‘Windy City Rehab’ star says she’ll buy home from couple who sued her, move in herself
“Windy City Rehab” host Alison Victoria is interested in buying back and moving into a Lincoln Square home that was featured on the HGTV show but has since become the subject of a lawsuit that claims the home is plagued by leaks and shoddy work.
Anna and James Morrissey bought the brick two-flat at 2308 W. Giddings Street in March for $1.36 million.
The day after the Morrissey family closed on the 4,000-square-foot luxury residence, an upper-floor shower leaked gallons of water into the kitchen ceiling below, according to a lawsuit filed by the couple in December against Victoria and her co-host Donovan Eckhardt.
A leaky roof, poorly installed windows and other issues were all cited in the suit, which seeks to force the show hosts to take back the home and repay the purchase price, plus $80,000 to cover money spent on fixes. The couple said they had been trying for months to get repairs made to the house.
Victoria — whose full name is Alison Victoria Gramenos — is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed because the purchase contract for the home called for the buyers to go through a third-party mediation process before filing a lawsuit, said her attorney, Dan Lynch. That mediation process hasn’t happened, he said.
But Lynch also says she’d be willing to take the home off the couple’s hands.
“She is interested in buying the house back, and she would be glad to join the neighborhood,” he said in an email. “... Ms. [Victoria] believes that notwithstanding whatever issues have been raised by the Morrisseys (which she was working to resolve) the property is a great house in a great neighborhood that she would be happy to live in herself.”
It’s been a tough few months for the co-hosts.
Problems have included angry neighbors who’ve complained about messy worksites, a crackdown by the city’s Buildings Department and an apparent rift that’s opened up between Victoria and Eckhardt.
Season two of the hit show is in the works, but no air date has been announced.