Son Of Mimeograph Inventor's Adler-Designed House Sells For $3.9M

LAKE FOREST, IL — A historic estate designed by David Adler and built for the son of the inventor of the mimeograph sold this month for $3.9 million. It was first listed for sale more than a decade ago with its asking price nearly $3 million higher than its closing price.

The Classical Revival-style home was built for Edison Dick, son of Albert Blake Dick — the founder of lumber business A.B. Dick Co. who later partnered with Thomas Edison to market the "Edison Mimeograph." By allowing paperwork to be duplicated without the use of a printing press, the mimeograph transformed office labor in the first few decades of the 20th Century.

According to the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Center, the Dick family began spending summers in Lake Forest in the 1890s. The first house built for the eldest Dick, dubbed Westmoreland, on more than 80 acres off Deerpath Road. The land was later donated to become the site of a new Lake Forest Hospital.

The Edison Dick House, sometimes called the A.B. Dick House, was built in 1933, five years after Edison's older brother, A.B. Dick Jr., was elected mayor of Lake Forest and a year before the death of the Dick patriarch.

Designed by David Adler, the 7,800-square-foot, six-bedroom house is located on a 3 acre plot east of Sheridan Road. The 15-room house features high ceilings and nine fireplaces, six full and four half-bathrooms.

The home underwent a significant renovation in 2000. According to its listing, its interior design has been updated since 2019, with recently refinished hardwood and stone flooring.

The home features intricate millwork, formal gardens, a multi-level patio, firepit, fountains, sports area, green house and tree house.

It also includes a media room, billiards room and game room. The home has a partially finished lower level and a heated garage with room for two cars opening onto its circular driveway.

The updated property offers "the refinement of Adler's design with the modern technology and conveniences of today," according to its listing.

The Edison Dick House was awarded the 2001 Preservation Award from the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation, which described it as the "first and only" house where Adler used the Greek Revival style throughout.

After moving to Niles in 1949, A.B. Dick, the company, was eventually overtaken by the photocopier. Its ownership was transferred several times in the 1970s, 80s and 90s before filing for bankruptcy in 2004.

Edison Dick died in 1994 at the age of 93. According to an obituary, he joined his father's business in 1923 but by the 1950s had expanded into the restaurant business.

His wife, Jane Warner Dick, was a lifelong Lake Forester, mental health and welfare activist and a leader in Adlai Stevenson's political campaigns described as "charmingly persuasive enough to sell a Stevenson button to President Eisenhower." She died in 1997.

The Edison Dick property was subdivided in mid-1998, with the other half sold for $1.5 million in 1999. A mansion built on the western 2.26 acres of the Dick property was built in 2005 and sold for $4.8 million in 2015.

The eastern half of the property was purchased in late 1998 for $2.78 million by Greg and Melissa Glyman. They first listed it for sale in 2009 with an asking price of $6.8 million. The sale closed Dec. 3 for $3.9 million. Records do not yet identify its new owners.

According to the Lake County Assessor's Office, the property's estimated market value for taxing purposes is $3.75 million. Its annual property tax bill was about $68,000 last year.

• Address: 612 E Woodland Rd, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Built: 1933
• Lot Size: 3.04
• Square Feet: 7,800
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 6 full, 4 half baths
• Last Sold: $2.78 million in October 1998
• First Listed: $6.8 million in July 2009
• Sale Price: $3.9 million on Dec. 3

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