Serial retail entrepreneur drops $6.3M on Winnetka home

The off-market deal is the first time the home has been sold since 1999

Tecovas' Brian Spaly with 1225 Whitebridge Hill Road (Mucker, Google Maps)
Tecovas' Brian Spaly with 1225 Whitebridge Hill Road (Mucker, Google Maps)

The man behind Bonobos, Trunk Club and Tecovas is the new owner of a lakefront Winnetka property.

Brian Spaly, currently the executive chairman at Tecovas, a cowboy and Western-style boot company, purchased the home on Whitebridge Lane under an LLC for $6.3 million last month, according to records.

The deal appears to be off market and it is unknown who represented Spaly and the sellers, Daniel and Karen Considine. Attorneys listed on the Cook County records for both parties did not respond to a request for comment.

Spaly’s Linkedin places him in Austin, Texas, where Tecovas is headquartered, but he has roots in the Chicago area. A Detroit native, Spaly started menswear brand Bonobos while in the MBA program at Stanford University. He exited the startup in 2009 and it was acquired by Walmart in 2017. Spaly then became the founder and CEO of then Chicago-based Trunk Club, which was acquired by Nordstrom for $350 million in 2014.

Publicly disclosed details on the home are sparse, but Redfin and Zillow list the 2,800-square-foot property at four bedrooms and four bathrooms, making it one of the smaller homes along affluent shoreline. Homes on either side of the property have sold in recent years for $5 million and $5.5 million.

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The property is on just over an acre and has only changed hands a few times since it was built in the 70s. The Considines purchased the property in 1999.

Winnetka often earns top dollar for its listings along the North Shore. Last month, a century-old lakefront home hit the market asking $15.85 million. The Mediterranean-style villa at 445 Sheridan Road is the second-highest priced property in the Chicago area.

In August, the former home of Arthur Nielsen, founder of the A.C. Nielsen Company, sold for $6.8 million. Built in 1937, the 17,000-square-foot Tudor-style estate was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall. Marshall’s portfolio includes notable Chicago buildings such as the Drake Hotel, the Edgewater Beach Hotel, the South Shore Country Club and the Blackstone Hotel and Theater.

That same month, a century-old lakefront mansion sold for $12.75 million. The seven-bedroom home at 645 Sheridan Road was built around 1902 and the buyers plan to demolish it and build a new home.

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