Years ago, when well-heeled parents regularly gifted their children magnificent houses, Evanston resident Francis Alonzo Hardy built his son Edward, a businessman and alderman, a swoon-worthy English manor by architect Ernest Mayo. The British-born Mayo had come to Chicago as an adviser for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and went on to design dozens of houses in Evanston. Erected in 1909 and sitting on over an acre, the handsome brick residence at 1233 Crain Street is among his finest. Previously offered at $2.85 million, the house was taken off the market while the owners conducted an estate sale and recently relisted at $2.75 million.

Located in the Ridge Historic District (an area of Italianate, Queen Anne, and Prairie school homes), this imposing pile exudes a bygone gravitas, with a grand foyer, multiple fireplaces, spacious rooms linked by Gothic arched doorways, and a library replete with wood paneling. In 1919, a house on nearby Asbury Avenue was lifted up and attached to Mayo’s masterpiece, making the commodious home even grander. At almost 8,000 square feet, the house features eight bedrooms, one of which, along with an adjacent sitting room, was fashioned from the former third-floor ballroom, as well as five full bathrooms and two half baths. The home’s historic formality is complemented by a soaring sunroom, part of an addition built in the 1990s.

While many Evanston homes boast agreeable outdoor spaces, few compare to the garden here, which is graced with trellises, a softly splashing fountain, and an in-ground swimming pool. This oasis also incorporates an 800-square-foot coach house, with one-bedroom and a kitchen, set above the three-car garage. It’s to the manor born.