Chicago Tribune, 2004

In a former field turned home site, the answer might be quite a bit.

Northbrook-based Ferris Homes is putting the emphasis on trees for its Liberty Grove development in Libertyville. The project, planned for 18 houses and 30 townhouses on the suburb’s northern edge, is being built in and around a natural stand of timber.

The company is using a tree motif in brochures handed to prospective buyers and is touting the proximity, across busy Milwaukee Avenue, also called Illinois Highway 21, of Independence Grove nature preserve with 1,100 leafy acres and a 115-acre lake.

The development has two models–one with a familiar, sensible floor plan which has been tweaked in some very pleasing ways, and the other with a more dramatic, but for my money, less satisfying layout.

Let’s start with the drama. The Spruce townhouse model has 2,433 square-feet on three levels with three bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. Base-priced at $420,900, it is about in the middle of the six available townhouse plans in terms of square footage. An end unit, the Spruce has a multi-sided corner and lattice trim for a Victorian or Queen Anne aura–think Newport circa 1890s.

The interior floor plan is all modern, however. The lower level, where most residents will enter from the two-car garage at the rear of the building, has an oversized closet which can be the shaft for a residential elevator if desired as well as a laundry room.

This floor has stairs to the main floor and a basement area with a 22- by 27-foot room for storage.
The front door is at the side of the building, not the front facade. Visitors enter a small foyer opening to the kitchen straight ahead, the family living area to the right and a dining area and hall to the powder room and master suite to the left.

The living/kitchen/dining is one large room toward the back overlooking trees. A balcony, big enough for a cafe table with two chairs, is to the left of the great room.

Though the food preparation area is nicely configured, this is a kitchen without much storage. A closet next to the foyer could serve that purpose, but it is the space for the elevator, if installed, and is shown with a stackable washer and dryer.

The piece de resistance of the model is the master suite at the front of the building. Down a short hall and past a powder room and a large walk-in closet, the master suite includes a 17-by-15-foot bedroom with windows on four of the seven walls.

To the right is the master bath, a comfortable room with two sinks and dressing counter in one room and separate rooms for shower and toilet.

The master bath is well-planned. One person can shower in privacy while another uses the sink and mirror.

The bedroom is more problematic. While I love the flood of natural light, I don’t imagine you could lie in bed and stay for long hours after sunrise. The bedroom is at the front of the house in full view of the neighbors.

More to my liking is the similar, more private, bedroom on the floor above, also with a private bath and a huge walk-in closet. At the back of this floor is the third bedroom, about 16 by 12 feet, shown as a den, with a cozy 9-by-6-foot balcony sheltered enough so the view can be enjoyed with some privacy.

This is a townhouse with plenty of room and plenty of space in the bedrooms. So much drama and square footage are devoted to private rooms, however, they overshadow the family area.

In contrast, the Aspen model has a floor plan that, to me, achieves the open feeling needed for larger gatherings, yet with spaces that are cozy enough to be comfortable for two people.

I like this house in spite of the two-car front-loading garage. Visitors should note that this model is liberally upgraded so it costs, as shown, about $740,000 compared to the $633,900 base price.
The 2,492 square foot home is nestled next to the grove of trees at the center of the development. It has a small sheltered porch on the front.

Visitors step into a central foyer with doors to the study and great room at the left and the kitchen straight ahead. To the right of the foyer is the stairway to the second floor, stairs to the full basement and a hallway to the master bedroom suite.

The second floor has a loft room at the top of the stairs and two bedrooms, both about 13 by 12 feet, that share a Jack ‘n Jill bath.

The study, great room and dining room are not overly large by today’s standards. The so-called great room with a fireplace is about 14 by 21 feet and the dining room is about 12 by 12 1/2 feet.

The kitchen is large enough for a table and chairs.. Both the dining room and the kitchen have a door to a patio behind the house, expanding the entertaining space.

The hallway to the right of the foyer leads past the laundry room, which serves as a mud and transition room between the garage and the house, and to the master suite.

The bedroom at the back of the house has windows on two sides and a door that opens to the patio where, if I were the homeowner, I would sip my morning coffee and gaze at the trees.

(Copyright 2004 by the Chicago Tribune)

Tags: Independence Grove, landscaping, Libertyville

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