No Longer Illegal, Largest House In Deerfield Seeks $3.6 Million

DEERFIELD, IL — A massive home illegally built on a floodplain was listed for $3.6 million last month, less than two years after it was purchased out of foreclosure. The original owners were sued by the village of Deerfield after building about half of the 21,000-square-foot custom stone structure on land where construction is forbidden by zoning. But the home was spared from demolition after a bank agreed to a plan to bring the property into compliance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations.

The French Provincial-inspired "piece of art" is the largest single-family home in the village, according to its listing. It is located on nearly 3 acres at the end of Summit Drive, along the North Branch of the Chicago River between Trinity United Church and Deerfield High School. The two-story stone home includes a sauna, massage room, gym and home theater among its 18 rooms.

Built in 2001, the property was subdivided in 1991 and purchased in 1999 by Denise and Mark Richmond for $500,000, according to property records. Deerfield had already approved Mrs. Richmond's permit application, and its representatives inspected it throughout construction. But according to a lawsuit, village staff only discovered that it was in violation of zoning and building codes once it was already built, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2009 after the village filed the suit in Lake County court against the Richmonds.

Deerfield's lawsuit said about half of the house would need to be demolished or risk threatening the village's participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, which requires local municipalities to enforce restrictions on building in flood plains.

The case was settled in 2014, according to court records. Under the terms of the settlement, the Richmonds agreed to build a new retaining wall to "compensate for the floodway that had been illegally filled during the home construction," according to a December 2017 memo from former Village Attorney Matt Rose.

The Richmonds paid more than $13,000 in fines and fees and also agreed to a settle a mortgage foreclosure case where their bank agreed to build the wall. FEMA eventually approved plans for the wall and revised its 100-year floodplain map, eliminating the floodplain violation, according to Rose.

Mr. Richmond had commissioned the sprawling custom home after resolving a previous legal entanglement with the federal government. He was convicted of a federal tax conspiracy in 1994 after using cash from a mob boss to gamble with former Cook County Undersheriff James Dvorak at casinos in Atlantic City, the Caribbean and Las Vegas, according to the Tribune. Following his cooperation with investigators, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison but allowed to be free four days a week.

When the home returned to the market in 2015, the bank was asking for $2.7 million and expected the floodplain mitigation work to cost about $250,000, its listing agent told Crain's Chicago Business at the time.

Andrezj Bukrejewski, the home's current owner, purchased the house in September 2017 from the Bank of New York Mellon, which had foreclosed on the house due to non-payment in 2016, according to his letter to the Deerfield Plan Commission requesting amendments to the building line, which were approved last April. Property records show it was purchased from the bank for $865,000.

"[The Richmonds failed] to correct building line issues, more specifically, the fact that this property was built partially outside the allowable building line setbacks," Bukrejewski told the commission.

"The Bank of New York Mellon successfully went [through] the process and revised the floodway with [the] Federal Emergency Management Agency on July 28, 2017," Bukrejewski said. "This agency's approval was essential since the property is located within the flood zone."

Aga Czechura, the property's current listing agent, has yet to answer questions about the property.

According to the Lake County Asssessor's Office, the 2018 fair market value of the property was $865,000. Its annual tax bill was more than $24,000.

• Address: 755 Summit Dr, Deerfield, Illinois
• Price: $3.6 million
• Built: 2001
• Square Feet: 13,653 above ground
• Lot Size: 2.96 acres
• Bedrooms: 7
• Bathrooms: 7 full, 2 half

Listing information originally appeared on realtor.com. For more information and photos, click here.