Should’ve known better: Richard Marx relists lakefront mansion for half original price

The singer-songwriter and his ex, actress Cynthia Rhodes, are now seeking $9M for the Lake Bluff home

Richard Marx and actress Cynthia Rhodes, pictured in a scene from Dirty Dancing. (Credit from left: Casino Regina/Wikimedia Commons, @properties, Great American Films Limited Partnership)
Richard Marx and actress Cynthia Rhodes, pictured in a scene from Dirty Dancing. (Credit from left: Casino Regina/Wikimedia Commons, @properties, Great American Films Limited Partnership)

Singer-songwriter Richard Marx and his ex-wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes, slashed the asking price on their North Shore mansion for the fifth time.

They are now asking $9 million for the 29,000-square-foot Lake Bluff estate, half of what they first sought in 2014, according to Crain’s.

Marx and Rhodes married in 1989 and bought the lakefront property in 1997 for a little more than $3.1 million. They added an 8,000-square-foot building that includes a music studio, kitchen and two bedrooms, listing agent Andra O’Neill of @properties said.

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The mansion has seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and at least 400 feet of Lake Michigan frontage, O’Neill said. It originally was designed by architect David Alder for an heir to the Armour & Company meatpacking fortune.

Suburban native Marx had four platinum albums in the 1980s and 1990s, with hits like “Should’ve Known Better” and “Right Here Waiting.” He won a Grammy in 2004 with Luther Vandross for writing the crooner’s hit, “Dance With My Father.”

Rhodes’ roles included parts in “Flashdance,” “Staying Alive” and “Dirty Dancing.” The couple divorced in 2014, and Marx married actress Daisy Fuentes the next year.

Even though the Chicago area luxury market has been robust, there still are some languishing listings, including several on the North Shore. None is more well known — or has seen as many price cuts — as Michael Jordan’s Highland Park mansion. [Crain’s]—John O’Brien