Walk down the quiet, tree-lined stretch of Burling Street in Lincoln Park and you’ll see plenty of beautiful limestone facades. But then there’s 1932 N Burling Street Chicago. It doesn’t just sit there; it dominates. It’s the kind of house that makes people pull over, point, and wonder who on earth lives behind those massive custom-wrought gates.
Honestly? It's kind of a legend in Chicago real estate circles.
Most people see the sheer size and assume it’s a boutique hotel or maybe a small embassy. Nope. It’s a single-family home. Well, "home" feels like an understatement when you're talking about 25,000 square feet of living space perched on eight city lots. In a city where most people fight for an extra three feet of backyard space, this place has a manicured formal garden that looks like it was plucked straight out of Versailles.
The Ridiculous Scale of 1932 N Burling Street Chicago
You’ve got to understand the math here to appreciate why this property is such a statistical anomaly. A standard Chicago lot is roughly 25 by 125 feet. This estate occupies 1,000 feet of frontage. Richard and Michaela Parrillo, the owners who built this behemoth, spent years acquiring adjacent properties just to clear the land. They didn't just want a big house; they wanted a private compound in the middle of one of the densest neighborhoods in America.
Construction wrapped up around 2010. It took nearly three years just to get the shell right. We're talking about a multi-million dollar limestone exterior that was inspired by the Grand Petit Trianon in France. It isn't just a "big house." It’s an architectural statement that basically told the rest of the neighborhood that the bar had been moved to the moon.
The interior is even more intense. It has six bedrooms and eleven bathrooms. Why eleven? Because when you have a house this big, you don't want to walk 400 feet just to find a powder room. There’s a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, a professional-grade home theater, and a massive motor court.
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But here’s the kicker: the property taxes. In 2023, the tax bill was reportedly north of $500,000. Think about that for a second. Every single year, the owners pay enough in property taxes to buy a very nice house in most other parts of the country.
Why Nobody Has Bought It Yet
If you follow the Chicago luxury market, you know this place has been on and off the market for years. It first hit the scene with a staggering $50 million price tag back in 2016. At the time, it was the most expensive listing in the city’s history.
It didn't sell.
Then the price dropped to $45 million. Then $30 million. Recently, it’s been hovering in that $23 million to $27 million range depending on the season and the agent. So, why the struggle?
It's "too" custom.
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When you spend tens of millions of dollars on a home, you usually want it to reflect your specific taste. 1932 N Burling Street Chicago is a very specific vision. It’s ultra-traditional, opulent, and incredibly formal. Most of the buyers currently shopping in the $20 million+ range in Chicago are looking for sleek, modern glass towers or "smart" homes with minimalist aesthetics. This house is the opposite of minimalist. It’s maximalist in every sense of the word.
There's also the "white elephant" problem. A house this size requires a full-time staff just to keep the dust off the chandeliers. You need a landscape crew for the reflecting pool and the gardens. You need a specialized HVAC team to manage the climate control for 25,000 square feet. The pool of buyers who can afford a $25 million house is small; the pool of buyers who want to manage a $25 million infrastructure is even smaller.
The Neighborhood Context
Lincoln Park is no stranger to wealth. You’ve got the "Penny Lane" area nearby where the Pritzker family has their compounds. But 1932 N Burling Street Chicago changed the gravity of the neighborhood.
Before this house, luxury in Lincoln Park meant a triple-lot mansion with a nice deck. After this, developers started looking at Burling and Orchard streets as "Mega-Mansion Row." If you walk around the block today, you’ll see several other massive builds that were clearly emboldened by the Parrillo estate. It sort of gave permission for ultra-high-net-worth individuals to stop looking at the Gold Coast penthouses and start building vertical estates in Lincoln Park instead.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Design
People love to hate on "McMansions," but this isn't one. A McMansion is usually built with cheap materials and weird proportions. This place is the real deal. The craftsmanship is actually insane.
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The bronze hardware, the solid stone carvings, the way the light hits the arched windows in the afternoon—it's high-level artistry. You might not like the style, but you can't argue with the quality. The architect, Thomas Beeby (who also designed the Harold Washington Library), isn't some cookie-cutter developer. He’s a legend. He built this house to last 200 years, not 20.
I’ve heard people say it’s "wasteful," but from a construction standpoint, it’s a masterclass in classical architecture. It uses "load-bearing" logic that you rarely see in modern residential builds.
The Reality of Owning a Landmark
Living in 1932 N Burling Street Chicago means living in a fishbowl. Every tour bus, every architecture student, and every curious local knows exactly where it is. There’s no anonymity here. While the gates are thick and the security is top-notch, you are essentially the curator of a local landmark.
That’s a weird vibe for a lot of rich people. Most folks with $30 million want to disappear. Here, your house is the star of the show.
Actionable Insights for Luxury Watchers
If you’re looking at the 1932 N Burling Street Chicago saga as a lesson in real estate, here are the takeaways you should actually care about:
- The "Cost to Build" Trap: The owners reportedly spent $65 million to build this place. They are currently asking for less than half of that. In the ultra-luxury world, you almost never get a 1:1 return on hyper-custom features.
- Land Value is King: Even if the house were demolished tomorrow, those eight lots are worth a fortune. In Lincoln Park, land is the only thing they aren't making more of.
- The 10-Year Cycle: Properties of this magnitude usually take 5 to 10 years to find the "right" buyer. It isn't a failure of the property; it's just the nature of the niche.
- Market Pivot: Watch for whether the next buyer tries to "modernize" the interior. A shift toward "Transitional" style (mixing the old bones with modern furniture) is usually how these grand estates eventually get sold.
The next time you find yourself on Burling Street, take a second to look at the detail on the gate. It's easy to dismiss it as just "another big house," but it’s actually the peak of a specific era of Chicago ambition. Whether it sells this year or five years from now, it remains the definitive anchor of Lincoln Park luxury.