Sellers of Record Winnetka Home Pay $14M for Kenilworth Home

Fresh off setting a Chicago-area residential price record, Jeffrey and Ashley Quicksilver quietly reappeared — snapping up a historic lakefront mansion in Kenilworth for $14.5 million.

The Quicksilvers sold their 16,000-square-foot, five-bedroom Georgian-style estate in Winnetka at 609 Sheridan Road for $32.5 million in November, Cook County records show. The couple were the buyers of the Kenilworth deal that closed in late October, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Jeffrey Quicksilver is a co-founder of Walton Street Capital, one of Chicago’s most prominent real estate investment firms. His wife, Ashley Quicksilver, owns Athene, a high-end women’s boutique in Winnetka. Together, they used a land trust to purchase the Kenilworth property at 219 Sheridan Road, masking their identities until now — a tactic also employed by the still unknown buyers of their record-setting Winnetka estate.

The Kenilworth home sits on roughly a half-acre with 115 feet of Lake Michigan frontage and comes with a lineup of outdoor amenities, including a boathouse, fire pit area, glass-enclosed patio and multiple terraces. Records show the Quicksilvers have already explored zoning relief to add a swimming pool on the bluff’s land and have expressed interest in adding a bathroom to the existing boathouse.

Built in 1914, the three-story mansion was developed by Paul Starrett, the legendary builder behind the Empire State Building and the Lincoln Memorial. The six-bedroom home has been fully restored, blending preserved architectural details — original moldings, oak floors and custom wrought-iron railings — with modern upgrades, including new mechanical systems, windows, a smart home platform and zoned climate control.

Highlights of the interior work include a primary suite with a custom wardrobe room featuring leather accents, along with a lower level outfitted with a wine cellar, theater, catering kitchen and wellness center complete with sauna, steam room and massage space. The $14.5 million price tag also included roughly $500,000 worth of furniture and personal property, according to records.

Jena Radnay of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate represented the Quicksilvers in both deals and confirmed to Elite Street their role as the Kenilworth buyers.

“It wasn’t about a down-trade,” Radnay told the outlet. “It was an up-trade. The Kenilworth mansion was a smaller scale but the same level of exquisite finishes.”

The seller of the Kenilworth home was Yoanna Kulas, founder of design firm Caladrius Studio.

— Eric Weilbacher