Funky Wicker Park bachelor pad with ‘Brady Bunch’ kitchen lists for $920K

1970s TV nostalgia is alive and well in eclectic loft

By Jay Koziarz Jun 7, 2018, 2:55pm CDT

This three-bedroom, three-bathroom Wicker Park home combines the industrial chic of a timber loft with the owner’s love for midcentury pop culture.

Located in a 100-year-old former paint factory turned condo development in the 1980s, the property was purchased by current homeowner Gregg Shipp in 2001. The personal training gym-owner put an estimated $50,000 worth of work into the space to make it his own.

“It had nice fixtures when I moved in, but they were very common,” the Shipp tells Curbed Chicago. “I knew I wanted to create something that was an homage to the pop art of the 1960s and 70s—the era I grew up in. I wanted nostalgic, but also updated.”

This driving aesthetic is perhaps no better expressed than in the home’s Brady Bunch-inspired kitchen. Here, Shipp swapped French provincial-style cabinetry for old-school wood panelling, hexagonal floor tiles, and burnt orange accents reminiscent of his favorite childhood television show.

The playfully retro theme continues in the large living room. Sporting 17-foot ceilings, the bright space features a woodland wallpaper with a secret door to the building’s alleyway and an Eero Aarnio-style acrylic bubble chair suspended above a corner rock garden.

Things get even more colorful in the dining room thanks to a hand-painted technicolor striped accent wall, vintage TWA travel posters, and bright green Panton chairs surrounding a 1960s-era conference table.

Other standout features include a bathroom wallpapered with repeating vintage postcards depicting scenes of classic Americana, a 1970’s “basement rec room”-themed music room, a skylit master bathroom with a freestanding soaking tub, and a communal roof deck with skyline views.

“After 17 years it’s time for a change,” said Shipp, who still plans on staying in Wicker Park. “The home started as a bachelor pad and it was everything I wanted at that phase of my life. I will probably tone down the pop art angle for my next project. My tastes have changed—dare I say matured.”

The eclectic loft hit the market last month seeking $935,000 before returning this week for the lower price of $920,000.