Lake Forest home of John Hughes’ widow asks $15M

The Lake Forest mansion that John Hughes’ widow bought shortly before her own death three years ago has hit the market for $15 million.

The 11,900-square-foot, six-bedroom property at 263 North Mayflower Road, remained unsold after being listed on an agents-only private network in March of this year, Crain’s reported. The gated property landed on the public market yesterday and is the highest-priced listing in Lake Forest.

263 North Mayflower Road (Redfin)

Built in 2009, the fieldstone-accented home has a columned front porch and a triple-peaked roof. It sits on just over five acres acres and includes a four-passenger tram that carries residents down the bluff to a private beach.

Inside, it has large formal rooms, a second-floor billiards room, a balcony facing Lake Michigan and an elevator that accesses all three levels of the home. Outside is a large swimming pool and a pool house with a living room, changing rooms and a full kitchen.

263 North Mayflower Road (Redfin)

263 North Mayflower Road (Redfin)

John was a native to the Chicago area and incorporated his roots into his definitive 1980s body of work as a director and producer. His films were almost exclusively set in and around Chicago, including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Home Alone” and several others.

When he died in 2009 at the age of 59, the couple lived on a farm on Westminster Road in Lake Forest. Shortly after his death, Nancy bought a $5.2 million mansion elsewhere in Lake Forest and donated the Westminster property to the Lake Forest Hospital. The hospital sold it in 2015 for $4 million.

She bought the Mayflower Road property for $12 million in January 2018 and died in September 2019 at the age of 68.

The listing is among the priciest in Lake Forest. A property on Stone Gate Road is asking $12.5 million.

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CORRECTION: 8/18/22: The headline, subheadline and final paragraphh of this story have been corrected to show the home listed for $15 million.

— Victoria Pruit