RxBar Co-Founder Jared Smith Bought $12.5M Winnetka Home

One of the founders of a protein bar company is responsible for the priciest Chicago-area home sale so far this year.

RxBar co-founder Jared Smith and his wife Gabriella were the buyers who paid $12.5 million for the 12,000-square-foot mansion at 691 Sheridan Road in the northern suburb of Winnetka, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Smiths’ purchase, which occurred at the end of July, topped the $11.2 million sale of Ken Griffin’s Park Tower condo as the most expensive transaction of 2023. It was also the largest Winnetka sale since July 2022, when billionaire Justin Ishbia paid $16 million for a 9,900-square-foot mansion.

That house and neighboring homes that Ishbia purchased are part of a controversial demolition project that will make way for a megamansion set to cost $44 million on top of the more than $30 million Ishbia spent assembling the parcels into his development site.

Smith co-founded RxBar in 2012 and eventually sold it to Kellogg for $600 million. The couple’s new Winnetka home features five bedrooms, seven-and-a-half bathrooms and elegant design elements such as Phillip Jeffries linen wall coverings. The property spans a little less than an acre and has a multitude of luxury amenities, including a reception foyer with a bridal staircase, a dome ceiling in the dining room and a butler’s pantry.

The mansion was sold through an opaque land trust, thus concealing the sellers’ identities. The property’s tax bill was $131,493 in the 2021 tax year, the newspaper reported.

The mansion, built in 2005 and extensively renovated in 2017, also includes a primary bedroom suite with a private deck, screened porch, theater, recreation area, gym and a newly built-out office. It also has a heated six-car garage and a brand-new roof. Outside, there’s a pool, hot tub, viewing patios and a 94-foot-wide beach.

The Smiths have bought and sold their fair share of lavish estates in Chicagoland. Last month, they sold their 7,000-square-foot home in Lincoln Park for $4.75 million, and they have another six-bedroom home in Winnetka that’s under contract to sell for a little over $4 million.

About a month after the couple’s recent purchase, another Winnetka mansion traded for $12.3 million, marking the second priciest deal of the year. Those buyers were recently identified as Shiraz and Vijay Kotte, both executives in healthcare-related fields.

— Quinn Donoghue