Home of former Sears head and Allstate founder lists for $2.95M

A 7,000-square-foot Highland Park lakefront mansion that was the longtime home of Sears head Gen. Robert Wood has hit the market for the first time in almost 50 years.

The eight-bedroom home at 54 Laurel Lane in the northern Chicago suburb has been listed for the first time since 1974, Crain’s reported. It’s asking $2.95 million.

Stephanie Weisman of Compass is the listing agent.

Built in 1929, the house has leaded glass windows, ornamental ceilings, five fireplaces and an elevator. Its kitchen and bathrooms need renovations, making it a pricey fixer upper.

The home, which sits above a lakefront bluff, doesn’t have direct access to or ownership of the beach below. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for that portion of the land and the new owners could apply for an easement that would grant access.

Wood helped Sears launch physical retail stores after the success of its catalog business. He also launched the Allstate insurance company and was a founder of the America First Committee, which was an isolationist group that spoke out against the U.S. joining the second World War.

At the time of Wood’s death, in 1969, he was no longer living in the Highland Park home. He had relocated to Lake Forest years prior.

The city of Highland Park bought the mansion in 1974 and ran the property as a senior citizens community center from 1976 to 2021, when it moved to a new building. The city maintained the stone exterior and certain interior details like the ceilings and carved wood trims.

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