Retired CEO Lists Historic Lake Forest Mansion For $4.65 Million

LAKE FOREST, IL — A 123-year-old mansion hit the market last week for the first time in a quarter-century, as a retired CEO and his wife listed their Colonial Revival estate in central Lake Forest.

Known as "Westover," the seven-bedroom main house was originally designed by Charles Sumner Frost. It was later remodeled by David Adler and his sister, Frances Elkins, and a two-story addition with a pair of garages was added in the 1990s, according to its listing.

The nearly 10,900-square foot home sits on almost 2.6 acres of gated land on East Westminster Road, which includes an outdoor swimming pool, formal English gardens and a landscaped lawn. According to the listing, the interior includes nine fireplaces, a finished basement, a renovated kitchen and an third-floor playroom and exercise room.

Since 1995, the home has been owned by Robert and Susan Morrison. Mr. Morrison is the retired vice chairman of Pepsico and former chief executive officer of Kraft Foods and Quaker Oats. A former Marine, he has served as a director on numerous boards and briefly filled in as interim CEO of the company 3M. The Morrisons paid $2.25 million for the house in 1995 and listed it Feb. 25 with an asking price of $4.65 million.

Frost, the original architect, founded the firm Frost and Granger with his brother-in-law, Alfred Hoyt Granger.

Frost and Granger both married daughters of the president of the Chicago and North Western Railroad and lived in Lake Forest, according to the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Center.

Together, they were responsible for creating hundreds of buildings, mostly for railroad companies across the upper Midwest. According to the history center, the firm designed Lake Forest City Hall in 1898, East Lake Forest train station in 1899, several buildings on the Lake Forest College campus and Church of the Holy Spirit. In 1916, Frost designed Chicago's Navy Pier auditorium.

In the 1930s, Adler, the neo-classical Howard Van Doren Shaw disciple who designed dozens of suburban country houses, and Elkins, a pioneering interior designer, remodeled the interior formal rooms of the Westminster Road home, according to its listing, which noted Adler's "signature moldings and detailed milwork."

Chicago architects John Vinci and Philip Hamp designed the home's addition completed in the 1990s and Chicago landscape architect Doug Hoerr created its formal gardens, according to Crain's Chicago Business, which first reported the listing. Realtor Mona Hellinga declined to comment.

According to the Lake County Assessor's Office, the property's estimated 2019 market value for taxing purposes was more than $4.06 million. Its annual tax bill last year was more than $80,000.

The most expensive home to sell in Lake Forest last year was a 7,800-square-foot brick six-bedroom built in 2006. It sold for $3.85 million in June 2019.

• Address: 600 E. Westminster Road, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Built: 1897
• Lot Size: 2.59 acres
• Square Feet: 10,863
• Bedrooms: 7
• Bathrooms: 7 full, 3 half
• Last Sold: $2.25 million in May 1992
• First Listed: $4.65 million in February 2020

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