Unique Homes Blog

“The most incredible home we’ve ever seen,” was the reaction from Chicago’s luxury real estate brokers when they viewed this month’s cover property located in the city’s North Shore. Constructed over four years with painstaking attention to detail, this home follows in the tradition of the great estates of the industrial era using materials and craftsmen from all over the globe. However, unlike the estates of old, there is nothing dark or drafty about this house. Technology makes managing climate, audio and video systems, security, lighting, shades, even snow melt on the drive easy while banks of doors and windows custom-made by Finestra in Italy infuse rooms with light.

In exceptional homes, the entry always sets the tone for the entire property. Here, sunlight filters through a Tiffany-stained glass dome illuminating the foyer and rotunda 30 feet below. Adding to the luster is a 10-foot-tall gold and crystal chandelier. A hand-forged object d’art railing and balustrade curves along the second floor balcony and winds down the dual staircases framing a view that extends through the house to the greenery outside. Subtle arcs of color in the limestone floors from France and Italy follow architect Richard Landry’s custom design. With an overlay of finishes, each detail is exquisitely executed and perfectly balanced. Nothing is overdone.

“Visitors often stand in the foyer and rotunda speechless. It takes them a few minutes to absorb this setting, it is so magnificent,” shares Ronda Fish, who is listing the $28 million property with Tim Salm for Sudler Sotheby’s International Realty.

Landry’s inspiration may have been a classic chateau outside of Paris, but with this property he also sets a new benchmark for contemporary estates. “There is nothing like it in Chicago and quite possibly the entire Midwest,” observes Fish.

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