The scene

In this stagnant real-estate market, Barbara Hogsette is leaning on her home’s historical significance—for years, Al Capone lived in the split-level brick house near 72nd Street and South Prairie Avenue in the Park Manor neighborhood—to fetch a $450,000 asking price. The 71-year-old updated fixtures and painted the interior walls in pastels after buying the house in 1963, but the rehab projects did little to make her forget that one of the most notorious figures in American history ate meals with family and laid his head down within these walls. In the home’s low-ceilinged basement, Hogsette points out the location where, at a telephone-strewn table, Scarface ran his bookmaking operations. “The woman who lived here before me had a hard time establishing phone service,” she says. “The telephone company first had to clear out all the illegal phone lines running into the house.” Asked if she’s ever combed the walls for the gangster’s fabled stash of riches, Hogsette replies, “If Geraldo couldn’t find it, I knew I wouldn’t!” For a showing, contact Coldwell Banker sales associate Patrice Brazil (773-451-1200, patrice.brazil@cbexchange.com).

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