Mansion in Lake Bluff, Illinois, Lists for the First Time for $19.5 Million

 

The Italian-style villa features its own vineyard and nearly 700 feet of Lake Michigan frontage

 

A six-bedroom mansion on nearly 13 acres in Lake Bluff, Illinois, with 690 feet of Lake Michigan frontage and a vineyard, was listed for sale for the first time on Monday for $19.5 million.

 

Built in 1994, the 9,990-square-foot mansion on the private Crab Tree Farm Lane has six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two partial bathrooms. The two-story limestone-clad home resembles an Italian villa, with a clay tile roof and numerous balconies and shutters and a broad front terrace.

 

The foyer of the 17-room house features a grand central staircase lined by wrought-iron railings. Other design features include extensive custom millwork, Doric columns in the master suite, marble and hardwood floors, high ceilings with chandeliers and custom moldings, French doors that open to outdoor terraces and wood-burning fireplaces.

 

Amenities include a finished basement with a home theater and game room, a gym and a cozy, bookcase-lined library. Many of the bedrooms have wide-angle views of Lake Michigan. Outside, a large formal terrace off the back of the house leads down to a swimming pool. More steps lead down to a private dock on the Lake Michigan shoreline.

 

The property was originally part of the old Crab Tree Farm, which began in 1906 as a 370-acre model dairy farm run by Grace Durand, a Temperance activist who used proceeds from the dairy to fund a kindergarten program for lower-class children in Chicago.

 

The home is owned by Lisa and James Zenni, according to Crain's Chicago Business, which first reported the sale. Mansion Global confirmed his ownership, through a trust registered to his business address, in property records.

 

Mr. Zenni is the head of Z Capital Management, a financial firm he founded in 2006. They could not be immediately reached for comment.

 

Lake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois, located on the North Shore of Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.