Lansdowne, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 23rd 2010 at 1:01PM

Today's estate is one of the most expensive in the Chicago area. This home in Lake Bluff, Illinois was built in 1911 for heirs to the Rand McNally map empire. The Chicago Tribune's Elite Street column reports that the nine-bedroom Georgian mansion, known as Lansdowne, was listed in 2001 by industrialist Ronald Friedman for $25 million. Friedman sold the mansion and its 21-acre lakefront property for $16 million in 2007 to developer Orren Pickell Designers & Builders and Pickell renovated the home. The mansion and 11.26 acres are now on the market. The property has a pool, pool house and a 5,000-square-foot coach house. The classic brick Georgian home was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall and has a white-pillared rotunda and a beautiful double staircase. The rooms are large and light-filled even in winter. This home is now listed for $15.465 million.

Gallery: Lansdowne

Tags: estate of the day, illinois, lake bluff, lansdowne

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mehul Kamdar Mar 23rd 2010 2:19PM

A couple of years ago when the real estate market was at its peak, Lansdowne's buyers picked the entire property up for less than the asking price that the current sellers want for the main house now. The house and grounds offered are about a third of the original property, with the rest scheduled to have more homes built on it.

Considering the current state of the Illinois economy, the sellers seem to have forgotten that, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.