After growing up in a cabin in Mississippi and living in apartments on the West Side, the income from early Chess Records hits like “Rolling Stone” and “Manish Boy” meant that Muddy Waters could now afford a two-story red-brick home in Chicago’s booming North Kenwood neighborhood. It was in this home that Waters set up a basement practice room where the likes of Willie Dixon, Little Walter and Buddy Guy would stop by and play. Now, the house that he lived in from 1954 to 1973, sits vacant. It has been reported that his great granddaughter was foreclosed on the property in 2012, and the boarded-up house is in building court. So far, efforts of blues fans have not been able to save the structure, which may be torn down.
