Lake Forest mansion relists, hoping to ride home sales wave

When the former CEO of General Dynamics and his wife listed their 13,000-square-foot Lake Forest mansion in late June, the Chicago housing market was still scuffling from pandemic restrictions and buyer apprehension.

The couple soon pulled it from the market, but now, months into what has been a strong run of sales in Lake Forest and the suburbs in general, the couple relisted the property with the same $6.5 million price tag, according to Crain’s.

Nicholas and Eleanor Chabraja’s five-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion at 1230 West Summerfield Drive was built in 2010. It faces a pond, and includes a pool.
Luxury sales in the suburbs jumped 40 percent in 2020, and Lake Forest led the way.

The city saw the biggest increase in home sales over 2019, with 149 homes sold — a 69 percent jump, according to a recent report.
The most expensive Lake Forest property now on the market is an $11 million mansion that overlooks Lake Michigan. Over the past four years, there have been two Lake Forest mansions that have sold for over $6 million, according to Crain’s.
Timing is everything. In early February 2020, former Boeing CEO James McNerney and his wife, Haity, listed their Lake Forest mansion for $4.8 million. It was a deep discount from the $7.6 million they had paid more than a dozen years earlier. The home at 1291 Elm Tree Road ended up selling in August, for just under $4 million, according to Redfin. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman