'Opportunity Knocks' At $2.8 Million Lakefront Highland Park Home

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — An lakefront home with an 60-foot private beach hit the market last week for the first time in 40 years. The 0.70-acre property on North Deere Park Drive off Sheridan Road includes a rare lakeside boathouse, according to its owner and realtor. The three-bedroom, 4,300-square-foot home has had three owners since it was built in 1951.

Realtor Alexa Hara and owner Cynthia Hara both said the home has not been on the market since 1987 and has maintained a remarkably intact beach. The exterior of the structure was formerly Crab Orchard stone, but a ceder finish was added, they said.

The house played a role in North Shore film history, as it was used extensively as a filming location for the 1990 film Opportunity Knocks. A pair of con men, played by Dana Carvey and Todd Graff, break into the house and learn through a fortuitously timed answering machine message that the luxurious digs will be vacant.

The home's real-life owners wound up having to be out of the house for nine weeks during shooting of the Donald Petrie-directed film during the summer of 1989, Cynthia recalled.

The interior has an open concept design, according to its listing. The three-story, seven-room home has three interior fireplaces and a three-car attached garage. The kitchen includes hardwood flooring, while the living and family room are carpeted. The home includes floor-to-ceiling windows in every room on its east side as well as from its finished basement.

The home's listed co-owner, Michael Hara, constructed a 19,000-square-foot French-styled "palace" in 2013 on another lakefront parcel about 5.5 miles south of the Highland Park property for at least $5.5 million, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

Purchased in 1999 for $3.1 million, the assessor's office said its estimated value declined last year to $12 million while Zillow estimates it at more like $16 million.

Hara is CEO of Bannockburn-based LTD Commodities, which does more than $350 million in sales, according to a release. It was sold to Cleveland-based AmeriMark Holdings last year, with Hara remaining on in an advisory capacity.

The newly-listed south Highland Park home sits about a mile from the Ravinia Park Metra station. It includes stairways and porches leading down to its private beach.

Local school districts include Braeside Elementary School, Edgewood Middle School and Highland Park High School.

According to the Lake County assessor's office, the estimated market value of the property is $1,528,911, and its 2017 tax bill was $37,774.17.

The home was listed July 11 for $2.85 million.

• Address: 285 N Deere Park Dr E, Highland Park, Illinois
• Price: $2,850,000
• Square Feet: 3,708 (above ground) 860 (lower level)
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 2 full, 1 half
• Built: 1951
• Listed: July 11

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