Looking for a cardiovascular workout? Head over to the models by Kimball Hill Homes at Tower Crossing in Glenview.
The handsome red brick townhouses have four stories and plenty of steps–50 from front door to top floor in the Omni model and even more in the Astoria–so they are not for every buyer and certainly not for the faint of heart.
Such housing verticality apparently has not hampered buyer interest or, perhaps, curiosity. On the mid-week afternoon I visited, there was a steady flow of people, and impressively, visitors of all ethnic groups, touring the models.
But these are not for everyone, as the comments of the middle-aged couple with whom I toured the Omni indicated.
“All those stairs. How do you get the stroller up the stairs?” the woman asked the man as they stood in the entrance foyer. It serves as the crossroads between a room at left, shown as a family room, but perhaps better suited for home office, and the stairway, the coat closet, door to the garage and a bath.
“You leave it down here in the entrance,” he replied.
After climbing the stairs from the ground level to the second floor, they turned right to walk into the combined open kitchen and breakfast area.
“It’s beautiful. It’s picture perfect,” said the woman. But as she peered out the glass doors to the deck at the back, she added, “There’s no lot … the steps. … And a baby …”
Curious why they were visiting the models, I asked if they were house hunting for themselves.
“Oh no!” said the woman, who explained they were scouting for a married adult child with an infant.
“They want to be able to walk to Starbucks, have no maintenance and live close to the expressway,” she explained of the younger couple’s requirements.
Walking to Starbucks will be no problem for buyers at Tower Crossing. The 154 townhouses flank the fledging Town Center retail area in The Glen, the master-planned redevelopment of the former Glenview Naval Air Station.
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The two largest concentrations of townhouses are bookends at the north and south ends of the commercial district. The North Commons was the first phase and is mostly sold. Sales have begun for 90 units in the second phase of the project in the South Commons. Also included in Tower Crossings are townhouses bordering the commercial area near Patriot Boulevard, The Glen’s major thoroughfare.
Built in a style familiar to those in dense urban settings, the townhouses are atypical of the rest of the housing in The Glen, a self-contained village within suburban Glenview.
They have heft and height and the models are part of an oval complex with an interior courtyard. An interior circular drive allows access to the garages at the back of the townhouses in the North Commons.
Visitors to the Omni model enter the foyer at ground level. Guests and residents climb the stairs to floor two, the main living level.
A small powder room is at the top of the stairs. To the left is the living room and dining room and to the right is the kitchen and breakfast area.
The combined 26-by-15-foot kitchen and breakfast area opens to a 15-by-6-foot balcony overlooking the central courtyard.
One of the best features of this floor is a walk-through closet or pantry area, which is shown as a butler’s pantry (an upgrade), between the kitchen and dining room and behind the powder room.
The combined living room and dining room have doors that open toward a view of the main thoroughfare and a distant lake.
The stairs to the third floor lead to a laundry room and the master, or owner’s, suite.
The fourth level has two secondary bedrooms, presumably for children or occasional guests, with a hall bath between and storage areas.
The Astoria plan has a few more steps and a slightly different entry. Visitors walk up several steps, as they would with a porch, to reach the front door.
Once inside the front door, there are steps down to the lookout basement level or a couple of steps up to the living and formal dining area, then a few more up to the kitchen and breakfast and then a stairway up to the upper levels.
A lookout basement with access to the garage is shown as a family room and a bath, but might also be used as a guest bedroom.
Stairs are more of a drawback in this plan because there are a few steps’ difference between some rooms, such as the breakfast room and dining room. So many different levels can be more treacherous than climbing a full story.
These are big houses–the Astoria has 3,210 square feet and the Omni has 3,625 square feet–with good space on the public living and dining level for entertaining. In the Astoria, the sizable breakfast room could be a family room or playroom for young families.
The owner’s suite is luxuriously large in both models with master baths that are the equivalent of a small spa. One indication of the space devoted to this private getaway in the Astoria is that the owner suite sitting room can become another bedroom in a variation of the model’s floor plan. With one whole level devoted mostly to the owner’s sleeping quarters and the laundry, residents may have to climb more steps than otherwise might be necessary.
As an experienced townhouse resident, I realize that residents do not climb all the steps all the time. Most tend to work on one level for a period of time before running to another floor, just as people do in a two-story house or a ranch with basement.
Still, those with infants, toddlers and seniors in their lives will want to consider how to accommodate their safety and needs because the secondary bedrooms are on the top floor.
And empty-nesters, if they are buying for the rest of their days, would do well to give serious thought to installation of an elevator, a $42,000 option, even though they are able-bodied and feeling fit right now.
In fact, I think the builder could have done a big service to shoppers by showing an elevator in a model. A number of other upgrades are shown from the flooring in the Omni foyer to the whirlpool, luxury shower and breakfast bar in the owner’s suite upstairs.
While those house hunting for a home like the Astoria, base priced at nearly $676,000, probably are prepared to pay for upgrades, they should be prepared to carefully read the standard features. It may take a number of additions to the base price to achieve the same home as the model.
Those seeking storage space will find these units have very generous closets, especially on the bedroom levels. Generous areas for behind-the-walls storage also are marked on the floor plans, but the shape of the space and access to it may be awkward.
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Tower Crossing
Address: 2049 Valor Court, Glenview
Developer: Kimball Hill Homes
Phone: 847-486-0385 or www.kimballhillhomes.com
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Description: 154 four-story brick townhouses from 3,031 to 3,841 square feet with two to four bedrooms, 2 to 2 1/2 baths, attached two-car garages in low-maintenance development. Base-priced from $529,990 to $748,990. Monthly assessments are $252.22 to $345.70. Prices as of May 6.
Amenities: Ceramic or oak floors in foyers, oak stair rails, master bedroom suites with walk-in closets, GE appliances, kitchen cabinets with crown molding.
Neighborhood: In The Glen development, walking distance to movie theater, restaurants and retail shops; borders Glen Club public golf course. Near Metra station and Interstate Highways 94 and 294.
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