Long-Vacant Chicago-Area Mansion Hits Market for $6.5 Million

A Barrington mansion that’s been empty longer than some downtown towers launched back onto the market at a staggering discount.

The 22,000-square-foot estate at 344 Old Sutton Road, built in 2005 and unsold since 2007, is asking $6.5 million, or $10.5 million below its debut price nearly two decades ago, Crain’s reported. The asking price equates to $295 per square foot.

Set on 14.4 acres, the Mt. Vernon-style residence has been in a kind of stately stasis the entire time.

The house has been “very well tended to” under its absentee owners, requiring no repairs but leaving ample budget room for a buyer to remake the interiors, listing agent Gregg Bernadette of HomeSmart Connect told the outlet.

“At $6.5 million, you might walk in and drop another million to make it look the way you want,” Bernadette said.

The property has paved a long path of price reductions since its first $17 million listing. It most recently fell off the market in September at $6.5 million before reemerging at the same number on Nov. 12. Built atop a rise overlooking a private lake, the home includes seven bedrooms, a dramatic sweeping staircase, ornate fireplaces, a theater and a pool.

The seller is the Forsythe Building Fund, tied to power-equipment executive and investor Gerald Forsythe, CEO and chairman of Indeck, whose ventures stretch from industrial plants to pro racing to luxury golf.

The fund bought the unfinished structure in 2003 for $1.85 million and poured at least $10 million into completing and upgrading it, Bernadette said. Forsythe has never lived there; the asset was purely an investment play, he confirmed through previous brokers.

Forsythe is also linked to another Barrington mega-mansion roughly three miles away — also 22,000 square feet — that recently went under contract at $6.5 million after once asking $10.5 million.

Carrying costs on the Old Sutton property have added up: Last year’s tax bill exceeded $94,000, and upkeep for nearly two decades of vacancy stretches far higher. Crews from Forsythe’s commercial holdings routinely maintain the lawn, winterize the home and keep the structure secure.

The Barrington luxury market is thin at this altitude. Only one property north of $6 million sold there this decade: The Barrington Hills mansion featured on Empire, which traded in April for $9.4 million after 12 years on the market.

— Eric Weilbacher