Another one of Chicago’s best kept secrets, Marynook is a small, tight-knit enclave on the South Side that made Chicago Magazine’s April 2010 list of “20 Best Towns and Neighborhoods in Chicago and the Suburbs”. This little piece of inner-city suburbia is located about 13 miles southeast of the downtown Loop. It is actually a sub-division of Chicago’s larger Avalon Park community, which includes the neighborhood of Stony Island Park as well. Marynook’s border streets are 83^rd Street to the north, Stony Island Avenue to the east, 87^th Street to the south and Cottage Grove Avenue to the west.

Probably the most notable thing about Marynook is its central section of winding roads and the occasional cul-de-sac. The curved avenues are highly atypical for Chicago neighborhoods, where most streets follow a conventional grid layout. What you’ll find in Marynook is a pleasant suburban-esque landscape—complete with front driveways, carports, green grass yards and topiary-lined properties.

Marynook has its own Homeowners Association that resides over the neighborhood’s 430+ single-family residences. The architectural style of Marynook homes is influenced by post-WWII design trends—lending itself to a very 1950s feel. All the houses in the community’s main residential sector are very similar. Large picture windows in the living rooms, angled rooflines that remind one of vintage drive-thrus… A stroll down any given street reminds of an era when life was simpler, more modest and less hectic. It’s a scene that caught the attention of one movie producer who decided to use a house in Marynook as the backdrop for his 2005 film Roll Bounce, set in 1970s South Side Chicago. 

For the most part, dining options in Marynook extend along 87^th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. There are a number of places to grab a bite within the neighborhood borders, plus plenty of additional restaurants as you go north of 83^rd on Cottage Grove and east of Stony Island on 87^th. A selection of retail shops dot these same thoroughfares, adding to the local flavor that makes Marynook a big-city milieu with small-town appeal.

There is a large, centrally-located public park in the Marynook neighborhood named Avalon Park. The lush green grounds are home to several softball diamonds, tennis courts, a huge outdoor public pool and kids’ spray pool, paved jogging paths and tree-shaded environs. On certain summer nights, people gather on the lawn at Avalon Park to watch movies under the stars. It is a nice, family-oriented tradition run by the Chicago Park District that helps foster the sense of community for which Marynook is known.

The Metra South Shore Line makes Marynook very accessible by public transportation. The train has two stops in the neighborhood—one on the northern border at 83^rd Street and another on the southern boundary at 87^th Street. Residents can also use the bus system to travel within the city and the Chicago Skyway is only a few blocks east for motorists that want to commute downtown. 

Marynook Real Estate