A three-bedroom, one-story midcentury modern-style house in Glencoe that was designed by the firm Keck & Keck was listed on Wednesday for $750,000.
Located in Glencoe’s Forest Crest subdivision, which was designed by Keck & Keck, the 2,530-square-foot house was built in 1953. It backs up to the old Hoover estate on Green Bay Road, which has been subdivided into 29 single-family lots, while the northern tip of the lot adjoins the Turnbull Woods Forest Preserve.
Owners Daniel and Jessica Katz bought the house for $670,000 in 2016. The couple long had held an interest in modern design and had wanted to buy a midcentury modern house in the area.
“One of the best features of this home is how it blurs the boundary between indoors and outdoors,” the couple wrote in response to a Tribune request for comment. “Whether it is a winter snowfall, a thunderstorm or the fireflies in summer, the large windows and 360-degree sunroom bring the outside inside. For this reason, we have invested in upgrading the landscaping and modern fencing in order to help accentuate this incredible feature.”
The couple noted that the house features a form of ventilation known as “Keck vents,” which bring the airflow from breezes off Lake Michigan.
Daniel Katz currently teaches at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law, and he noted that he has taken an interest in the application of design and technology in reducing the complexity of the law. As such, he wrote that he has drawn inspiration from the work of Keck & Keck and from other modernists “who sought to bring form and function to the world.” He added that George Fred Keck had been the head of architecture at the New Bauhaus School, which now is called the IIT Institute of Design.
Other features in the house include three bathrooms, a rambling floor plan, a living room with a large brick fireplace, wood-beamed ceilings, a family room that is completely surrounded by windows, radiant heated floors, a new roof, an eat-in kitchen with updated granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and a primary bedroom suite with a walk-in closet.
“The location is the fairy tale street of 20 Keck & Keck (houses), surrounded by woods, deer, hawks and light incorporated in the inside and the outside of these homes,” said co-listing agent Joe Schiller of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, who is listing the house along with Todd Shissler. “It’s one of a kind.”
The house had an $11,502 property tax bill in the 2019 tax year.
Goldsborough is a freelance writer.
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