Rosie O'Donnell, whose new Chicago-based TV talk show debuts next month, is under contract to buy a 6,000-square-foot home in the Lakeview neighborhood, according to two sources.The home, which is listed for $2.5 million, is currently owned by a top executive of the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, which will air O'Donnell's new show, the sources said. The negotiated purchase price is close to that amount, according to a source, who declined to be named because the sale is not final.
On Wednesday, O'Donnell told the audience at a test taping of "The Rosie Show," which premieres Oct. 10, that she was purchasing a home in Wrigleyville. According to an audience member, O'Donnell said the seller agreed to include all of the furniture, or else she wouldn't have bought it.
The news seems to be a shift from her earlier comments to USA Today about commuting to and from New York, rather than putting down roots in Chicago. In March, the day after she announced she would tape the show at Oprah's Harpo Studios on the Near West side, O'Donnell said she planned to be based in Nyack, N.Y., where she and ex-partner Kelli Carpenter share custody of their four children.
"I will be commuting to Chicago," O'Donnell told USA Today, adding, "Oprah and staff were very amenable to my kids' school schedule."
But in her first blog post for the new show's Web site on Sept. 9, O'Donnell wrote a poem, portions of which are an ode to the Windy City.
Two stanzas read:
i have fallen in love with this city
and it came as a surprise
shocking -- really
i knew nothing of chicago
its beauty is startling
the wide clean streets
smiling hellos
the buckingham foundation took my breath away
At the Wednesday taping, O'Donnell noted that she had not yet experienced a Chicago winter, according to the attendee. The audience laughed. "I was hoping you all wouldn't laugh like that," she replied.
