For Sale: Three Stories, Presidential Neighbors

(MoneyWatch)  A new listing in Chicago is stirring interest because of its deep front porch and high security -- the house is next door to the Hyde Park/Kenwood residence of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The website for the Greenwood Avenue house is generating traffic. However, if you actually want to score a showing, you'll need to be pre-qualified by the Secret Service, according to an article by Susan Saulny in The New York Times.

The home, with an adjacent carriage house, sits on a 12,000-square-foot lot (translation: that's a smidge more than a quarter-acre) and is about twenty feet from the Obamas. For added history, a campaign commercial was shot in its living room.

The listing is by the Matt Garrison Group of Coldwell Banker. Garrison's team has appeared on the "Real Estate Top 200," a listing of the country's top real estate agents from Lore Magazine, Real Trends, and The Wall Street Journal.

An article by Mary Ellen Podmolik in the Chicago Tribune quotes Garrison as saying, "we're referring to it as the world's ultimate gated community."

The eight-bedroom house on offer was built in 1907 and features turn-of-the-century details such as Corinthian capitals, a bay window in the dining room, arched stained glass windows, and beamed ceilings. It is being marketed without a listing price, with best-and-final offers being accepted in mid-October from vetted buyers, according to the listing website.

According to the Times, the home is need of renovation, but what a project that would be! What would be more fun than getting your contractors vetted by the Secret Service?

Photo courtesy of Coldwell Banker's Matt Garrison Group