Sumptuous Chicago Penthouse by Rosario Candela Is Rich in Jazz Age Details

A Sicilian immigrant who studied architecture at Columbia University, Rosario Candela is renowned for designing some of the most desirable and prestigious co-ops on New York’s Upper East Side, opulent high-rises populated by high-society types with surnames like Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. While the vast majority of the approximately 75 buildings the gifted architect designed during his career were located in Manhattan, Candela also produced one residential complex in Chicago.

Completed in 1929 at a cost of $5 million, the 57-unit luxury co-op is located in the Windy City’s Gold Coast, overlooking Lake Michigan. The 25-story building’s top two floors are taken up by a penthouse designed for its first owner, George Woodruff, a banker who also was the treasurer for the Century of Progress International Exposition in 1933.

Since 1975, the palatial penthouse has been owned by Michael Wilkie, scion of the industrial tool company DoALL. Now in his eighties and reportedly a resident of Key West, Florida, Wilkie has been looking to sell the unit for the past few years, trotting it out to market in July of 2020 with a $24 million price-tag. That sky-high asking price has been pulled back down to earth with a series of cuts, its most recent one bringing it to $9.75 million.

The approximately 8,000-square-foot penthouse has direct elevator access to its entry foyer, which connects to a 40-foot-long walnut-paneled hallway with groin-vaulted, hand-frescoed ceilings. At the other end of the hall is a living room with substantial carved-stone fireplace, 20-foot-high coffered ceilings, and massive Palladian-arched windows offering breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. Nearby are the formal dining room, a commodious kitchen with marble countertops and modern appliances, a bar, and library.

All throughout the six-bedroom, 6.5 bathroom home are details that epitomize Roaring ’20s extravagance, including elaborate plaster and woodwork, stone carvings, wrought-iron, bronze hardware, stained glass, and dazzling Art Deco tile. The penthouse also comes with 5,000 square feet of outdoor space, divided up between a manicured garden with fountain, covered loggia, enclosed patio, and terraces.

The pedigreed property is listed with Tim Salm of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty.