Henry Crown's Former Mansion Sold In Evanston

EVANSTON, IL — The former home of Evanston billionaire Henry Crown was purchased this month for more than $1 million under its original listing price from more than two years ago. Built in 1927, the six-bedroom home was Tudor-style mansion was designed by the Mayo & Mayo firm. It sits a nearly half-acre lot beside the lakefront Clark Square Park.

The home features four levels of living space with an Otis elevator that runs from its basement to its third floor. It includes an indoor swimming pool in the basement, a theater room in the third floor.

The interior original plaster cast moldings, arched doorways, custom woodwork, a all-season sunroom and two other porches. The property also includes a five room coach house and a four-car garage, according to its listing.

Crown bought the mansion around 1936 and owned it until his death in 1990, according to the Chicago Tribune. It was sold by his family in 1996 to Philip and Jacqueline Crihfield for $1.55 million. Mr. Crihfield is senior counsel at the law firm Sidley Austin.

Crown founded Material Service Corporation in 1919, served as Great Lakes supply chief for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II and, in 1958, merged his firm with arms manufacturer General Dynamics.

The Crown family owns $4.8 billion worth of the defense contractor's stock, as well as shares of an Aspen ski resort, stakes in the Chicago Bulls and the New York Yankees and a fifth of the Rockefeller Center for a total net worth of $8.8 billion as of July 2015, according to Forbes Magazine.

In a 1972 kidnapping attempt, an armed man entered the Evanston home and knocked a staffer to the ground, according to an obituary of Gladys Crown, the second wife of the billionaire. Mrs. Crown, who was ill at the time, ignored the gunman and ran to aid her maid. The gunman fled the scene.

The Crihfields first listed the house two years ago for nearly $3 million. The house was sold on Dec. 3 for $1.8 million to a Chicago-based land trust formed the previous month that conceals the names of its owner, according to property records.

• Address: 900 Edgemere Court, Evanston, Illinois
• First Listed: $2.95 million in September 2016
• Closing Price: $1.8 million on Dec. 3
• Square Feet: 8,919
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 5 full, 2 half
• Built: 1927

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