This lake is lined with $15MM houses. There are others at $20MM. Some, still at $12MM. Several at $17MM. There are estates that the owners likely value at $30MM. Some will say they are priceless, which we know is untrue even if it is a nice thing to say about something. Everything has a price. And on Geneva Lake, the trend has been cemented: Build for $20MM, but rarely buy for more than $8MM. Buy land for three or four or five or six, and then build without restraint and without pause. The while we’re at it numbers add up and the time wears on. Summers are lost. When the house is done, the grounds landscaped, the last hydrangea dropped into the last hole, the tally feels immeasurable. But it isn’t. It’s measurable, it’s quantifiable, and it’s a number that would make every personal accountant cringe. While it makes sense to buy vacant land and build with some measure of restraint, this has not been the trend. The trend is to fill a lake with $15MM homes even though the lake cannot, and likely, will not, ever support that value.
On Pebble Point, there is a home. It was build just a few years ago of slate and stone, the exposed timber and gas lanterns lending an architectural style rarely executed with this level of perfection. Inside, quarter sawn oak has been made into floors, trim, doors and so much custom cabinetry. Onyx and marble and quartz grace the counters and floors. Fireplaces, seemingly too many to count, each of limestone and formidable masonry. The house is a beautiful house, no one could argue this. But this isn’t a big house built on some normal property- this is a beautiful custom home built on 3.3 wooded acres culminating with 224′ along the water’s edge. This is the rare combination of estate land with an estate home, and it’s available today as my newest listing for $9.95MM.
There is little in this home that isn’t pleasing. The layout, it’s divine. The exterior spaces- those bluestone patios and that lakeside screened porch- scaled exactly and as comfortably as they should be. The finishes are the new luxe, that mix of traditional and modern that lends a freshness to an otherwise traditional aesthetic. Think sleek finishes in natural materials, decorated simply but with high quality everything. The light fixtures are playful yet bold, fun and modern and appropriate at once. The house is the brain child of renowned Chicago architects- a group that has drawn this and two other marquee homes on Geneva Lake. But I’m not going to go on and on, even though this is admittedly my tendency, I’m just going to leave this video here for your viewing pleasure. The home fits this lake, it fits the market, and it makes perfect sense for any buyer seeking to build new. Why build new and spend $15MM on something that won’t be as nice as what I can sell you for $9.95MM?
I had a friend who lived in Lake Forest and back then I was jealous. He was a rising physician but lived in “west” Lake Forest and was jealous of those in “ELF”, East Lake Forest, nearer Lake Michigan. This reminds me a bit of that…are those in $7MM houses jealous of those in $13MM houses? Do the people in $13MM houses wish they lived in the $20MM houses? Nice video and good points.