A Heartache For Keep's Sake...
Billy Corgan's childhood home, from 1977-1985, has been sold....and this is it.
The sale is mentioned in the Chicago Tribune, with the following specifications. Quoting from the Tribune:
"The four-bedroom, raised ranch-style house in west suburban Glendale Heights where Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan spent much of his preteen and teenage years has been listed for $175,000...................from 1977 until he graduated from Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream in 1985 -- Corgan hung his hat in his family’s 1,531-square-foot house ........................In 1986, Penelope Corgan sold the house for $80,000 to a couple. The house has remained in that family’s hands until now, and was placed on the market late last month as an estate sale, according to listing agent Shane Crawford of RE/Max Central, who said he was unaware that Corgan had spent his formative years there. Built in 1969, the house has 2-1/2 baths, an eat-in kitchen with birch cabinets and tile floors, and oak vanities and medicine cabinets in the bathrooms. The house was listed on Mar. 28.........Through his publicist, Lissa Druss Christman, Corgan declined to comment on the listing."
Armed with these details, it doesn't take much to do a search of the RE/Max website and look for houses that match in Glendale Heights. This was done, and lo and behold, a listing that fits the description:
http://www.illinoisproperty.com/Home/1424-JILL-Court-GLENDALE-HEIGHTS-IL-60139/MRD/08569776/
Some might object to the presentation of this information to the public, due to the personal nature of it. In defense of posting it, I'll say that the information was already made available through the Chicago Tribune and easily searchable for the curious....but more importantly, sharing this information with the Smashing Pumpkins community is important, because it deals with the preservation of the cataloguing of a valuable piece of Billy Corgan's history, a place where he lived during some of his most formative years growing up, and as such, it represents a connection to him and his history that is unique and even profound.
Looking at this house, one can feel a sense of intimacy with the memories Billy has shared with the fans in his Confessions. It becomes more relatable, more tangible, more real. You can feel a piece of the essence of his world from 1977-1985. The property bears witness to those memories, from the cracks in the driveway, across the bricks and wooden siding, up the aged stairs and right through the threshold of the front door, which was passed through so many countless times by young William. You can hear the words of the demoed Teargarden song, Shadowland
"Breathless and endless let's take you back, the journey's past to life at last, buried just once....a heartache for keep's sake"
Indeed.
UPDATE: Billy confirms this is his old home via twitter, interior pics included: https://twitter.com/Billy/status/460825882337083394
