Former Gov. Bruce Rauner Asks $3 Million For Custom Winnetka Home

WINNETKA, IL — Less than four months after leaving office, former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, put their Winnetka home on the market this week. The couple purchased the land the year after they got married and listed the home they built for just shy of $3 million Monday.

The three-story Nantucket-style home sits on a 0.51-acre lot on Rosewood Avenue west of Green Bay Road in the Hubbard Woods neighborhood. It includes eight bedrooms, six bathrooms and 6,870 square feet of aboveground living space.

The custom-built 15-room cedar house was designed to maximize both privacy and natural light, according to its listing, which describes it as a "peaceful, natural sanctuary in the heart of Winnetka." It has high ceilings and hardwood flooring throughout, as well as a butler's pantry, kitchen with a breakfast room and built-in features such as custom glass display cabinets.

A two-story great room features walls of west-facing windows with panoramic views, while the living room includes golden words of inspiration — "honor," "nurture," "listen," "imagine," "remember" and more — on its millwork, along with one of the home's four fireplaces.

The lower level includes another bedroom, bathroom and rec room. The home also includes an attached garage with room for three cars.

Outside, there's a manicured back lawn, a wooded stone patio garden area and a roof deck overlooking a glass-enclosed structure that appears to be a below-ground lap pool.

However, it was not included in the listing and agent Jena Radney has not responded to inquiries about the home.

According to the Cook County Assessor's Office, the estimated 2019 market value of the Rauners' Winnetka property is $2.43 million, down from $4.2 million in 2018. Their most recent annual property tax bill for the home was about $100,000.

Mr. Rauner, 63, grew up in Deerfield the son of a patent lawyer who retired as the senior vice president of Motorola. Dubbed the "Wolf of Winnetka" in 2014 by his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Pat Quinn, his net worth has been estimated to be between $500 million and $2 billion. Ms. Rauner, 57, is a New York City native and Democrat with a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Chicago. She is currently president of a nonprofit focused on early childhood learning.

The Rauners purchased the Winnetka house for $830,000 in 1995, the same year it was completed, according to property records. The couple was married the prior year after having met while both working at Mr. Rauner's investment firm. Ms. Rauner had been previously married from 1989 to 1991 to a Highland Park native and fellow graduate of Stanford's business school, while Mr. Rauner's marriage of 13 years ended in 1993 after his ex-wife said she discovered he had a "paramour," according to court records.

Besides the Winnetka mansion, the Rauners owned at least eight other properties as of 2014, including two condo units at 340 E. Randolph St. in Chicago, a $10 million New York City penthouse, a farm in Wyoming, two ranches in Montana, a condo in Utah and a beachfront home in Florida.

It was not immediately clear if the Rauners intend on moving their primary residence to one of those properties or somewhere else. Ahead of the former governor's narrow victory over Republican primary challenger Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton in March 2018, Ms. Rauner reportedly said she and Mr. Rauner planned on "moving to Italy" if he lost the election. When asked about the report, Mr. Rauner declined to say whether he planned on remaining in Illinois.

• Address: 720 Rosewood Ave., Winnetka
• Built: 1996
• Price: $2,999,900
• Square Feet: 6,870
• Bedrooms: 8
• Bathrooms: 5 full, 2 half

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