Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

House in the Woods: The Wheeler Estate

Making It Home

c. 1970.

Carved Living Room Fireplace in the Wheeler house. Elkins arranged a perfectly balanced Chinese blue and white display of porcelain, including 18th century brackets holding vases. The mantle displayed K’ang Hsi porcelain.

Leslie Wheeler (1892-1937). Image cource: U.S. Passport Applications, 1923.

Violet Patten Wheeler and Clarence C. Prentice Wedding Announcement, Chicago Tribune, April 22, 1939.

Address: 20 S. Mayflower Road, Lake ForestYear built: 1934Architect: David AdlerOriginal owners: Leslie and Violet Patten WheelerSet in a Jens Jensen-designed woodland garden, this 1934 home is a balance of classical proportions and comfortable scale. The Georgian composition of the house incorporates many oriental details from the entry canopy with pointed roof, to interior plasterwork.

David Adler worked closely with his sister, interior designer Francis Elkins, to layer carved details, antique floors, English antiques, contemporary design and oriental motif in the décor. Elkins was greatly admired for her ability to mix classical pieces with avant-garde decoration.

Leslie Wheeler was an avid sportsman and ornithologist, as well as a trustee of the Field Museum. He died just three years after the house was finished. Violet Wheeler was active in local politics. She married Clarence C. Prentice and remained in the house at 20 South Mayflower until her death in 1969.