A five-bedroom vintage Prairie-style mansion in Wilmette that was designed by a noted architectural firm and was owned by former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha from 1998 until 2001 has been listed for $2.87 million.
Built in 1909, the 17-room brick house was designed by the Tallmadge & Watson architectural firm and sits on an unusually large, half-acre lot. Iha bought the house in 1998 for $1.05 million, and he sold it in 2001 for $1.16 million to the current owner, Liz Van Horn.
Van Horn, who is affiliated with Coldwell Banker, also is the home’s listing agent. She expanded the home in 2010.
“It’s situated on a large block in east Wilmette, where there are only four houses on the block, and each of us has approximately a half-acre,” she told Elite Street. “It’s a magical house, and it’s got a phenomenal layout, with a beautiful hearth room, a huge stone masonry fireplace, and it’s got a room for every season.”
The 6,000-square-foot mansion has 5½ bathrooms, a two-story stained glass front window gable and a hearth room with a 10-foot ceiling, built-in custom cabinetry, a fireplace and a wet bar. Other features include a kitchen with granite countertops and a new double oven, a mudroom, a primary bedroom suite with a two-story stained glass window, a new slate roof, a lower-level family room, copper gutters and downspouts, a paneled dining room, an office and a living room with Prairie-style quarter-sawn wood banding, built-in bookcases and a narrow Roman brick gas fireplace.
Van Horn said she is selling the house because she is downsizing. She first listed the home in July, and she now has a contract to sell it. Her co-listing agent is Vicki Nelson of Coldwell Banker.
The mansion had a $35,398 property tax bill in the 2020 tax year.
Founded by two former draftsmen for architect Daniel H. Burnham, the Tallmadge & Watson firm designed numerous homes in Chicago’s suburbs, including in Evanston, Oak Park, Wilmette and Glen Ellyn.
Iha now owns a vintage three-bedroom house in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood, which he purchased in 2015 for $1.045 million.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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