"It's a real log home, and it's right in the middle of downtown Des Plaines, Illinois," explains listing agent Daniel Cartalucca of Coldwell Banker Realty-McMullen. The log cabin is located about 20 miles outside of Chicago.

Most likely, in the era in which it was built, the log cabin looked more like a home.

"It may have been built at a time when it was surrounded mostly by farmland, or there may have been some single-family homes but mostly farmland," Cataluca explains.

The 2,600-square-foot log home is listed at $472,000.

A former Cook County sheriff, who is also a coroner, built the house and has a sizable collection of taxidermy animals, Cataruca said.

"The number of taxidermy animals has been reduced to about five, and there used to be a huge standing black bear with its paws up," he said.

However, the next owner can look forward to a buffalo head, an elk, a ram, and much more to convey with the house.

The home's heavy front door leads to a two-storey atrium.

"Every time I go in there, you can feel the history. It's amazing," says Cataruca." There's a huge sweeping staircase going straight up, and everyone who comes in does the same thing. You can hear them sigh. It definitely provoked a reaction."

The home has two bathrooms and four bedrooms, including an en-suite on the main floor. The living area has a river rock fireplace.

Cataluca said everything works as it should, but the buyers may want to do some updates, such as adding a dishwasher. Currently, dishes are washed in a cast-iron farm sink.

It has a sort of whitewashed wall inside in some rooms, and in some places there are original wooden walls inside," he says. There are many original wrought iron items, such as hinges, dotted with logs.

"It's surprisingly quiet there. You don't hear trains. You don't hear the planes. The logs are so dense and heavy that they muffle any outside noise," he adds.

The current owner has owned the place since 1996 and has put it up for sale several times.

"Initially, it was surrounded by commercial properties. It had an eight-foot high privacy fence, which was nice, and there were probably 20 trees in the backyard and it was like a private little forest out back," Cartalucca said.

The home is located in an area with commercial and residential zoning, and the listing says it could be a holiday home, antique shop or something else.

"We had a couple of young couples look at it and they liked the cool factor of it," Cartalucca said." It's not a typical house."