Innisfail I: The Cudahy Estate

Making It Home Timeline
Innisfail I: The Cudahy Estate

View of the loggia, c. 1970. Photo by Ezra Stoller from ""David Adler"" by Richard Pratt.

Address: 275 SussexYear built: 1914Architect: David Adler and Henry DanglerOriginal owners: Joseph M. Cudahy and Jean Morton Cudahy
This early collaboration of David Adler and Henry Dangler resulted in a grand stucco, two-story, 17-room mansion in the French style. Garland panels, elegant stonework, urns, balustrades and multiple terraces make up the exterior. The formal rooms of the grand house have 11-foot ceilings, carved moldings and intricate parquet floors in keeping with what would be seen in large country homes in France. Joseph Cudahy was president of Cudahy Packing Company and Sinclair Refining Company. He led both the Chicago Historical Society and Lake Forest Hospital Association. Jean Morton Cudahy was the daughter of the founder of the Morton Salt Company and chairman of the board of the Morton Arboretum. An avid gardener, Jean Cudahy was president and a long-time member of the Lake Forest Garden Club.The Cudahys worked with landscape designer Jens Jensen to help realize their estate’s 100-acre natural prairie landscape. They took advantage of their expansive property by generously hosting many fundraisers including “dog and pony” shows where their friends’ children would organize benefits to raise money for local charities.By the late 1920s, Joseph and Jean Cudahy were back working with David Adler to design another house closer to town – away from encroaching neighborhoods and highway noise. (Innisfail II, 830 N. Green Bay Road.) This estate property was subdivided in the 1930s. The original casino and Jensen landscape was demolished to make way for a new subdivision. Today, the house stands on two acres.