A four-bedroom Mediterranean-style mansion in Elmhurst that is a prominent local landmark sold on Sept. 26 for $2.39 million — more than 36% less than the sellers had sought for the home when they first listed it last year.
Built in 1929 and located just south of downtown Elmhurst, the ivy-covered mansion was owned in the early 1950s by Burl Dollens, who was the general manager of General Motors’ former Electro-Motive Division locomotive plant in McCook. The sellers paid $1.5 million for the mansion in 2001 and remodeled and expanded it in 2004.
The 6,671-square-foot mansion has six bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a first-floor English pub, a custom Amish kitchen, a finished basement and a four-car garage. Outside on the 0.73-acre property — which is unusually large for Elmhurst — are a renovated pool and spa, bluestone walkways and patios, an expansive front lawn, a gazebo, extensive gardens and a covered terrace with an outdoor garden.
In the mid-1990s, an earlier owner had developed a “Great Gatsby”-era garden that was recreated from photographs taken in the 1920s.
“The house stands for itself,” listing agent Chris Pequet of Jameson Sotheby’s told Elite Street. “The history of it was what really sold the house and had the buyers appreciate it. It’s the coolest house in town.”
The sellers first listed the mansion in March 2021 for $3.75 million and cut their asking price to $3.37 million in July 2021. They then reduced their asking price to $2.95 million in September 2021 and finally to $2.69 million in May.
The mansion had a $36,236 property tax bill in the 2021 tax year.
Elmhurst’s record home sale continues to be a seven-bedroom, 11,108-square-foot mansion in south Elmhurst that sold in November 2021 for $3.35 million.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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