Evanston home that housed bodies under contract
(Crain's) — The buyers of an Evanston home with a macabre history must not believe in ghosts. Otherwise, they may not have agreed to buy a five-bedroom house where an elderly woman lived with the bodies of three dead siblings, one since the late 1970s.
Police discovered the bodies of Margaret Bernstorff's brother and two sisters in fall 2008 in the Victorian-style home in the 1200 block of Judson Avenue, according to published accounts. Each died of natural causes, police determined.
Nonetheless, an Evanston couple made an offer within a week after the two-story property was put up for sale in late November, says Sandra Brown, co-owner of Evanston-based Weichert Realtors-Lakeshore Partners, which is marketing the home.
"They knew about it but they weren't put off," she says. "Honestly, a lot of houses have people who died in them."
But most houses don't keep their loved ones after they die.
Ms. Bernstorff, a nonagenarian, had been living amid the remains for nearly three decades. Her sister Elaine Bernstorff died in the late 1970s; Frank Bernstorff died in 2003, and Anita Bernstorff passed away in May 2008, according to published reports.
After the bodies were discovered, Ms. Bernstorff moved out of the house and into a nursing home facility, according to published reports.
Ms. Brown declines to identify the buyers or her client. But records show the 2,054-square-foot home is still owned by F. A. Bernstorff.
Ms. Brown also declines to disclose the purchase price but says the deal is expected to close next month.
The property, owned by the Bernstorff family since the 1920s, was built in the 1890s and has two bathrooms, four fireplaces and leaded glass windows.
The house is need of "complete renovation," according to the listing, and the buyers may be planning a rehab that will boost the value.
Most homes in east Evanston sell for more than $700,000 and many go for as much as $2 million, Ms. Brown says.
The fact that a buyer came forward so quickly shows that even a property with an unordinary history can be sold — if the price is right.
"At some price someone will buy it," says Barbara O'Connor, a sales associate at Wilmette-based Koenig & Strey GMAC, who wasn't involved in the sale.
