Winnetka mansion snagged for $12.3M in second-priciest deal this year

A Winnetka mansion just sold for an amount that rivals the priciest deal in the Chicago area this year.

The buyers, whose identities remain unknown, paid $12.25 million for the 10,000-square-foot house at 445 Sheridan Road in the northern suburb home to some of the area’s ritziest homes, the Chicago Tribune reported. Jena Radnay of @properties was the listing agent.

The sale marks the second most expensive transaction in Chicagoland this year, slightly trailing the $12.5 million sale of the 12,000-square-foot estate at 691 Sheridan Road, also listed by Radnay. For much of 2023, Ken Griffin’s Park Tower condo that traded for $11.2 million in January was the priciest deal of the year.

Akin to most other North Shore homes priced over $10 million, the 445 Sheridan Road mansion had to undergo a considerable price shop before landing a buyer. The owners, business executive Randy Abrahams and his wife, first listed the five-bedroom, three-story estate for $15.85 million in September 2022. In April, they slashed the asking price to just under $15 million. They bought the property for $8.1 million in 2006.

Despite recently rehabbing the mansion’s second floor, plenty of work still needs to be done, which contributed to the sale price being more than 22 percent below the initial ask. While Radnay believes the new owners will continue to revamp the home, it’s possible that they raze it and build something from scratch, similar to what billionaire Justin Ishbia has done in Winnetka, where he plans a sprawling megamansion set to cost over $40 million in construction. 

Sitting on a 2.2-acre lot, the 445 Sheridan mansion has seven bathrooms, five fireplaces, an elevator and a speakeasy bar. Outside, there’s a beach with 165 feet of shoreline, a pool, raised terrace and a newly-built cabana house.

The home, built in 1912, once belonged to philanthropist and author W. Clement Stone and his wife, Jessie. Its property tax bill was $154,850 in 2021.

— Quinn Donoghue 

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