Kerry Wood, a retired pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, and his spouse, Sarah, have listed their 11,250-square-foot, six-bedroom Georgian Revival-style estate in Winnetka for $8.49 million.
The 46-year-old Wood initially gained notoriety in 1998 when, as a rookie, he shut out 20 players. From 1998 to 2008, he pitched for the team; he rejoined them for his final two seasons. Wood was the Cubs’ president of baseball operations’ special assistant before taking on the role of Cubs ambassador.
Wood also started the Pitch-In after-school mentorship programme with his wife. Furthermore, the Cubs declared on Friday that Wood had been inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.
Through an Illinois limited liability company, The Woods purchased their three-story mansion in 2019 through an off-market deal. Designed by architect William Otis, the home was constructed in 1902 for railway executive Charles I. Sturgis of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. It is surrounded by a curved red brick perimeter wall and wrought iron gates.
The interior of the mansion boasts five fireplaces, five bathrooms, a grand staircase with extra-wide steps, wide-band hand rails, and hand-carved balusters, as well as repaired windows, wide-cased entrances, millwork, a dining room with walnut panelling, and a living room with an arched bookshelf.
The kitchen features a Farrow & Ball blue island, white marble counters, and premium appliances. Other features include an eating space with curving bay picture windows, a second staircase, a mud room, a screened porch and a family room with antique bookcases and a rebuilt fireplace.
The mansion’s main bedroom suite, complete with two brand-new walk-in closets and a fireplace, and three additional bedrooms are located on the second story. The mansion’s basement, which the Woods refurbished, features an arts and crafts studio, a gym with a sauna, a wine cellar, and an entertainment room with a bar. The third floor offers two more bedrooms, an office, and a game room.
The Woods constructed a new pool house with a bathroom, a washer/dryer, a changing room, storage, and a garden shed outside on the 0.71-acre site. The property also features a heated three-car garage with additional storage and a work table, a new pergola, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, and functional organic gardens.
According to listing agent Jena Radnay of @properties, “this east Winnetka in-town compound is simply out of this world,” she told Elite Street. This mansion is unsurpassed if you value exquisite, distinguished architecture and are prepared to bear the expense, inconvenience, and vision required to restore it to a magnificent, high-end degree of luxury. In Winnetka, and I would even venture to say in the North Shore, we have yet to see a home in such a prime location. Every square inch of it is a source of great beauty.”
The Woods are moving because they are “changing things up a bit,” Radnay said to Elite Street.
“They will always call Chicago home, and their son is about to graduate from high school. That’s not going to change,” she declared.
