Historic
1919 Elmhurst District Home Overlooking City Park, Walk-Up Attic — $130,000
7
out of 10
HousesUnder150K Score
Property Merit 50% · Condition 25% · Price/Sq Ft 15% · Market 10%
| Category | Wt. | Score | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property Merit | 50% | 8 | 1919 historic home, oak floors, built-ins, window seat, park views, university proximity |
| Condition | 25% | 7 | Fresh paint, updated kitchen, sewer replaced; systems age otherwise unknown |
| Price / Sq Ft | 15% | 5 | Listing at $87/sqft; zip median PSF unavailable — scored neutral |
| Price vs. Market | 5% | 6 | $130K is ~27% below zip median of $178,923; solid discount |
| Market Conditions | 5% | 5 | DOM 7, sale-to-list 99.7%, price drops 25.9% — balanced, floor applied |
The backyard faces Elmhurst Green, which means you get a city park as a neighbor without paying for the upkeep. That alone changes how you'd use the yard. Add a fenced lot, a real front porch, and a quiet historic district address, and this house has a sense of place that most listings at this price cannot match.
The house is 105 years old and the bones show it in the right ways. Narrow-plank oak floors throughout, natural woodwork, a built-in bench, and a window seat in the formal dining room. These are not features someone installed last year to improve resale — they are original to the house and they hold up. The kitchen has been updated: newer cabinets, new countertops, a gas range, and a glass tile backsplash. It looks like someone actually cooked here and wanted a better setup. Fresh paint throughout.
At 1,490 square feet across two stories, the layout gives you room to use. Three bedrooms upstairs, main floor laundry, and a walk-up attic that could be storage or, with some work, something more. The sewer line has been replaced, which matters more than most buyers realize until it comes up in inspection. Systems age is otherwise unknown, so budget some margin.
Washburn University is under a mile. The public library and a couple of hospitals are within walking distance. The agent mentions a Hollywood connection without elaborating, which is either interesting or marketing, and impossible to verify from the listing alone.
At $130,000, you're about 27 percent below the zip median. For a house with this kind of original detail, in a named historic district, overlooking a park, that gap is real. The unknowns on mechanical systems are worth taking seriously, but the sewer work is done and the cosmetics are fresh. This is a house with strong character and an accessible price, in a location where you can actually walk somewhere.
