On 9-4-09, I received E-Mail that said:
Saw your castle list in looking for the one in Peoria on Grandview Drive and thought you might want to add this one in Oak Brook, Illinois:
This is from a real estate listings site. I have seen the place in person from 31st Street, I just didn't realize what the FRONT of it looks like.
{{Castlefinder note!}}
This was on the market for sale, but I understand it has either been sold or removed
from the market. Does anyone have more information?
Then on 9-26-09, I received e-mail that said:
Did some further searching - Paydirt!
There's a ton of pictures on a tiny link on the "Portfolio" page. Looks like it's for sale after all, down to $4M possibly.
On 1-19-11, I received e-mail that said:
I found the Oak Brook Castle on realtor.com listed for $4.95 mil. This property is gorgeous inside and out!
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3015-Lincoln-Road_Oak-Brook_IL_60523_M88404-14496
On 3-28-11, I received e-mail that said:
Oak Brook, Illinois is known for having some over-the-top homes but this castle (yes, a real castle) takes the cake. I found out about it from one of the commenters on Crib Chatter a couple of days ago. As he said, "what a waste of resources".
Still under construction and owned by Iwanski-Pyzik Masonry, the 18,000 square foot castle is located at 3015 Lincoln Rd and is currently listed at $4.95 MM by Marylou Scala of ERA. The lot was apparently bought by the builder in June 2007 for $875K. According to the listing it can be finished off in about 3 months. Surprisingly, it only has 5 bedrooms, which means the knights are going to have to double up when they come over for a round table meeting. That's probably the only reason that the home has been on the market for 698 days. It started out at $4 MM and when it didn't sell after 6 months they raised the price to $5.75 MM. OK, in all fairness they probably changed what was included at that price. In December the price was dropped to $4.95 MM.
Here are some other stats on the place:
* "Sixteen inch walls [cement, brick, and stone] thus giving the owner a fortress like feeling of security"
* 18 total rooms
* 7 full baths and 2 half baths
* Vaulted/Cathedral ceilings (but of course)
* 4 horse garage
* 6 fireplaces
* No mention of a moat (I'm sure you can negotiate that)
* The lot is not quite an acre so that kinda limits the potential for jousting tournaments
Given the events in the Middle East those 16 inch stone walls could come in handy if the serfs should decide to storm the castle (another reason to negotiate that moat). Check out the photo gallery below. The photos seem to reinforce my perception that castles were always rather cold places.
According to an earlier article from Chicago Magazine the builder always dreamed of building a castle. The article also mentions that in case he can't sell it his plan B is to use it as a bed and breakfast, though he still needs to get approval from the village for that.
There is a very strange Web site that promotes this property at www.kingwanted.com. The reason I find the site strange is that it simultaneously promotes the King's Hall banquet center coming to Lombard in May and a limousine rental service using photos with the castle as a backdrop. It's not clear what the connection is but I can only assume that Lord Iwanski has an interest in the other two business ventures as well.
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-real-estate-getting-real/2011/02/oak-brook-castle-still-looking-for-king.html#ixzz1HsZUD3AZ
On 4-25-11, I received e-mail that said:
I found this video with the person who built the castle, but the thing is it shows
the same parts of the house and never show anything of it, such as the kitchen,
bedrooms, garage, living room and so forth...little disapointing...
On 1-22-2014, I received e-mail that said:
Here are some finished photos of Oakbrook Castle...WOW!!!
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Brook/3015-Lincoln-Rd-60523/home/21734248/mred-07752658
Back to "Castles of the United States"
http://www.wgntv.com/news/eveningnews/wgntv-inside-a-castle-built-for-a-kingof-oak-brook-20110304,0,342211.story