A series of price cuts preceded a $6.3 million deal for a Winnetka mansion atop a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, epitomizing the Chicago suburb’s typical luxury marketing routine of late.
The 7,400-square-foot home at 1134 Taylorsport Lane was first listed by sellers Jennifer and Craig Niemann for $7.5 million in June 2021, before multiple discounts brought the ask down to $6.75 million earlier this summer.
It closed for about $470,000 less than that. The 16 percent drop between the original listing and closing prices aligns with the gaps settled on by other sellers in the affluent North Shore suburb this year.
Ann Lyon (@properties)
Jennifer Niemann is the CEO of Forward Space, an office furniture dealership based in Chicago. Ann Lyon with @properties represented the Niemanns and did not respond to a request for comment on the pricing strategy. Frank Capitanini with Coldwell Banker Realty represented the buyers.
Last month, a century-old lakefront Winnetka mansion sold for $12.75 million, though it was originally listed for 20 percent more at $16 million. At that seven-bedroom property on 645 Sheridan Road, the buyers plan to replace it with a new home. Built around 1902, it needs repairs and renovations, according to the buyer’s agent.
Back on Taylorsport Lane, the Niemanns’ former five-bedroom, six-bathroom home was built in 1981 and features 100 feet of beachfront on Lake Michigan. It was expanded and renovated over the last four years, according to the public listing.
The Niemanns bought the home in 2016 at an even larger cut from the initial asking price for $3.7 million, down from the $5.75 million that its previous owners Roy and Elizabeth Skillicorn sought at the time.
Despite the price cut, it’s one of 10 sales of $5 million or more this year in Winnetka, where demand has doubled for such high-end homes compared to the five sales at or above that mark in all of 2021. The suburb’s luxury market surged even as the rest of the Chicago market cooled due to rising interest rates.
Winnetka’s other high-end properties also sold for below their initial listing prices, though not always by as much.
In August, the former Winnetka home of Arthur Nielsen, founder of the A.C. Nielsen Company, sold for $6.8 million after four months on the market and down from the $6.9 million listing price. Built in 1937, that 17,000-square-foot Tudor-style estate was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall, who designed other notable buildings in Chicago, including the Drake Hotel.
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