Creative Art Space, Studios, House On Central Street Hits Market

EVANSTON, IL — After nearly 50 years on Central Street, Mel Winer is moving on. He's selling his home and studio, which in recent years has also served as the performance art space and gallery Chimera Loft.

Winer, a graphic designer, photographer and woodworker, said he first rented the live-work space at 2948 Central St. in 1971 and purchased it in 1984. The Skokie native and his wife Margaret Casey plan to downsize from the two-building commercial property to a smaller site on Chicago's North Side, he explained.

When Winer first moved in, the roughly 4,000-square-foot, barn-like rear building housed the C.E. Rieman Furniture refinishing shop, he recalled. He would later learn — courtesy of a surprise visit from a woman who identified herself as a Rieman relative — Mr. Rieman built the house for the family of his daughter.

"She had grown up in the house and her grandfather had built the house and that's where his business was," Winer said. "It was really something, I couldn't believe it when she showed up. We both stood there crying because it was so emotional."

The rear structure was built in 1921, Winer said. The 1,100-square foot single-family home in front was completed in 1944. The two buildings are connected via a covered breezeway.

The older building's 1,500-square-foot main floor features hardwood flooring, brick walls and exposed rafters. The space has hosted creative events including music, art, performance and more.

More than a decade ago, it served as a home for an occasional salon series known as TheNewStudio. Over the past few years as Chimera Loft LLC, Winer and co-presenters Pat O'Malley, Lee Melchior and Tony Vick have hosted an array of musical and visual artists in the space.

"It's really remarkable," Winer said, "and I'm going to miss doing it."

The second floor of the rear building includes nearly 1,400 square feet of space with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area that served as Winer's photography studio. He used the building's 1,100-square-foot basement as his woodworking studio.

The newer house has also been updated, Winer said. What was formerly a front yard with a white picket fence along Central Street has become a private patio area.

In the 1990s, he added a second story master suite to the main house. The addition included cathedral ceilings and skylights in the living room. The kitchen has also been recently updated.

Winer first listed the property nearly a decade ago with a $1.1 million asking price. He took it off the market in 2012 but put it up for sale again in January with an asking price of $925,000.

"There is no other place like this...anywhere", listing agent Jeanie Bratschie said in an email. "The combination of a stunning single family home attached to a nearly 4000 square foot artist loft/studio/workshop/office space that is beautiful and versatile is hard to come by. Really have to see it to believe it!"

• Address: 2948 Central St., Evanston
• Lot Size: 0.1 acres
• Square Footage: 5,100 (combined)
• Units: 2
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 3 full, 1 half
• Rear Building Built: 1921
• Front Building Built: 1944
• Last Sold: 1984
• Listed: $925,000 in January 2020