This freshly renovated one-bedroom, one-bath residence on Lee Street pairs classic Evanston character with a fully updated interior, ideal for students at nearby Northwestern, solo renters, or a couple. Rich hardwood floors run throughout, paired with high ceilings, crown molding, and oversized double-hung windows that flood every room with natural light. The living room anchors the home with a bright, open layout and built-in bookshelves flanking a painted brick mantel, giving the space a distinctive architectural focal point while leaving plenty of open floor for furniture. A hallway connects to a generously sized bedroom with a full reach-in closet fitted with wire shelving, plus a second window for cross ventilation and its own dedicated air conditioning unit.
The kitchen has been completely modernized with crisp white shaker cabinetry, quartz-style countertops, and a glossy gray tile backsplash that runs the full length of the workspace. Stainless steel appliances include a gas range and oven plus a built-in dishwasher, and a stacked washer and dryer sit tucked into the kitchen for the convenience of in-unit laundry. The bathroom has also been fully updated, with a dark shaker vanity topped in white quartz, a framed medicine cabinet mirror, and a full subway-tile tub and shower surround finished with a decorative mosaic accent band at shoulder height. Vinyl plank flooring, classic cast-iron radiators, and freshly painted trim throughout round out a unit that feels move-in ready from the front door to the back.
Updated Apartments
Hardwood Floors
Restored Wood Trim
Updated Kitchen
SS Appliances
Washer/Dryer Combo
Quartz Countertop
Backsplash
Updated Bathroom
Mini Blinds
Ceiling Fans
Plenty of Closet Space
Apartments
Hardwood Floors
Dishwasher
Mini Blinds
Ceiling Fans
Plenty of Closet Space
Building Features
Cable/Internet Ready
Individual Electric Heater per Unit
Street Parking
Pet Policy
Cats Allowed
Dogs Allowed
2 Pets Max
No Weight Limit
What’s Included in Rent
Included
Water
Trash
Tenant Pays
Heat
Electricity
Cooking Gas
312-320 Lee Street, Evanston, IL 60202
Very Walkable
90Walk
53Transit
90Bike
Transit & Commute
The CTA Purple Line's Main station, at 836 Chicago Avenue, is about a 4-minute walk from this address. From Main, Purple Line trains run north to Linden in Wilmette and, during weekday rush hours, extend south all the way to the Loop, a ride of roughly 45-55 minutes downtown, with shuttle service to Howard every 7-8 minutes the rest of the day for an easy transfer to the Red Line. The Main Street/Evanston Metra stop on the Union Pacific North Line, at 600 Main Street, is just as close, about a 4-minute walk, and gets you to Ogilvie Transportation Center in the Loop in around 23 minutes, a fast, seated alternative to the L during weekday rush periods.
Chicago Avenue and Main Street, both a few minutes away, give quick access south into Chicago and west toward the Edens Expressway for anyone driving.
What’s Nearby
Groceries are covered from two directions: Jewel-Osco at 1128 Chicago Avenue is about an 8-minute walk for a full-size supermarket and pharmacy, while Trader Joe's at 1211 Chicago Avenue is a similar 8-minute walk for specialty and prepared foods. For coffee, The Brothers K Coffeehouse at 500 Main Street is only about a 3-minute walk, a longtime neighborhood spot for coffee and pastries on the way to the train.
For a bit of green space close to home, St. Paul Park sits right next to the Main Street L station, about a 4-minute walk, with a fenced tot lot, swings, a seating area, and a lawn big enough for a picnic or to let a dog stretch its legs. Main Street and Chicago Avenue, both just steps away, add a walkable stretch of everyday shops and restaurants to round out the neighborhood.
Evanston began as Potawatomi land before farmers settled it in the 1830s, and it took its name and momentum from Northwestern University founder John Evans, who purchased 379 acres along the lake in 1853. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 sent a wave of displaced Chicagoans north to rebuild, accelerating Evanston's growth into a true town rather than a bedroom suburb, complete with its own downtown, industry, and civic institutions. For much of the 20th century Evanston was also a center of the American temperance movement, staying legally dry until 1972, a history the town now wears with a wink through a crop of breweries and distilleries named in homage to it. Its neighborhoods each carry their own character: the historic Lakeshore Historic District in Southeast Evanston holds 765 homes spanning Italianate, Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, and Georgian Revival styles along the water, the blocks around Northwestern buzz with campus-driven coffee shops and bookstores, and family-oriented stretches near Howard Street keep a quieter, tree-lined feel. What ties it together is the lakefront itself, miles of public Lake Michigan shoreline with sand beaches, a historic lighthouse, and shaded parks, paired with a downtown dense enough to rival much of the city, all a half-hour Purple Line or Metra ride from the Loop.
Beach & Lakefront
Lighthouse Beach
Tucked beneath the historic Grosse Point Lighthouse at the northern edge of Evanston's shoreline, Lighthouse Beach is the North Shore's quiet answer to a day at the coast. It's a rare urban beach backed by protected sand dunes and wild grasses, with a playground, a picnic pavilion, and a walking trail that winds through wildflowers past the lighthouse itself. All summer, from late May through Labor Day, its lifeguarded sand and open Lake Michigan water are a short walk or bike ride from your door: a morning swim, an afternoon with a book, an evening watching the light drop over the lake. No car, no crowds, no highway to the coast.
Wrapped around the base of the Grosse Point Lighthouse is one of Evanston's most storied green spaces: a leafy lakefront park on the grounds of the historic Harley Clarke Mansion, a French Eclectic house whose gardens were first laid out by the pioneering Prairie-school landscape architect Jens Jensen. Wide lawns and mature shade trees run between the mansion and the shore, and tucked in among them is Noah's Playground for All, a beloved inclusive play space with a braille map, a puppet-theatre gazebo, and giant spring riders, all in view of the water. It's free, open to everyone, and rolls straight into Lighthouse Beach next door: the kind of unhurried lakeside afternoon most people have to leave the city to find.
Northwestern's Deering Library is the closest thing the North Shore has to a Cambridge quad. Opened in 1933 and designed by the great collegiate-gothic architect James Gamble Rogers, its ivy-clad limestone facade, soaring pointed-arch windows, and corner towers were modeled on the 15th-century King's College Chapel at Cambridge, right down to the vaulted reading rooms inside. It anchors Northwestern's lakefront campus, a short walk from downtown Evanston, and the public is welcome: rotating exhibitions in its galleries draw on the university's rare books, maps, and art, and the long front lawn is one of the loveliest spots in town to sit with a coffee. Grand architecture and free culture, minutes from your door.
Rising 113 feet over the shoreline, one of the tallest lighthouses on the Great Lakes, Grosse Point has guided ships since it was first lit in 1874, its beam once thrown by a rare second-order Fresnel lens shipped from Paris. Designed by the celebrated Army engineer Orlando Poe and named a National Historic Landmark in 1999, it still stands as the single most recognizable landmark on Chicago's North Shore. On summer weekends the keeper's quarters and tower open for guided climbs, and the view from the top, lake to one side and tree-lined Evanston to the other, is the kind of thing most people drive hours for. You'd have it a stroll from home.
