Hemingway home sold to Oak Park couple; restoration planned

By FELICIA DECHTER Contributor June 12, 2012 11:36AM

Ernest Hemingway's boyhood home in Oak Park is for sale, listing at $525,000.

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Updated: June 12, 2012 7:55PM

A piece of local history was sold today with the closing of Ernest Hemingways boyhood home in Oak Park.

The 4,100-square-foot house at 600 N. Kenilworth was sold by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation to an Oak Park family, Kurt and Mary Jane Neumann, for $525,000.

The house has great bones, and our goal is uncover many of its original features, said Mary Jane Neumann. We plan to use the Hemingways floor plans as a guide to the restoration.

The first step is to reopen the master stairway between the first and second floors and then repair the exterior. Overall, we see this as a multi-year project and a labor of love.

I have sold many fantastic homes, EE Roberts, Spencer, Frankies (Frank Lloyd Wright), but in the past 13 years this has been one of the most interesting and rewarding, said Steve Scheuring, the selling agent with the Oak Park-based Baird & Warner.

The home garnered international attention after news that it was on the market went viral on Feb. 21. By March 8, it was under contract for its asking price, Scheuring said. The showing schedule became so intense that Scheuring had to create mandated time slots which were, booked solid and then some. He had inquiries from as far away as Japan and even had a couple fly in from Canada to take a look.

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Hemingway home sold to Oak Park couple; restoration planned