10-05-2025
My former drug den fixer-upper turned out to be Pope Leo's old home
A year ago this month, a Polish builder bought a fixer-upper in a suburb south of Chicago. The neighbourhood is not particularly ritzy, with its vacant houses and shops that have mostly gone out of business — other than a Chinese takeaway and the Speedy Drive Thru Food Mart, which looks as if it was built to withstand an armed assault and possibly already has done.
But Pawel Radzik, who makes his living doing up houses, felt the little place had potential, and last week his renovation was very nearly complete. He was accompanying his heavily pregnant wife to a doctor's appointment when his phone rang. On the line was his estate agent, who had some big news: Radzik was in possession of the new
