In the postbust years, luxury home prices trended up, up, up. But last year, the market for $1 million–plus properties proved to be relatively ho-hum. (For homes that closed, at least. A Burling Street mansion listed for an astronomical $50 million in December.)
In 2016, the number of single-family homes that sold for more than $1 million rose a modest 4.5 percent, according to Midwest Real Estate Data. Compare that with the 10.5 percent leap in 2015. High-end condo sales, on the other hand, dropped by 3.5 percent. The price tags at the top of the pack weren’t as eye-popping, either: Last year’s most expensive sale, a Waldorf Astoria penthouse would have landed at only No. 4 on 2015’s list.
That’s not to say there weren’t remarkable properties changing hands. See below to get the low-down on the rest of the year’s top 10 deals.
1 $11.7 million
11 E. Walton St., Gold Coast
Trader Igor Chernomzav listed his 52nd-floor four-bedroom penthouse (with its own movie theater!) in June 2015 for $13.9 million. He cut the price by $1 million last spring and finally unloaded it (for around a million less than that) to an undisclosed buyer in July.
Coolest feature:Indoor pool with a double-sided aquarium
2 $10.4 million
23344 W. Erhart Rd., Grayslake
The three-bedroom house wasn’t the draw here: It was the 338 acres of nature and farmland it sat on, which the Lake County Forest Preserves snapped up in February.
Coolest feature:Bison, purchased by previous owner John Cuneo Jr. (and since relocated)
3 $8.6 million
118 E. Erie St., Near North Side
Peter Francis Geraci (yes, from the TV ads) closed on this penthouse in July. But not before an 18-month battle over a right-of-first-refusal deal that Mexican billionaire Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco thought gave him dibs.
Coolest feature:The building’s butler
4 $8.4 million
2026 N. Mohawk St., Lincoln Park
Ten bathrooms, seven bedrooms, four outdoor areas, and a four-car garage? Let’s just say the new owners won’t need to pull any KonMari tricks to settle into this 11,000-square-foot manse, which sold in February.
Coolest feature:Indoor and outdoor basketball courts
5 $8.3 million
1944 N. Howe St., Lincoln Park
The newly constructed 10,500-square-foot, six-bedroom digs, on a jumbo 42-foot lot, sold to an undisclosed buyer in July. Yeah, at five levels, it’s got a lot of stairs—but it also has an elevator.
Coolest feature:3,500 square feet of outdoor space (with two fireplaces)
6 $8.0 million
159 E. Walton Pl., Streeterville
Vince Vaughn’s massive penthouse once occupied the 35th, 36th, and 37th floors of the Palmolive Building but was split into two units after five years on the market. The larger unit (7,880 square feet, with three bedrooms across two levels) sold to an undisclosed buyer in September.
Coolest feature:A theater, presumably stocked with Wedding Crashers and Dodgeball
7 $6.7 million
4 E. Elm St., Gold Coast
The unfinished 5,400-square-foot penthouse sold for almost $7 million in June. The buyers, retired Fortune Brands CEO Bruce Carbonari and his wife, likely knew to act fast: It’s the only full-floor condo in the über-fancy 35-unit building, which opened last April.
Coolest feature:Private elevator
8 $6.7 million
505 Hoyt Ln., Winnetka
The wine cellar, catering kitchen, billiards room, and expansive lake views have primed this North Shore property for Gatsby-style parties. Sellers Robert Lanphier, a partner at the investment firm William Blair, and his wife had it under contract within six weeks, securing the highest sale price in Winnetka since 2013.
Coolest feature:Private beach
9 $6.2 million
60 E. Monroe St., Loop
A chandelier-adorned wine cellar might not rank high in practicality, but it’s just one of the over-the-top features in this condo that spans the 71st floor—the second highest—at the Legacy at Millennium Park. Peter Lancaster, CEO of Vector Packaging, sold the unit to an undisclosed buyer in August.
Coolest feature:360-degree views of the skyline, lake, and Millennium Park
10 $6.1 million
1829 N. Orchard St., Lincoln Park
The limestone façade on this new 8,900-square-foot, seven-bedroom mansion easily blends in with the more old-school homes on its moneyed block. The unnamed buyers closed on it in March.
Coolest feature:Loft with yoga studio