for just under $4 million. The identity of the purchasers remains undisclosed in public records, with representation provided by a Compass agent.
Though the mansions, boasting a combined area of 29,000 square feet, do not share a common wall, their back lots are connected by coach houses. The buyers, guided by the Compass agent's statement, intend to restore the properties to their original single-family residential configuration, although they are undecided whether to maintain them as separate residences or amalgamate them into a singular estate.
In 1991, the soccer federation assumed ownership of the site, a few years prior to the Prairie Avenue District's resurgence as a prominent locality within Chicago's South Loop vicinity. Having relocated to a Wacker Drive facility the previous year, the federation listed the mansions for sale in January, and after being placed under contract in July, they have now been successfully sold.
The South Loop area's burgeoning appeal was solidified earlier this year with the sale of a Printer's Row residence, situated a little over a mile north of the Prairie Avenue District, for a record $4.8 million. The redstone Prairie Avenue mansion, originating from 1886, was originally the abode of Joseph Coleman, a hardware retailer, and his spouse Leonora. Following a conversion into offices for a publishing company in 1921, the property has remained non-residential.
Constructed in 1892, the limestone house was the original residence of William Kimball, a manufacturer of pianos and organs, and his wife Evalyne. It subsequently transitioned into a boarding house in 1921 and then an architects' club in 1924, as indicated by historical documents from the nearby Glessner House.
Since their acquisition by Domestic Engineering publishing company in 1947, the mansions have been utilized in a coordinated manner.
