Historic Lake Forest mansion sells for $6.3M in off-market deal

Chicagoland has seen a surge in home buying activity so far this year, and that includes the luxury market.

The estate of Desmond LaPlace, former vice chairman of ACCO Brands, who died in September, has sold his 6,500-square-foot Lake Forest mansion for almost $6.3 million to the couple next door, the Chicago Tribune reported. That’s about $971 per square foot.

The buyers were David and Diana Moore, who founded Waukegan-based Woodland Foods in 1990 and sold the company several years ago. 

It was an off-market deal, and therefore few details are known about the property. The mansion was extensively renovated in 1957 by architect Herman Lackner, according to a historic report submitted to the city of Lake Forest in 2020.

Built in 1899, the mansion was designed by architect Arthur Heun and once was home to Donald M. Ryerson, the former chairman of his family’s steel company, Joseph T. Ryerson & Son. It stayed with the family until his wife Isabelle’s death in 1976.

In 2020, LaPlace purchased an adjacent 1.5-acre property for $1.1 million. He demolished the single-family home on that lot, expanding his spread to 4.36 acres. The site of the razed house once served as a stable for LaPlace, the outlet said.

The estate had a property tax bill of $95,089 in 2022.

Only a handful of Lake Forest homes have traded for more than what the Moores paid. In November, the seven-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot mansion at 1421 Lake Road sold for $7.8 million. Buyers paid $7.9 million for the 7,600-square-foot home at 255 North Green Bay Road last summer, following a $1 million price chop.

In 2022, the estate of Nancy Hughes, who was the widow of filmmaker John Hughes, sold a 12,000-square-foot estate in the northern suburb for $12.9 million. 

—Quinn Donoghue 

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