Japanese-Inspired Home By Famed Architect Colburn Hits Market

RIVERWOODS, IL — Considered one of Chicago's most influential mid-century modernists, Ike Colburn was an award-winning architect, founder and former president of I.W. Colburn & Associates, and built one of the most memorable properties the North Shore has ever seen, according to the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff.

Colburn died in 1992, but his creations live on.

One, a Japanese-inspired mid-century modern home, recently hit the market in Riverwoods. Built in 1963, the home is set on 4.5 acres toward the end of a cul-de-dac on Thornmeadow Road, according to is Realtor.com listing.

The family of the late owners, Dave and Mickey Unger, is asking $875,000 for the home, reports Crain's Chicago Business. Baird & Warner is the listed realtor.

"Don't miss your opportunity to own and live in the most thoroughly Japanese of Colburn's works, where you'll enjoy the peaceful serenity of the natural world around you," the Realtor.com listing states.

Colburn completed work on the Cummings Life Science Center, located on the campus of the University of Chicago, in 1973. In order to vent the exhausted air rising from lower levels, 40 towers extend upwards along the exterior of the building, according to the University of Chicago. The towers, with brick-covered vent accents, have been compared to a fortress-like castle in the Italian countryside.

The building serves as the home for the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Human Genetics. Coburn also built the Hinds Laboratory for the Geophysical Sciences on the campus.

In 1960, Colburn was a winner in the Homes for Better Living Contest sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, according to an obituary that ran in the Chicago Tribune. His entry was his Lake Forest home on Lake Michigan. Known as the "Swiss Cheese House," its towers were torn down in 1973 and the remainder of the home was razed in 2005.

For the Riverwoods property, a large indoor pool "affords year-round enjoyment," and the spa stays with the house as well, according to the listing.

Walls of glass overlook an expansive Merrimac terrace with built-in seat railing, nearby deck and patio, and abundant mature trees beyond. The fireplace and chimney stack act as room divider between the living Room and dining Room, for a chance to enjoy views of the beautiful landscaping and berms.

"Through the glass walls, you'll spot the floating copper cylinders wrapped around the visible structural supports - a clear reminder of Colburn's adept incorporation of symmetry and new formalism into an otherwise modernist vocabulary," the Realtor.com listing states.

Judith Golden, a daughter of the Ungers, told Crain's that the house, garden, surrounding landscape, including a backwater pond off the Des Plaines River, "fits together so exquisitely, it’s magical."

To learn more about the listing, find it here on Realtor.com.