List Price: $1.75 million
Sale Price: $2.2 million

The Property: This handsome 8,500-square-foot brick home is in Shadow Ridge, an exclusive new Palos Park subdivision where some houses are valued as high as $4.5 million, according to Laura Burns, the Century 21 agent who sold this one for JB Builders.

Shadow Ridge’s 54 acres, formerly the site of a Catholic youth home, is surrounded on three sides by the vast Palos/Sag Valley forest preserves, 13,000 scenic acres of hills, lakes and bike trails and an acknowledged gem of the Cook County preserves. That and the 44 large lots in Shadow Ridge make the subdivision feel like a remote enclave in the woods, even though the landscaping on most homes is still young and wispy.

This house has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, five fireplaces, and what Burns describes as “a very downtown kitchen,” with stainless steel soffits, a single Grohe faucet priced at $2,500, and an island countertop fashioned from a slab of granite that took ten men to carry in from the truck. The basement, a walkout with 11-foot ceilings, was to be sold unfinished, but the buyers had it completed with an oversized bar, a media room and two bathrooms, Burns says.
That and other upgrades resulted in a sale price higher than the listing price. The buyers also plan to install a pool with a retractable roof, she says.

Price Points: Palos Park’s home prices more typically fall in the $500,000-to-$800,000 range, which is impressive for suburbs on the South Side, where prices run much lower than in north and west suburbs.

The town’s key advantages are its large lots, quick access to the city and surrounding areas, and the fantastic spread of open land in the forest preserves. Although there are other high-end developments in town, such as Misty Harbour, three-quarters of a mile south, Shadow Ridge is clearly the standout development in Palos Park, thanks to its premium site, one of only a half-dozen private parcels that poke into the preserves.

Buyers: Not yet identified in public records

Sales Agent: Laura Burns, Century 21 Pro-Team, (708) 444-1199
Photos provided by Century 21 Pro-Team