Artist rendering of the single-family homes to be constructed on the former Cuneo family estate near Vernon Hills. (Courtesy: Pulte Homes)

What is likely the last large residential development with single-family dwellings in the city of Vernon Hills is taking shape on the former Cuneo family estate. Grading and demolition work began June 19 for a 128-home project. The Buckhead, Georgia-based Pulte Homes, Inc. completed negotiations on a 52-acre tract to be purchased from Loyola University, Chicago that will see 66 homes built during Phase I.

According to the contract, Loyola must devote $3 million to the restoration of the Cuneo Family mansion,

A plat of proposed Residences at the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens, a 128-home project envisioned for the former Cuneo family estate near Vernon Hills (Courtesy: Pulte Homes)

a nearly 100-year old Italian-style villa, with an eye toward re-opening the site to the public. The Cuneo Family Foundation donated the 97-acre parcel to Loyola in 2009. The agreement also took into account the municipality’s concern to preserve the mansion.

The planning stages lasted two years. Preliminary work included the initial presentations, site-plan development, zoning and code approvals and utility easements and infrastructure that are under Lake County jurisdiction. The infrastructure connections were organized in an identical way for the 272,250-square foot Mellody Farms commercial and residential development, now underway at routes 21 and 60. When the Mellody Farms project is completed next year, it is expected to generate an estimated $700,000 in annual revenues.

“This is a large residential development on the Cuneo estate, not seen since the Gregg’s Landing project,” said the city’s Commercial Development director Joe Carey. “That was 2,000 homes, and the Cuneo project is 128 homes. No tax incentives were provided to the developers, and the full board approved this project, earlier this year.

“Vernon Hills has taken a conscientious choice not to levy a municipal tax, meaning that we will not derive any property tax revenues from it,” he said. “Those will go to the county. Our tax revenues are garnered from retail sales.” The estate site is located on the western side of Milwaukee Avenue, adjacent to the Hawthorn Center shopping mall on its southern perimeter.

Developers of the Cuneo estate site will demolish two well-pump houses, the iconic water tower, two existing houses, four maintenance outbuildings, and an office center.

The estate’s famed gardens, designed by architect Jens Jensen, will be retained, although many trees, either dead or non-native, will be uprooted and removed on the Milwaukee Avenue frontage. The home sites will encompass the area behind the mansion in a semi-circle.

The project is titled “Residences at the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens,” carrying a planned urban development designation, due to mixed uses of open space and walkways. Single-family homes are upscale designs anticipated to sell in the $700,000 price range.

The Mellody Farms and family estate sites were previously owned by the Cuneo family, who operated the Hawthorn-Mellody Farms dairy and amusement park, among its varied business and property interests. The attraction included a dairy, accessed by a two-lane road next to the Rt. 21 railroad tracks near the estate, south of Artaius Parkway.

In its 1960s heyday, the Hawthorn-Mellody Farms contained a zoo, a Quonset-style dairy house and store, and a 1.5-mile train ride that took visitors to a facsimile frontier town, which doubled each Halloween as a ghost town. By the 1970s, economic factors and a cost-prohibitive dairy production model drove down profits and eventually forced bankruptcy proceedings.

The evolution of the Cuneo properties, especially the residential buildings, has mirrored and been consistent with the growth of Vernon Hills, Carey said.

“This is probably the last really large upscale residential home development we will see here,” said Carey. “A decade from now, residential growth in Vernon Hills will present opportunities elsewhere, possibly in the area of rent developers and rental properties.”

–66 homes in Cuneo Estate start construction in Vernon Hills–