Schweppe Estate Almost Affordable; Epstein's New Digs; More

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

And now the latest from Curbed Chicago, covering everything you need to know about the city's neighborhoods and real estate...

LAKE FOREST— It's been a year of big offers in the northern 'burbs. The year's biggest sale to date came in September when the Armour Estate went for $7.2M. Certain to eclipse that (if it sells this time) is the Schweppe Estate, a 21,000(!) square foot mansion on five lakeside acres. The bank is the seller, which helps explain why the price has dropped $6M over its '07 ask— from $18M to $12M.

LAKEVIEW— New Cubs pres. Theo Epstein and fam locked down a stuffy (refined, to some) mansion near Wrigley for $3.25M. The sellers asked for just $3M, but some manner of bidding ensued, possibly with the Blackhawk's Patrick Sharp, who made an offer just days before Epstein. What can we say, celebs love Lakeview.

GOOSE ISLAND— Curbed puts an inquisitive eye on the nebulous nabe of Goose Island, a realtor-conspired stand-in for Noble Square or River West. Were not talking about the actual island here, but a pocked area roughly defined by the river to East, Noble St. to the West, North Ave. to the North, and Chicago Ave. to the South. Got it? Then come scope some highlighted listings.

LINCOLN SQUARE— We visited the under-construction Old Town School of Folk Music facility this week and snapped pics of the high-tech building and its many energetic spaces. We learned some more about the project from the school's director Bau Graves which we share with you here, dear reader.