Cabin Fever Eight Months Out of Year Sends Young Entrepreneur Packing for South America
By chicago-pipeline at June 18, 2012 | 4:30 pm | Print
In August of 2010, Nick Carter, then 28, purchased a bungalow at the southwest corner of Hoyne and Moffat for $400,000.
The home was unique because it had had the same resident living in it for 97 years, per neighbor Richard Wallace, who told us this story as The Pipeline encountered him on a walk home from the train yesterday.
Cracking open a bottle of wine that he distributes (okay, the walk turned into a wine tasting!) Wallace explained that, unable to get financing, Carter put $600,000 into the property. Over an 8 or 10 month period he upgraded it into a luxury home with a 7-person jacuzzi on the roof, three decks, radiant heat, Brazilian hardwood floors, German windows and doors, and we could go on and on, but we’ll stop…
The short story is that Carter– who partnered with general contractor Chicago Builders to build his home– realized that as much as he loves Chicago (he grew up in Peoria, IL) and living in Bucktown (“I love this area, the street, the proximity to everything on Damen”) he doesn’t want to live here permanently.
“For three to four months out of the year, it’s awesome. Next thing you know, you’ve got cabin fever the rest of the year,” he said.
Carter’s favorite sports are road biking and running, both tough to do in Chicago’s bitter cold months.
The home, on the market for just a few months, found a buyer and closes tomorrow at $1.4 million.
Next in Carter’s pipeline is Colombia, South America, where he plans to rent a place. He’s headed there next month. If all goes well, he says he’ll make it permanent.
In the meanwhile, Carter’s girlfriend, Tiffany, was helping him pack as well as figure out what to give Wallace, who is now the proud owner of numerous “new-old” castoffs, the most important of which were a set of wine glasses that were put to immediate use.
