The Kresge, for Radinski, was almost a consolation prize.
He had made an offer on the Palmer Woods William A. Fisher mansion that had burned down, and had always considered that house to be the one that got away. So when the Kresge became available, it felt like a second chance in some ways. Radinski has owned the mansion for 29 years and calls it his “hobby house”. He no longer lives there full-time and the sale will include furniture he has selected at auctions and other sales over the decades.
Radinski guessed he spent $800,000 on his restoration of 70 W. Boston Blvd. house designed by Meade & Hamilton for department store magnate SS Kresge, including furniture purchases – he paid $245,000 for the house in 1993. He’s in no rush to sell, but at 73 he thinks to his heirs and what they might be stuck with.
Alex Chapman, an associate broker at Signature Sotheby’s who represented the new owners of the Fisher mansion in the recent sale, said the Kresge is a “beautiful home”.
A garden playhouse still needs repairs, but during a tour of the mansion earlier this month, Radinski showed off his work.
“When I moved here, the house was a total wreck,” he said. “The roof was on the ground.” Sconces were found in the basement, the plaster in the living room was bare and the windows were covered in vines, he said. The wrought iron doors were disintegrating, the greenhouse was a jungle, and the shutters were missing from the windows.
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