Real estate prices jump for a lot of reasons: location, the market, even a shiny new kitchen. But one humble house in Chicago could have sticker shock thanks to being the childhood home of the first American pope. Call it a papal price bump.
Moments after white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to signal the selection of a new pope, the price on a modest brick house in Dolton, Ill., 30 minutes south of downtown Chicago, went up. How much is still to be decided, but the world discovered that Pope Leo XIV once lived in the humble house on 141st Place.
Offers began flooding in to Steve Budzik, a real estate broker who had fielded a handful of offers in recent months for the house that he originally listed for $199,000. The owner has pulled it off the market as the two evaluate the potential windfall, he said.
It’s unclear exactly when Pope Leo XIV, who was then Robert Prevost, lived in the home, but his father owned it from before Leo’s birth in 1955 until selling it in 1996, when Leo was working in Peru.
Mr. Budzik said he was thrilled by the swell in interest.
“I’m doing great,” Mr. Budzik said when he answered the phone. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the broker to represent the seller who owns the pope’s childhood home.”
He said he found out that the house was connected to Leo when a reporter called him on Thursday, and that he thought it was a joke at first. Then, they got eight or nine offers for the home in rapid succession, some offering above the asking price.
The seller, he said, told him to pull the house off the market so that they can learn more about Leo’s time there, including what room he slept in and what the interior looked like before it was renovated. They are considering returning the home to the original floor plan, Mr. Budzik said. He said he hoped to get the input of Leo’s older brother, who lives nearby.
Mr. Budzik said he had sold homes ranging from $77,000 to $1.25 million, but that now there was no comparison to working with this property.
“I’m honored,” he said. “Wow, this is amazing. This is exciting.”
Even without its famous former resident in Vatican City, the three-bedroom, two-bath house is set could draw a tidy profit for the current owner: The home was purchased for just $66,000 in 2024, according to property records. The average home price in Dolton, a community of about 20,000 people just south of Chicago, is $150,000, according to data from Zillow.com.
Celebrity connections alone can’t guarantee the value of a house. Sometimes, homes with famous former residents see price swings in both directions. The Tudor-style house in Queens, where President Trump spent the first four years of his life, was purchased in 2014 by a cash buyer for $2.14 million. But it then fell into disrepair, and in March, was sold for just $835,000.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York.
Debra Kamin reports on real estate, covering what it means to buy, sell and own a home in America today.
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