Usually when we are looking at raw space for a tremendous price it's a New York City apartment but in Chicago a massive penthouse just went on sale for $14 million making it the most expensive home on the market in the area. It is being sold by Bill Wrigley, Jr., the current chairman and former CEO of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

The space is over 11,000 square feet with two terraces (1,500 spare feet each) and six garage spaces. The penthouse is three units combined into one on the eighth floor of a limestone building at 65 E. Goethe St. It opens to all four exposures and has lake views. It comes with the architectural plans which Wrigley had commissioned. It is listed with Baird & Warner.


The Chicago Tribune's Elite Street column also reports that Wrigley's beautiful home in Lake Forest, Illinois is also on the market. It was on the market for $16 million in a pocket listing previously but is now listed for $14.5 million with Ned Skae of Coldwell Banker. The seven-bedroom home was built in 1912 and designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Wrigley Jr. bought the home in 2003 for $9.9 million and it has been renovated and restored for gracious family living. The 3.1 acre property with lake views includes a pool and a terrace.

Where is Bill Wrigley Jr. headed? Crack real estate sleuth Bob Goldsborough found that Wrigley paid $11 million in April for a home in North Palm Beach, Florida and paid $11.53 million in May for property in Aspen, Colorado. Just last year Mars bought the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a transaction valued at $23 billion.

Given that both homes are of similar cost which would you choose if you had the money, the promise of a raw Chicago penthouse or the finished elegance of the Lake Forest mansion?