WLS-Channel 7 news anchor Terrell Brown on Wednesday placed his eight-bedroom, 7,849-square-foot English Tudor-style house in the South Shore Jackson Park Highlands neighborhood on the market for $800,000.
Brown, 37, anchors the early morning and midday newscasts for ABC 7. With the station since 2014, he’s also a staple of ABC 7’s New Year’s Eve coverage, as he and his colleague, weather forecaster Cheryl Scott, open the station’s coverage with impressively choreographed dance performances.
In Jackson Park Highlands, Brown in 2016 paid $537,000 through an opaque land trust for his house. Built in 1932 and designed by architect Philip B. Maher, the house needed a tremendous amount of work, and Brown set about restoring it.
“When I bought this home, the chimneys were on the verge of collapse, the roof was leaking and there was no running water or heat,” Brown told Elite Street. “It was truly the ultimate project. But I wanted to live on the South Side, to invest in the community and to do my part — however small — in making it better. Now, after nearly a decade, I’m ready to move on to the next project. Owners of historic homes like this are stewards and keepers of history, and this home is ready for its next owner — a blank canvas to make their own. It’s truly one of the finest and most unique properties in Chicago.”
Brown said deciding to sell wasn’t easy.
“I love this home and neighborhood, but when I started the project nearly a decade ago, I had more time to dedicate to it,” he said. “With the quality work already done, it’s now in a great spot for a new owner to bring it to completion, according to their vision.”
The house has seven bathrooms, two fireplaces, a two-story foyer, a grand staircase, a living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a knotty pine-paneled library, a sun porch, a formal dining room, a primary bedroom suite with a sitting area and a walk-in closet, and a pane-glass dome above the second floor. Other features include original doors and windows, and even an intact safe. The house sits on the equivalent of more than four city lots.
Among the work Terrell has done: tuckpointing exterior brick and chimneys, adding insulation, undertaking slate roof repair with two new valleys, installing the pane glass dome, adding new third-floor windows with copper casing, upgrading the windows in the west-facing maid’s quarters, updating a custom-designed third-floor bedroom with intricate woodwork and an ornamental fireplace, adding a high-end security system, modernizing the garage, adding new plumbing infrastructure on the second and third floors and overhauling the landscaping.
Brown said he hasn’t yet purchased another home but he has no plans to leave Chicago or ABC 7.
“Yes, I’m moving, but you’ll still find me on ABC 7 and here in Chicago,” he said. “While I’m not sure where I’ll end up next, I love the South Side, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Arnett Faulkner of RE/MAX Premier has the listing.
The home had a $9,153 property tax bill in the 2023 tax year.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
