List price: $1.85 million / $1.65 million

Notmweek3_2The Property: When the Northbrook developer Greg Weissman built on these two neighboring lots in Highland Park, he decided to go as green as he could while still building houses that would appeal to the upper-end North Shore market. Designed by Nate Kipnis (see “A Place in the Sun,” Deal Estate, April 2007), each house has four bedrooms, four baths, and lots of green amenities. The slate roofs are actually made of rubber and plastic that are 90 percent postindustrial content; the homes are well insulated and geothermally heated and cooled; and a storage tank beneath the front yard collects rain water for use in the yards’ drip-irrigation system. The houses have no carpeting (to soothe dust allergies), and the paints and other finishes are low in volatile organic compounds. Building the houses necessitated taking down a century-old oak; Weissman had it milled into front doors and mantelpieces for both houses.

Price Points: Weissman says the green features add about $100,000 to the cost of each house-he hasn’t calculated the potential savings on utility bills-but that he is hoping to attract buyers who share his environmental principles. “This is the way everything is going now,” he says. “Doing the right thing environmentally actually matters.”
   
Listing agent: Greg Weissman, Advantage Properties, 847-412-0900