President Obama has new neighbors.
The first family's pals next door, Bill and Jacky Grimshaw, today closed on a $1.4 million deal for their 6,000-square feet 1906 colonial mansion with an unfettered view of the Obama's Kenwood estate.
The new owners, who plan to spend another $1 million renovating the house, asked their Realtor not to reveal their identity.
"They want their privacy respected. They're not interested in notoriety. They're just a normal Chicago home buyer who happened to buy next to the president," Realtor Matt Garrison said. "They'd probably prefer not being next to the president, but this was the best house available for them to renovate on a big lot. "
The Grimshaws had attempted to cash in on the "Obama factor" by not listing an asking price when the house went on the market in September. They hoped to starting a "nutty bidding war" for the mansion and coach house near 51st and Greenwood.
That plan, however, didn't work.
"We marketed the house worldwide and talked to people all over the world about it hoping a non-traditional buyer would emerge and pay a premium," Garrison said. "But it was sold to an ordinary Chicago home buyer who was in our back yard the whole time ... We're very happy with the price."
The sale did not have to be approved by the U.S. Secret Service and Garrison said he's not sure if the Obamas know who their new neighbors are yet.
"I'm sure if they wanted to find out they could," he said. "That's why it's called the Secret Service."
The Grimshaws made a tidy profit on the deal. They bought the 17-room house in 1973 for $35,000. Bill Grimshaw, a semi-retired political science professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, liked to brag that he had a better house than the president.
Grimshaw said he decided to sell because they were ready to move on.
"There comes a point where the house owns you. It says fix me. Fix my boiler," Grimshaw said when the house went on the market. "This is where we raised our kids and a couple litters of Rottweilers. Giving it up is like leaving a piece of you behind."
President Obama's new neighbors remain a mystery
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At his best, Mark Konkol is a White Sox fan. He lives on the South Side. He
enjoys cold beer. At one time or another over the last 10 years, he's covered Chicago and Cook County government, city schools, transportation and the ins-and-outs of neighborhood life. E-mail him at mkonkol@suntimes.com.
Good for Prof. Grimshaw. I had him while at IIT a decade or so ago. Glad he's still around!
The house that President Obama and his family own and lived in before his election as President in my opinion will never be lived in again by Obama and family. In my humble opinion, the President and his family - after his Presidency is completed - will sell their Chicago home and move to New York City or some other large Eastern Atlantic Coast city.
They will do just as the Clintons did after Bill Clinton's Presidency ended. I would not be surprised to see Mr. Obama teaching law or political science at Columbia or NYU or the head of some "think tank" type of entity.
At least we can brag that he was a resident of Chicago when he was elected.
Great news for Prof. Grimshaw!!!! He was my professor, advisor, and a person I considered a friend at IIT. Glad to know he is doing so great!
Cook County Recorder of Deeds' records show the new neighbors are George and Lara Moynihan. A web search reveals that may be Chicago plastic surgeon, George Moynihan.
The Kenwood neighborhood has several million-dollar+ single-family home listings that have been on the market for nearly two-thirds of a year. This property had the cachet of being next door to President Obama's, but even that didn't really speed up the selling time (took 8 months to close). However, considering the average sales price for a detached property with 5 bedrooms or more in that neighborhood is $1,072,000-the Grimshaws received a very nice sum for their home of 37 years.
It seems safe to say that Location played a significant role in the home buyer's decision to purchase this property. Since the new homeowners are planning to make a $1 million renovation to the house, it's likely they were more enamored with the location and lot than the home itself. And even if it wasn't on their list of "must-haves," there may be some amount of pull at the thought of such high-power neighbors.