Vast Estate Of Ex-Quaker CEO, Ambassador Sells At Half Price

LAKE FOREST, IL — A historic Lake Forest estate was sold last week for $3.2 million after spending more than two years on the market. The vast Topsfield Farm estate asked for $9 million when it was first listed publicly in February 2016. Following a series of price cuts, most recently to $6.5 million, more than 20 acres of open space at Conway Farms was sold Sept. 4.

The property's six-bedroom main house was designed in 1930 by Stanley Anderson, who incorporated an existing structure dating back to the 1840s in into the Georgian style. The site was thought to have began as a stagecoach shop and has only had four owners in its history.

In 1950, the estate was purchased by Robert Stuart, Jr., co-founder of the America First Committee, which opposed U.S. involvement in WWII, and served as ambassador to Norway under President Ronald Reagan. He lived there until his death in 2014. His family listed the property for sale.

It includes a four-stall horse barn, tennis court, two pools – indoor and outdoor – and a two-bedroom caretaker cottage.

New owners Marion and Roger Christoph intend to restore the land to a pre-settlement prairie landscape, Crain's Chicago Business reported. The Lake Forest natives previously did the same thing at an 80-acre Wisconsin farm they purchased 30 years ago. With their children grown, Mr. Christoph told Crain's, the couple is now "downsizing to a 23-acre farm in Lake Forest."

Crain's reported that the $3.2 million spent by the Christophs purchased almost 24 acres of the property. The neighboring Conway Farms golf course spent $800,000 on a 4-acre piece of the estate along its border, which the club told Crain's will serve as a buffer.

The golf club previously purchased a portion of the estate for its 12th hole in the 1990s. According to the Lake County Assessor, the estimated market value of the property is $2.3 million and its 2017 tax bill was more than $39,000.

Earlier:

• Price Cut to $6.5 Million for Topsfield Farm in Lake Forest
• Vast Lake Forest Country Estate of Former Quaker CEO, Ambassador and Antiwar Activist Drops Price by $1 Million
• Just Sold In Lake Forest: The 13 Houses Sold in August for More Than $1 Million.

Drone video of property:

• Address: 1601 Conway Road in Lake Forest
• Price: $3.2 million
• Bedrooms: 6
• Bathrooms: 7 full, 1 half
• Built: 1930
• Sold: Sept. 4

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

MORE: Recently sold homes in Lake Forest »