New Street Society | Your Trusted Source For Urban Music

The suburban Chicago mansion, famously nicknamed R. Kelly’s “Chocolate Factory” after the album he recorded there, has officially sold for nearly $1.6 million — less than half of its original asking price.

Per The New York Post, the spacious 21,000-square-foot Olympia Fields estate was sold to an unknown buyer, but the history behind the home may have had much to do with its purchase. The property served as both recording hub and the center of disturbing allegations that have long shadowed Kelly’s career.

By the time the property went into foreclosure in 2013, its physical decline mirrored its troubled history. Reportedly, flooding had gutted the basement, mold had spread across the walls, and other structural issues were apparent.

The late Rudolph Isley of The Isley Brothers and his wife, Elaine, however, purchased the home out of foreclosure for $587,500 in 2013. They spent years restoring the mansion, reviving its interiors while preserving some of its original eccentric charm. Photos of the property showed a jungle-themed indoor pool, a bedroom modeled after a Chicago Bulls gym, and other unique features.

[embedded content]

Following Isley’s death in 2023, Elaine listed the estate for $3.5 million. Despite the extensive renovations, it ultimately sold for less than half that amount.

Listing agent Alex Wolking of Keller Williams ONEChicago told The Post that high property taxes were a major factor in the lower sale price, with annual bills once exceeding $250,000. Even after a successful appeal, taxes remained in the six-figure range. Still, Wolking noted that the mansion’s notoriety helped attract buyers.

“The R. Kelly media attention was actually what helped sell it,” he said. “The Isley Brothers connection helped draw a lot of attention, too. Homes with this kind of celebrity lineage just don’t exist in the Midwest.”

Singer R. Kelly appears during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on September 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Kelly is facing multiple sexual assault charges and is being held without bail.

Antonio Perez – Pool via Getty Images

The home’s history was unearthed during Kelly’s 2021 federal sex crimes and racketeering trial when his former assistant, Anthony Navarro, testified. During his testimony, Navarro claimed that women were restricted to certain rooms in the home and forbidden from moving freely. Surveillance footage reportedly showed young girls hopping fences in what appeared to be attempts to escape.

“The things you had to do was just a bit uncomfortable…it was almost like the ‘Twilight Zone,’ you went into the gate and it was like a different world, just a strange place,” Navarro stated on the third day of the 54-year-old singer’s federal trial.

The “Step In the Name of Love” singer was arrested in July 2019 and sentenced to 31 years on Sept. 27, 2021, after a six-week trial. He was found guilty on charges of federal racketeering, sex trafficking, and child pornography charges stemming from cases in New York and Chicago.

Take a look at photos of the Chicago home below captured by The Root.