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Rod Blagojevich

March 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on Rod Blagojevich 

Rod Blagojevich, Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Ravenswood Manor home is off the market. The 3,800-square-foot Mediterranean-style home got national exposure two weeks ago as the backdrop for Blagojevich’s final news conference before he headed to federal prison in Colorado to begin a 14-year sentence.

But the “upheaval” of Blagojevich’s recent departure has made it too stressful for his family to entertain offers on the house, and Patti Blagojevich, the state’s former first lady and listing agent, has temporarily taken it off the market, a family spokesman said Monday.

“Patti believes it’s best for (daughters) Amy and Annie to avoid the stress of showing a house during a time which has already been filled with so much upheaval,” spokesman Glenn Selig said in a statement. “Showing the home is just too much for the girls to go through right now.”

The house went on the market in October for $1.07 million, thought the price was later dropped to $998,000 — about double what the Blagojeviches paid when they bought the house in 1999.

The house, which sits on a 50-foot-wide corner lot, has five bedrooms, four baths, three fireplaces, a library, a music room and a 2,200-square-foot gym in the basement.

When it went on the market, Patti Blagojevich said the family no longer could afford to stay in the home, and Rod Blagojevich has noted his financial struggles since his 2008 arrest as a reason the couple took the unusual step of appearing on reality TV shows while he was awaiting trial.

The house was the scene of multiple news conferences by the former governor as he battled corruption charges, and in a recent TV interview, Patti Blagojevich recalled the morning in 2008 when FBI agents marched her husband out of the house. Blagojevich later was required to post the house, and a condo in Washington, as bond while he awaited sentencing.

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