Staggering 70-Acre English Country Manor-Style Estate With $22 Million Price Tag Is Illinois’ Most Expensive Home Listing

An enormous, 70-acre, English country manor-style estate has made an imposing mark on the Illinois housing market after being listed for a staggering $22 million—making it the most expensive property currently available in the state.

The incredible 30,000-square-foot property is 44 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, nestled in the tony village of Barrington Hills. This posh home boasts eight bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms, and four half-baths.

Despite its impressive size, listing agent Mimi Noyes notes that the home still retains a sense of comfort and coziness, noting that it is unparalleled in the area.

“There’s nothing in the Chicagoland area that comes close to this,” says Noyes, who is co-listing the properties with John Morrison, of the @ Properties/Morrison Home Team. “It’s comfortable but not that opulent luxury.

“There’s a lot of houses when you get in the upper bracket that have a lot of the amenities in this house, but the warmth and the character sets this apart. The lower level is like an English pub with fireplaces and brick walls.”

That 9,000-square-foot space also boasts a wine cellar, billiard room, movie theater, massage room, an arcade room, a gymnasium, and a two-bedroom guest suite. And with five fireplaces throughout the home—including a two-sided fireplace in the dining room—literal warmth abounds here.

Referred to as Hidden Ponds, on account of its two ponds, the property includes a main house with eight bedrooms and 10 baths, plus a six-car attached garage.

The living room features a 30-foot ceiling with architectural trusses, along with walnut paneling, a limestone fireplace, and French doors that give way to a terrace overlooking the main pond. In the kitchen are chef-grade appliances, a walk-in pantry, and a raised-hearth stone fireplace.

Dinner parties can easily be hosted in the dining room, which has three adjacent butler’s pantries.

Meanwhile, the property’s 4,440-square-foot barn could be used by the buyer to showcase cars, antiques, or other collectibles—or to introduce a hobby farm with cows and chickens.

At the indoor gym, there’s a full basketball court (complete with scoreboards), and volleyball and pickleball nets. An outdoor pool and cabana are also on-site.

“This is an expensive workout gym at a health-club level,” says Noyes.

Since 2010, the sellers have owned the home, which was built six years prior and features a gated entry, a long winding driveway, and a landscaped motor court.

“A lot of homes, when they’re built, go to trends,” says Noyes. “This home was built trendless and timeless. It’s not one that needed to have updates. The quality is there, but the finishes are timeless. They didn’t miss a thing. They put it all in.”

For example, there’s Brazilian walnut floors; limestone, cathedral and vaulted ceilings; multiple staircases; an elevator; and a slate roof.

Barrington Hills, a village of around 4,000 people, has long been a desirable place to live.

“Barrington Hills offers the unique option of having more land because the minimum lot size is 5 acres,” says Noyes. “It’s really a rural village. There’s no downtown. Everyone goes to the village of Barrington as their downtown hub.”

Noyes’ target buyer is someone who wants “absolute privacy” and “options for what they want to do with the property.”

The sellers planted 500 evergreen trees, and the first owners also invested in landscaping.

“The people I have seen who gravitate toward this have a passion for land … to keep it as open space and improve it or enjoy the outdoor activities that you can on this kind of property,” says Noyes. “In the Chicagoland area, you can definitely shop for a magnificent home, including on the North Shore; but you can’t get this type of land.”