[one_fourth]Price: $1,595,000[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth]Size: 22,000 sq ft[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth]Bedrooms: 6[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth_last]Bathrooms: 14[/one_fourth_last]
R Kelly, singer/songwriter and record producer is in the news again. Just like the drama created when someone released a video of him having relations with a minor, or the IRS $837,000 tax lien early in 2011, this is not a pleasant publicity release.
He’s selling his home and it may be because of the potential for foreclosure. According to JPMorgan Chase, Kelly quit making payments on the $2,900,000 mortgage in 2010 during the summer. Since he’s selling the abode for an upside down price of $1,595,000, it’s obvious he needs the funds.
The home, located in Olympia Fields, an affluent area to the south of Chicago, has 22,000 square feet of living space and sits on nearly six acres of landscape surrounded with wrought iron, concrete encased fencing and stone gates. However, as impressive as the exterior is, the interior is a decorator nightmare.
The interior contains 4 fireplaces, 6 bedrooms, 8 full-sized baths and 6 half baths. It has a large kitchen with commercial grade appliances, a large center island, and beamed ceiling graced with thousands of dangling Christmas lights and red flowers gracing the walls. I hope that the picture was taken right before Christmas, explaining the lights and the flowers are poinsettias.
The poolroom is another fiasco. According to the listing agent as told to the Chicago Tribune reporter, “It’s not a pool room, it’s a tropical experience.” While it is jungle themed, it’s done so poorly that even a second rate amusement park might be embarrassed to offer it as the backdrop for a ride. This is just another bit of evidence proving money doesn’t buy taste.
While the rest of the décor is uninspiring, it’s not Gawd-awful ugly. The small price of $1,595,000 for 22,000 square feet makes the property a super bargain by Hollywood standards, but just a good deal in the Midwest. Here’s hoping R Kelly can sell the oversized McMansion, clean up his debt and get on with a less stressful life.
More Pictures of R. Kelly’s Former Chicago Mansion
image source: Century 21 Illinois
