Modernist Tony Grunsfeld Design Beside Lake Asks For $3 Million

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The late architect Ernest "Tony" Grunsfeld, designer of dozens of modernist homes along the North Shore for elite clientele, was known for his strong lines and unfussy style. Built late in his career, a four-bedroom on 0.86 acres less than a block from Lake Michigan in Highland Park exemplifies his style. It was listed last month for just under $3 million

Although his houses were intended to be closed in the front, they weren't meant to be unfriendly, Grunsfeld said in an interview five years before his death in 2011.

"I think houses are very private. That's where you go hide, that's where you're with your family, where you can take your shoes off and be comfortable," Grunsfeld, the son of the designer of the Adler Planetarium, told the Art Institute of Chicago for an architectural oral history. "I think that's sort of the idea of the gate and the moat and drawbridge."

Built in 1996, this Prospect Avenue home appears shut off from out front, but from inside the home feels open and intimate. It features a master suite and spacious shared spaces on the first floor, with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms upstairs and a finished lower level.

A centerpiece of this home is its main dining room, with 14-foot ceilings and a curved wall of windows overlooking the backyard. (Click on any photo for more images of 103 Prospect Ave.)

The master suite has a fireplace, custom closets and dressing area and an oversized walk-in shower, a soaking tub, heated terrazzo floors and inlaid marble walls. The first floor also includes an office, a laundry room, wide-planked hardwood floors and hand-hammered walnut cabinets.

The family room and eat-in kitchen open up on to a bluestone patio and the fenced yard and "landscaped wildflower meadow" beside a firepit and a play set, according to home's listing, which notes the home's current owner is an interior designer.

The 2,100-square foot lower level includes a recreation room, rooms for arts and performance, a half-bathroom and extra storage. The attic is unfinished.

There's a two-car heated attached garage. The home has a total of three fireplaces and nine rooms.

It was last sold in 2011 for $1,575,000. According to the Lake County assessment office the estimated market value is $1,582,605. It was listed last month for for just under $3 million.

• Address: 103 Prospect Ave, Highland Park, Illinois
• Price: $2,995,000
• Square Feet: 6752
• Bedrooms: 4
• Bathrooms: 3 Full and 2 Half Baths
• Built: 1996
• Last Sold: 2011
• Listed: April 14

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