Departed Tribune Company CEO Asks $2.7 Million For Winnetka Manor

WINNETKA, IL — The former CEO of Tribune Publishing listed his Winnetka mansion last week for $2.7 million, days after the company announced his resignation as chairman and chief executive. Situated between Tower Road Beach and the Hubbard Woods train station, the two-story brick and stone English-style design was built in 1999 on a half-acre wooded lot.

Justin and Angela Dearborn listed the property west of Sheridan Road for more than $300,000 above its last sale price less than two years ago. The 7,000-square foot living space features four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. It includes a finished basement with heated floors, a gym, billiards and entertainment area.

The 13-room home has a central gallery leading to formal living and dining rooms, as well as a library with a wood-paneled ceiling. It has hardwood flooring throughout its first floor, four fireplaces and an attached three-car garage.

The home features the "finest materials and craftsmanship" and "classic architecture," according to its listing. The master suite in a private wing has been recently renovated. The listed agent told Crain's the Dearborns also updated the flooring in several rooms.

The 49-year-old Dearborn has been CEO since 2016 and was installed as chairman as a result of the sudden resignation in March of his longtime business partner Michael Ferro amid sexual assault allegations. Dearborn received a salary and bonus of nearly $1 million with $5.6 million in stock grants and options after taking home about $7 million in compensation the prior year, according to an SEC filing cited by NPR. He was formerly the CEO and director of Merge Healthcare, which supplied radiology and cardio information solutions to healthcare providers before being purchased by IBM for more than $1 billion in 2015.

Under Dearborn and Ferro's leadership, the company also made more than $2.5 million in "secret payments" to avoid a lawsuit over allegations Ferro made anti-Semitic language about rivals, NPR reported last month. Even after his ouster, Ferro received $5 million a year as a "consulting fee" and cut a deal to sell his remaining stock at a premium for more than $200 million.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished over the last several years," Dearborn said in a statement upon his departure, saying he was "confident that the company is in great hands to build on that progress." Dearborn's successors pointed to opportunities for "attractive consolidation opportunities," suggesting mergers to come for the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News and Florida's Sun-Sentinel newspapers after it sold off the Los Angeles Times and amid continuing reductions to newsroom staffing.

In July 2016, the Dearborns sold their previous Winnetka property for $1.3 million, taking a 7 percent loss on the sale price as his former company — recently renamed "Tronc" — announced Mr. Dearborn's "primary business office" would move to Los Angeles, Crain's reported. Last December, the Dearborns sold a home in Naples, Florida for $375,000 that 14 months earlier been listed for nearly $470,000.

According to the Cook County Assessor's Office, the estimated 2018 market value of the Dearborns' property is $1,946,640 for taxing purposes. Last year they paid more than $47,000 in taxes on the home.

• Asking Price: $2,739,000
• Square Feet: 7,000
• Lot Size: 0.5
• Bedrooms: 4
• Bathrooms: 4 full, 2 half
• Built: 1999
• Last sold: $2,425,000 in March 2017

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