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Dennis Rodkin
Lake Forest Foreclosure Is a Sign of the Times
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $2,695,000
Sale Price: $2,037,750
The Property: This 12-room mansion on two and a half acres in Lake Forest sold at foreclosure on December 22nd. Built in 1996 on a cul-de-sac of seven homes carved out of an old Green Bay Road estate, the house mimics English country styles with its tall brick peaks and ornamented limestone bay. Photos that accompanied the listing show... Read more
Lake Bluff Mansion and One-time Church
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $10.9 million
The Property: With an enormous indoor pool and recreation area, an indoor sports court, and a basement that contains a movie theatre, a full bar, and a barber shop, there might be no reason to even exit this 15,000-square-foot house—except that it overlooks Lake Michigan and... Read more
Easier Loans for Veterans, First-time Buyers
By Dennis Rodkin
It’s been a quandary most of the year: real-estate prices are tantalizing now, but getting a mortgage is rough. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) has a little-known program that makes borrowing easier for state residents; it offers interest rates lower than the prevailing norm for conventional loans, accepts borrowers with credit scores lower than most big lenders now require... Read more
Wild and Woodsy—Glenview
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $1.525 million
The Property: From its jaunty Z-shaped façade to its show-stopping red and chrome kitchen, this exuberant four-bedroom Glenview house doesn’t hold back. It even comes with a built-in exclamation point—made of wood inlay and situated on the master bedroom floor. Read more
Kane County Subdivision for Sale
By Dennis Rodkin
Just a few years ago, new subdivisions were marching west from St. Charles through Campton Hills toward Lily Lake, a tiny community that lies almost at the center of Kane County. Pairing that movement with a burgeoning interest in building methods that have a lighter impact on the land, a group of developers devised a... Read more
Sale Closes on Scott Turow’s Glencoe House
By Dennis Rodkin
The writer and lawyer Scott Turow sold his lakefront mansion in Glencoe for $5 million on December 17th; he paid $4.79 million for the place when he bought it in 2001. Deal Estate broke the news last month that the house, priced at $5.9 million, was under contract. The buyers are not yet identified in public records. Read more
Whistling “Dixie” in St. Charles
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $1.775 million
The Property: Some people bring home pictures of picturesque old homes they admired while traveling. Ted and Ellen Roberts of St. Charles went one better: they built a replica of the governor’s mansion in Richmond, Virginia, a Federal-style home that they happened upon on when visiting the onetime Confederate capital in the early 1990s. Read more
Vintage Villa for Sale or Rent
By Dennis Rodkin
Mike and Robin Nasatir spent much of the 1990s restoring a country villa in Highland Park that had been built in 1919 for a wealthy bachelor and his paramour, the opera singer Mary Garden. Now, with their two children almost grown, the Nasatirs are ready to move from the 22-room house. Read more