end of an era on the north shore

[datasuspect]

Lansdowne, the last of the lakefront estates from the Gilded Age, has been sold to a developer who plans to subdivide the 21-acre property

By Mary Umberger
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 12, 2007

One can still live the Gatsby-esque estate lifestyle on the North Shore; it just will have to be on a smaller piece of land.

With the sale of a 21-acre Lake Bluff estate known as Lansdowne to a developer, the end of an era is at hand. The lakefront mansion was deemed to be the last of its kind, a cavernous home on vast acreage that symbolized the extraordinary wealth on the North Shore in the late 19th and 20th Centuries.

The Lansdowne property will now be carved up and parceled out, the parties involved said Wednesday.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_estate0712jul12,1,1697163.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[yellowdogintexas]

1. wow, hope he does acheive landmark status for the mansion

those things are worth preserving. And since he is subdividing into 2 - 3 acre plots, it won't over crowd either. Hopefully they will exercise control over the builders so the new homes have the look of the time period . There is an area here in FW where some smaller rather dumpy homes on the edge of a more affluent area from the 1920's/30's were torn down and new homes & town homes built. The architecture of the new homes really blends into the existing neighborhoods beautifully, except for the actual newness of the materials you would think they had always been there. Character was preserved, and the whole area looks better (those other houses really were dumpy)

It can be done, I hope so

[terrya]

2. And one by one, Chicago's history is being erased.

Unfortunate.

[datasuspect]

5. i don't even recognize chicago anymore

i remember taking the ravenswood line to kimball in the early or mid 90s.

a/b skip stops, express trains, and seats.

much of the local flavor (that i remember) is gone.

it's a transplant's paradise though.

to find authentic chicago, you have to go on the south side.

although lately, i've heard bridgeport (of all places!) is now a "hot" location.

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. That's rather sad....

But if the annual real estate taxes are running $170,000, I can sort of see that subdividing is the only alternative. Still, it is too bad that the grounds will be destroyed.

[datasuspect]

4. i worked for a guy who had one of those turn of the century houses

in lake forest.

those people live in nice places.