Irving Park · Cook County · IL
Homes for sale in
Irving Park.
- Active listings
- 3
- Median list
- $725K
- Avg time on market
- 46 days
- Sold · last year
- 0
About the community
Living in Irving Park.
Irving Park is Community Area 16 on Chicago's Northwest Side, sitting about 7 miles northwest of the Loop and bounded roughly by the Chicago River on the east, the Milwaukee Road tracks on the west, Addison Street on the south, and Montrose Avenue on the north. It grew up as a 19th-century railroad commuter suburb and still reads as one, with leafy, low-density blocks of single-family homes rather than dense high-rises. The housing stock is unusually rich for a city neighborhood, mixing Queen Anne, Victorian, and Italianate houses, a handful of surviving farmhouses, and large numbers of Chicago-style brick bungalows. It centers on several distinct pockets, including Old Irving Park, the landmark Villa District, and Independence Park, many of them anchored by homes dating to the turn of the 20th century. Irving Park suits buyers who want architectural character, a strong sense of neighborhood history, and a genuine choice of commute, whether by Metra, the CTA Blue Line, or the Kennedy Expressway. As of the 2020 census the community area had a population of 51,940.
At a glance
Distance to the Loop
Irving Park is Community Area 16, about 7 miles northwest of the Loop.
Population 51,940
The community area had 51,940 residents as of the 2020 census.
Landmark Villa District
The Villa was listed on the National Register on September 11, 1979, and named a Chicago Landmark on November 23, 1983.
Metra UP-NW station
The Irving Park station at 3931 N. Avondale is a Zone 2 stop on the Union Pacific Northwest Line.
24-hour Blue Line
The CTA Blue Line Irving Park station runs 24 hours toward downtown, Forest Park, and O'Hare.
Very Walkable
The Old Irving Park area scores 77 on Walk Score, rated Very Walkable.
Big riverside park
Horner (Henry) Park covers about 57.97 acres along the Chicago River, one of the largest North Side parks.
Landmark high school
Carl Schurz High School, designed by Dwight Perkins, became a Chicago Landmark in 1979 and joined the National Register in 2011.
What it’s actually like to live here
Daily life in Irving Park revolves around its residential blocks and the parks and commercial streets that thread through them. Homes range from grand Victorians and Italianates in Old Irving Park to the Craftsman and Prairie-style houses of the landmark Villa District and the bungalows that line many side streets, giving buyers an unusual spread of architecture and price points within one community area. Green space is a defining amenity: Independence Park, an 8.82-acre Chicago Park District park in Old Irving Park, offers a playground, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, a water spray feature, and a 1914 fieldhouse with an indoor pool and gymnasium. On the eastern edge along the Chicago River, Horner (Henry) Park spans about 57.97 acres, one of the largest parks on the North Side, with ball fields, courts, a dog park, and a roughly 11-acre natural area.
Getting around is the neighborhood's signature strength, with three layered options. The Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line stops at the Irving Park station at 3931 N. Avondale, a one-seat ride toward Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown. The CTA Blue Line runs through the neighborhood in the median of the Kennedy Expressway with Addison, Irving Park, and Montrose stations, providing 24-hour service toward downtown and Forest Park in one direction and O'Hare International Airport in the other, with off-peak trains every 6 to 12 minutes. The Kennedy Expressway itself cuts through the community area, giving drivers direct access to the Loop and O'Hare. The walkability is solid for a residential district: Walk Score rates the Old Irving Park area 77, Very Walkable, with a Transit Score of 69 and a Bike Score of 67.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Irving Park community pages coming soon.
Browse the listings above. Detailed neighborhood pages with market stats, school info, and lifestyle take-downs land here as we roll them out.
Around town
What there is to do in Irving Park.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Parks
Independence Park
An 8.82-acre Old Irving Park green space with a playground, tennis courts, ball fields, a spray feature, and a historic 1914 fieldhouse with an indoor pool.
- Parks
Horner (Henry) Park
One of the largest North Side parks at about 57.97 acres, with ball fields, a dog park, and an 11-acre riverside natural area along the Chicago River.
- Culture
The Villa Historic District
A Chicago Landmark district of Craftsman and Prairie School homes on boulevard-style streets, famously dubbed Polish Kenilworth.
- Culture
Carl Schurz High School
Dwight Perkins' Prairie and Chicago School landmark building, on the National Register and anchoring the neighborhood.
- Recreation
Independence Park Fieldhouse
A 1914 brick fieldhouse with an indoor pool, gymnasium, and year-round recreation and cultural programs.
- Recreation
Horner Park Natural Area
About 11 acres of restored savanna, prairie, and riverbank along the North Branch of the Chicago River, with mulch trails for walking and nature watching.
How Irving Park got here
A bit of history.
The neighborhood traces to 1843, when Major Noble bought a 160-acre tract and established a farm. In 1869, four New Yorkers, Charles T. Race, John S. Brown, Adelbert E. Brown, and John Wheeler, purchased Noble's farm for $20,000 and soon added more land, intending to keep farming. Seeing the success of nearby commuter suburbs, they instead subdivided the land into an exclusive settlement about 7 miles from the city. They reached an agreement with the Chicago and North Western Railway to stop trains in the new community if the developers built a station, which they did at the location still served today; the suburb was first called Irvington for author Washington Irving, then renamed Irving Park after another Illinois town claimed the name. In 1889 the area, as part of Jefferson Township, was annexed to Chicago.
Irving Park developed as a largely native-born, Protestant, white-collar commuter suburb, marketed on its shady streets, fine schools, churches, and stores, and a residential boom between 1895 and 1914 added more than 5,000 new buildings, of which 1,200 were multifamily. Germans and Swedes arrived around the turn of the century and were largely succeeded by Poles and Russians in the 1920s, and the population peaked at 66,783 in 1930. The neighborhood's historic core, Old Irving Park, preserved its Queen Anne, Victorian, and Italianate houses. To its southwest, the Villa addition to Irving Park became The Villa, a district of Craftsman and Prairie School homes built starting in 1902, which journalist Mike Royko dubbed Polish Kenilworth. The Villa was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1979, and designated a Chicago Landmark on November 23, 1983.
The questions buyers actually ask
Irving Park FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Irving Park. If yours isn't here, text 815-355-0582, same-day reply.
- What kinds of homes will I find in Irving Park?
- Irving Park has an unusually varied housing stock for a Chicago neighborhood. Old Irving Park is known for Queen Anne, Victorian, and Italianate houses plus a few surviving farmhouses, while many blocks are lined with Chicago-style brick bungalows, and The Villa adds Craftsman and Prairie School homes. A boom between 1895 and 1914 also produced multifamily buildings, so two-flats and small apartment buildings are part of the mix.
- What is the Villa District, and are there special rules if I buy there?
- The Villa, originally the Villa addition to Irving Park, is a district of Craftsman and Prairie School homes on boulevard-style streets, built starting in 1902. It is both a National Register historic district, listed September 11, 1979, and an official Chicago Landmark district, designated November 23, 1983. Buyers should be aware that Chicago Landmark district status carries design review expectations, so confirm current landmark rules with the City of Chicago before planning exterior changes.
- How long is the commute downtown?
- You have three options. The Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line stops at Irving Park station, 3931 N. Avondale, for a one-seat ride toward Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown. The CTA Blue Line runs 24 hours through the neighborhood toward the Loop and Forest Park in one direction and O'Hare in the other, with off-peak trains every 6 to 12 minutes, and the Kennedy Expressway runs right through the community area for drivers.
- How walkable and transit-friendly is the neighborhood?
- For a primarily residential district, the numbers are strong. Walk Score rates the Old Irving Park area 77, classifying it Very Walkable, with a Transit Score of 69 and a Bike Score of 67. Between the Blue Line, the Metra station, the Kennedy, and the local bus routes, most households can get by without relying on a car for every trip.
- What public schools serve Irving Park, and how do I confirm my school?
- Chicago Public Schools operates the public schools in the area, and the Kedvale campus of Disney II Magnet School is in Old Irving Park. Because Chicago assigns neighborhood schools by attendance boundary and many CPS schools are magnet or choice programs rather than boundary-based, you should verify the exact attendance area for any specific address directly with Chicago Public Schools before you buy.
- Are there notable landmark buildings in the neighborhood?
- Yes. Carl Schurz High School, designed by Chicago Board of Education architect Dwight Perkins and considered his masterpiece, blends the Chicago and Prairie schools of architecture; it was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1979 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The entire Villa District is also a Chicago Landmark and National Register district, and Old Irving Park has been a focus of preservation efforts since the early 1980s.
- What makes Irving Park distinct from other Northwest Side neighborhoods?
- Irving Park's identity is tied to its origins as a planned 19th-century railroad commuter suburb and to the preservation of its historic houses. That history left it with intact pockets of Victorian-era and early-1900s architecture, a designated landmark district in The Villa, and a community that organized early around preservation, with the Old Irving Park Association forming in 1983. Combined with three distinct commute options, that mix of architecture and access is what sets it apart.
Your local agent
Joe knows Irving Park
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the places I actually know, and the things that move value here don't show up in the MLS write-up: which streets and buildings hold demand, what the HOA or assessments really cover, how the comps read once you account for condition and location, and where buyers consistently want to be.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who has read the last 50 closed comps in this specific market, not a national average, and can tell you what they actually mean for your price. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Licensed Illinois broker
- Comp-driven pricing
- Irving Park specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
Thinking of selling?
What's your home actually worth?
Not a Zestimate. A real CMA from someone who's sold this neighborhood, knows the floor plan premiums, and can tell you which upgrades the buyer pool here actually pays for.
- Pricing range with comp-by-comp logic
- Pre-list improvements that pay back, and the ones that don't
- No obligation, no spam, no auto-dialer