Habemus domum! Leo XIV's 'immaculately rehabbed' childhood home being sold

The childhood home of Pope Leo XIV in Dolton, a community just outside the city limits of Chicago, was up for sale last week. Asking price: US$199,000. Though heaven knows that amount might go up now that its former occupant is famous. The New York Post is reporting that the current owner of the house — a modest,1,200-square-foot brick split-level at 212 E. 141st Place in Dolton, Ill. — has taken it off the market and plans to relist it at a higher price, or perhaps turn it into a museum or shrine. “It’s like a winning lottery ticket. What are the chances?” realtor Steve Budzik said of the owner’s decision. (To answer that rhetorical question, given the number of eligible cardinals in the recent conclave: one in 133.) NBC reports that Robert Francis Prevost (Leo’s pre-papal name) was born on Sept. 14, 1955, at what was then called Mercy Hospital in Chicago, and that his parents — dad was a Navy vet turned school superintendent, mom a librarian with a master’s degree in education — had purchased the home in 1949. It can be viewed on the realty site Redfin , which describes it as an “immaculately rehabbed single family home.” The site says the home features three bedrooms, two baths, a recessed-lighting living room, a formal dining room and a jacuzzi tub. The kitchen has a breakfast bar, custom white cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The finished basement includes a laundry room “and extra space for your imagination.” Images at realtor.com show a living room fireplace and a sturdy chimney. Redfin notes that the last time the house sold was just a year ago, for US$66,000. Prior to the papal election, it had been on the market this time for more than 100 days. Budzik confessed to the Post that the owner “is excited and just kinda in shock right now,” adding: “It’s been quite interesting the last 24 hours.” The property is about a kilometre away from Lincoln Elementary and Lincoln Junior High, and a 40-minute drive south of Pope John Paul II Catholic School.

• 'The common good': The last Pope Leo was a champion of the working poor
• Full text: Read the first address of Robert Francis Prevost, to be known as Pope Leo XIV

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