Pair Of Podiatrists Sells Historic Lake Forest Estate

LAKE FOREST, IL — A restored historic estate on a cul-de-sac in east Lake Forest sold this week for $2.1 million, more than 15 years after the sellers first put it on the market with a $4.7 million price tag.

Built in 1907, back in an era when wealthy Lake Forest residents routinely gave their houses fancy names, "Ellsloyd" was designed by New York architect Robert David Kohn.

At the time, Kohn had recently been commissioned to design the New York Evening Post building, an Art Nouveu design and New York City landmark. He would go on to design what was then the world's largest synagogue, Temple Emanu-El, on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Kohn's patron for the Lake Forest project, Louis E. Laflin, a classmate of Kohn at the Beaux Arts in Paris and a member of a prominent Lake Forest family, assisted with its Colonial Revival design, according to a historical resource survey.

Laflin, whose grandfather settled near Ford Dearborn in the mid-19th century, was identified as a millionaire real estate operator in his 1922 obituary. He also sat on the boards of Elgin Watch Co., Hamilton National Bank and Merchant's Safe Deposit, Co. Three generations of Laflins lived in the house until 1964, according to the survey.

The grounds, which originally included a reflecting pool, were designed by Rose Standish Nichols, a pioneering landscape architect, author and pacifist.

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The 13,000-square-foot, six-bedroom English-style brick design today sits on a 1.17-acre lot on Hawthorne Place, according to its listing.

It includes eight full bathrooms, eight fireplaces, original scones and chandeliers, detailed millwork and original painted murals along its custom curving staircase.

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It also has a newer kitchen, a paneled library, a four-car heated garage and a third-floor "treetop retreat."

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Sellers Dr. Wendy Benton-Weil and Dr. Lowell Weil Jr. are both podiatrists at the Mount Prospect-based Weil Foot and Ankle Institute, founded in 1965 by Chicago Bears and Chicago White Sox team podiatrist Dr. Lowell Weil Sr.

Property records show the Weils purchased the estate in October 2003 for $3.5 million from GMAC Global Relation Services Inc., which had itself purchased the home months earlier for $5.125 million from Karena and Ronald Garriques.

The property has been on and off the market for years. The Weils first listed it for sale for $4.7 million in January 2006, reducing the asking price to $3.7 million in 2016 and $2.5 million in 2018.

An offer was accepted last month, and the $2.15 million sale closed Thursday. The recent buyers have not yet been identified in public records.

The 2021 estimated market value of the property is about $2.5 million for taxing purposes, and its current annual property tax bill is about $47,500, according to county records.

• Address: 1007 Hawthorne Place, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Built: 1907
• Lot Size: 1.18 acres lot
• Square Feet: 13,000
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 8 full, 2 half
• Last Sold: $3.5 million in October 2003
• First Listed: $4.7 million in January 2006
• Sale Closed: $2.15 million on May 27

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