Site Of Mr. T's 'Chainsaw Massacre' Sees $1.5 Million Price Cut

LAKE FOREST, IL — The price tag on the location of Mr. T's notorious "chainsaw massacre" has been cut by more than $1.5 million. The sellers of the 7.5-acre estate between Western Avenue and Green Bay Road sliced their asking price Monday to just under $6 million — less than half of what the property was seeking a dozen years ago following a renovation.

Dubbed "Two Gables," the home was designed by H.T. Lindeberg and built in 1910 for banker Orville Babcock a few blocks from downtown Lake Forest. A few years later, the home was sold to meat-packing heir Laurance Armour. After a 1928 fire, Armour hired architect David Adler to remodel the home, with gardens designed by Jens Jensen.

Mr. T, born Laurence Tureaud, paid $1.7 million for the house back in 1986, which equates to nearly $4 million when adjusted for inflation. His decision to cut down hundreds of mature trees on the property prompted much consternation from Lake Forest residents and the passage of a tree preservation ordinance. Local and national media described it as a "massacre."

In 1993, Mr. T transferred the deed to the home to his girlfriend, who sold the property in 1999 for $2.4 million to a pair of preservationists Robert and Christine Shaw, who never ended up moving in, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The property was purchased in 2003 for $3.85 million by developers Rocco DeFilippis and Bruce Grieves through an entity called Legacy Preservation Partners LLC.

They renovated the house, replanting dozens of trees, adding a 5,000-square-foot addition to the original 10,000-square-foot home and putting the home up for sale for nearly $12 million in 2007, Crain's Chicago Business reported.

The remodel of the home would be awarded by the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation, but Norstates Bank foreclosed on the pair, selling the home for $4.625 million in 2009 to its current owners, Neil and Jane Cummins.

Mr. Cummins, a Chicago-based investment manager, told Crain's he and his wife have planted 150 mature trees on the grounds. According to its listing agent, the home's front wall was added in 2009 and a coach house was built in October 2011.

They first listed the house for sale asking $7.5 million in March 2017. According to the listing, the 109-year-old home includes an outdoor pool with a separate pool house, 10 fireplaces, an elevator and entrances on both Green Bay Road and Western Avenue.

Last year, only one Lake Forest home sold for more than $4 million — Nancy Hughes' $12 million purchase of a 3.4-acre lakefront property on Mayflower Road. The priciest sale in town so far in 2019 was the $3.85 million purchase of a Lake Road home earlier this month by Jillian Gutman and Paul Mann.

There are currently four other properties on the market in Lake Forest asking for more than $6 million — "Wyldwoode" at 55 N. Mayflower Road, "Fairmore" at 77 Stone Gate Lane, the Gannon home at 55 E. Onwentsia Road and the Schweppes Estate at 405 N. Mayflower Road.

• Address: 395 N. Green Bay Road, Lake Forest
• Price: $5.995 million
• Built: 1910
• Lot size: 7.5 acres
• Square Feet: 14,293
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 10 full, 3 half

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