The landmarked street of Alta Vista Terrace in Chicago was built in 1904 to replicate London row houses, but inside one of those homes, visitors are transported into a space with an eclectic mix of visuals.
A large mural replicating Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” and the iconic advertising symbol Morton Salt Girl are visible near the entrance. The front door itself is adorned with colorful stained glass, including red fleurs-de-lis.
The home, 3842 N Alta Vista Terrace, was customized by an unknown but artistic former owner. Though little is known about the person who redesigned the two-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home down to the studs, many of the furnishings and artwork still exhibit their tastes. That owner sold the house in 2020, and it’s now for sale again, asking $700,000, with no changes made.
Listing agent Ramsey Al-Abed of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty says the “very quirky, fun house” can sometimes be “sensory overload.”
Alta Vista features 40 homes designed to mimic architect and developer Samuel Eberly Gross’ travels to London. It was landmarked in 1971, and its designation protects the homes’ facades. Homes on Alta Vista, which the city describes as “distinctly human scale,” were designed shorter than traditional Chicago row houses. Each home has a mirror opposite twin with a matching facade on the other side of the street.
The main level at 3842 N Alta Vista sports red walls and pronounced archways and pillars, with a hand-painted cotton candy sky above the kitchen. That room features a blue French La Cornue range and an intricate mosaic inlay of abstract flowers.
The lower level houses a bedroom and thick faux stone walls reminiscent of a cave. Hidden in a closet is a small door that Al-Abed said looks more fit for a gnome than a person, with the “Wizard of Oz”-inspired inscription, “Nobody gets in to see the wizard ... nobody!”
The second floor transports visitors to faraway lands with Moroccan decor and design details. Painted directly on the wall is an image of a man atop a flying carpet, soaring into the Chicago skyline. Al-Abed believes it might depict the previous owner.
An archway leads into a Kelly green bathroom where a shower takes up most of the space. There’s a tile mosaic with birds, flowers and leaves. The showerhead is a copper bucket with holes, said Al-Abed, and the circular window in the center of the shower is placed to match up with the sun as it sets.
“It’s got literally 1,000 details. You can walk through the place and catch a different piece every single time you walk through it,” said Al-Abed.
There’s a light fixture made of a clarinet, a miniature Juliet balcony said to be from the 1800s affixed to a wall, and an embedded replica of the entrance of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois, near a wooden hanging fish.
The current seller, the trust of deceased architect Salvatore Balsamo, who designed the now-demolished former McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, used the property as a short and long-term rental, said Al-Abed. The home is currently rented through June 2026.
“We have tenants in place who are a lovely couple and enjoy the aesthetic. It’s the perfect Airbnb home,” said Al-Abed. “It can make a ton of money — so many corners of the home are Instagram-worthy.”
Balsamo’s trust is selling the investment property for $12,000 more than it purchased it for in 2020. The last home to sell on Alta Vista was a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home for $1.1 million in January 2024.