Another property belonging to the late businessman and philanthropist Richard Driehaus is up for sale.
His estate listed the Gold Coast brick mansion at 1401 North Dearborn Street for just under $6 million, Crain’s reported.
Built in 1877, the 8,650-square-foot home is known as the Luther McConnell House, after its original owner, a Marshall’s Field executive. Driehaus, who died in March 2021, bought the home in the mid-1980s and did a complete renovation.
Tim Salm and Matt Leutheuser of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty are representing the property.
This listing is the third in his estate to hit the market since his death in March of 2021. Earlier this year, his Lake Geneva mansion sold for $36 million, more than the sum of the second- and third-priciest homes in the area, after three months on the market. Another mansion he owned on North State Parkway has been on the market since July with a $4.9 million ask.
In 1986, the house was used to film a brief exterior shot of the fictional Chez Quis restaurant in John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” The side entrance of the home, which opens onto West Schiller Street, can be seen in a seconds-long shot. The scene was filmed before Driehaus transformed the home and its exertion appearance is quite different today.
The home has two main living rooms and features vintage ornamental plaster on the walls and ceilings, herringbone-patterned hardwood floors and multiple grand chandeliers.
It also features two staircases. One, is a marble and wrought iron staircase in the main entry and is capped by a stained-glass skylight. The second features an art-deco design, which was inspired by the French liner S.S. Normandie.
A glass-wrapped conservatory/sun room on the top level of the home opens onto a large rooftop deck. There is also an elevator that serves every level of the home.
This is the second active listing to hit the market in the Chicago area that once served a Hollywood film site. The state of Illinois is trying to unload a 23-acre property that includes the riverfront silos featured in the film “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” Bids for the property must be submitted by October 19 and must be at least $3.25 million.
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— Victoria Pruitt