Chicago Bears head coach Dick Jauron has decided to put down his roots close to the team’s headquarters, purchasing an 11-room colonial in Lake Forest for $1.385 million.
Jauron, 48, was signed in January to a four-year, $4.4 million contract as the team’s head coach, replacing Dave Wannstedt, who was fired after consecutive seasons in which the team posted records of 4-12.
A former NFL defensive back who has been coaching since 1985, Jauron previously was the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jauron’s two-story house has five bedrooms and four fireplaces. The 6,200-square-foot house, which sits on a 1.7-acre site, was built in 1998 and sat on the market for about a month and a half before Jauron made his offer. The house also has hardwood floors, 9-foot ceilings in the basement and on the first floor, arched openings and a kitchen with granite countertops.
Back in Jacksonville, there is no information yet on whether Jauron and his wife will list the property in the Deer Creek Country Club area of that town, bought in 1995. Although their purchase price at that time was unavailable, they took out a mortgage of almost $360,000, and real estate sources in that community say houses in that subdivision sell in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.
In moving to the north suburb, Jauron continues Wannstedt’s tradition of Bears coaches living near Halas Hall. Earlier this year, Wannstedt sold his 12-room house in the Meadows area of the north suburb for $1.075 million.
Jean Anderson of Koenig & Strey was the listing agent for the house that Jauron purchased.
– A vintage Gold Coast row house that is owned by an Olympic gold medal figure skater and her real estate developer husband has gone on the market for $3.1 million.
The house, at 115 E. Bellevue Pl., is owned by Thomas V. King and his wife, Barbara King. Back in 1948, Barbara King, then known as Barbara Ann Scott, won the Gold medal for Canada in figure skating. The couple will relocate to a primary residence in Florida.
The Kings’ three-story, more than 5,000-square-foot house was built in 1891.
“The house has been virtually gutted and rehabbed to incorporate the finest Old World details with top quality modern amenities,” said exclusive listing agent Heather Bilandic of Sudler and Co.
Among the house’s more unusual details are an in-ground, irregularly shaped indoor pool, which is rare in the immediate neighborhood.
The residence’s lower level functions as an entire private health spa, with a sauna, steam room and lounge area. The lower level also includes a heated, one-car garage.
Elsewhere in the Kings’ house are a master bedroom suite that has his and hers custom bathrooms, a huge dressing room and Lake Michigan views from a Juliet balcony. The house’s second floor also has a music room and a library with 10-foot ceilings and custom-designed floor-to-ceiling cabinetry.
– A historic, four-story home in west suburban Riverside that was built in 1869 has just undergone a price reduction, to $975,000 from $1.2 million.
The house, known as “Seven Chimneys,” is a 17-room, 10,000-square-foot Victorian Gothic home with eight bedrooms, 13-foot ceilings and honey mellow hardwood floors. Owned by Michael Baldinger and his wife, Jane, the house, at 84 Riverside Road, was built by Chicago architect William LeBaron Jenny. Its name comes from the fact that its nine fireplaces feed seven chimneys.
“It is said that Charles Lindbergh used the house’s chimneys as a guide when flying his route from Hines to St. Louis,” said listing agent Diana Garber of Prudential Preferred Properties, noting that “Lindy” had few other landmarks to guide him at that time.
The house, which sits on a 0.87-acre tract, has still more claims to fame as a location that has been used for several movies and television commercials. It has a 50-foot-long main foyer with a grand staircase, a library, a conservatory, and several other rooms that sound like they belong in the board game “Clue.”
Garber said the Baldingers, who restored the mansion, will divide their time between homes in Chicago and Galena once they sell “Seven Chimneys.”
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