Howard Van Doren Shaw Glencoe Home Nears Demolition Date

GLENCOE, IL — Demolition on a 117-year-old lakefront Glencoe mansion could begin before the end of next month, as a local developer looks to replace the Howard Van Doren Shaw-designed honorary landmark with two new homes on the prime lakefront property.

The five-bedroom, 6,400-square-foot and two levels of porches facing the lake. There are stairs leading down to 350 feet of private beachfront. Built for Charles Henry Hermann in 1911, the home has since been remodeled and expanded — most notably with a sizable glass structure affixed to its rear.

The property's asking price dropped to $7 million last July. It was listed as contingent a short time later, according to its Realtor.com listing.

Jon Kogan, president of Northbrook-based Highgate Builders, is under contract to purchase the property, records from the Village of Glencoe Historic Preservation Commission show.

The Colonial Revival-style mansion off Sheridan Road was declared an honorary landmark in March 2017 after being nominated by the commission. But within months, an application was submitted for the home's demolition.

Honorary landmark status does not prevent demolition, but merely adds a 180 day waiting period, which expires next month.

Minutes from the commissions Oct. 3 meeting, show members looking to "do whatever is necessary" to protect the landmark from demolition. Multiple commissioners "expressed concern" over how quickly demolition permits were being obtained after they had declared the home an honorary landmark.

At later meetings, commissioners discussed ways to potentially strengthen the village's historic preservation rules, such as incentives to rehabilitate landmark structures or establishing penalties for demolishing such properties without approval.

Kogan told Crain's Chicago Business last month it's just not cost-effective to refurbish the house.

"If we had a client who wanted to renovate it, we would, but the economics of doing that don't work," he said, explaining it could cost more than $10 million to refurbish.

Kogan told Crain's he's planning to divide the lot into smaller parcels and will start building once he has clients lined up to buy them.

Most recently, the 16-room mansion was the home of the late Leonard and Bernice Lavin, who built the Albert-Culver haircare company into a global conglomerate.

The property's final price has not been disclosed.

Since it hit the market in December 2016 asking $8 million, the property has sought a buyer interested in its history.

"Amazing opportunity to restore this architecturally significant home to its original luster," its listing offered.

That window of opportunity may well have closed, as demolition permits for the property could be issued as soon as Feb. 23.

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