Wealthy created homes along Milwaukee Avenue

In the late-1800s to mid-1900s, the area surrounding Milwaukee Avenue in Lake County was a mixture of farmlands and mansions.

Libertyville and Vernon Hills were home to several large estates owned by Chicago businessmen, a majority lined Milwaukee Avenue.

"For a little rural space, there were a lot of wealthy businessmen," said Arlene Lane, a librarian with the Cook Memorial Public Library District and a Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society board member.

There was Ansel B. Cook, a stonemason who helped rebuild Chicago after the Chicago fire; David Adler, an architect; Samuel Insull, co-founder of General Electric; Joseph Medill Patterson, a journalist and founder of the New York Daily News; John Cuneo Sr., founder of the Cuneo Press and Hawthorn Mellody Dairy; and the Florsheims, founders of Florsheim shoes.

"Once one person came, they spread the word," said Cook Memorial librarian Sonia Schoenfield.

They created elaborate homes. Adler, for instance, purchased a Civil War-era farmhouse but then built on to it, adding 23 rooms, Lane said.

These homes were luxurious but not solely for habitationómany also were working farms.

"They didn't just live on the property, they hired people to do the farming," Lane said. "They were into raising cattle and horses."

There were a few more factors that drew people out to the Libertyville area, Lane said.

A railroad spur brought more business to the area, and some people thought the waters in the area had medicinal properties, she said.

Milwaukee Avenue also was a major thoroughfare, Schoenfield said.

These powerful men helped the area grow.

"A lot of these men tried to improve the area they lived in," Lane said. "Insull was the utilities baron. He brought electricityóthis was the first test place for it. He improved the schools."

Ansel B. Cook, along with his wife Emily Barrows Cook, donated their property to the village after their deaths.

"There was a provision in the will to give [the property] to the village for a library," Schoenfield said. "It was used as a library until 1968, and then the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society made it into a museum."

Along with the Cook Mansion, there are only a handful of these estates left in existence. Much of the sprawling farmland was sold off through the years to make room for commercial properties.

Patterson's estate was located near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Townline Road, where Westfield Hawthorn Mall now stands.

Red Top Plaza, located near the intersection of Red Top Drive and Milwaukee Avenue, pays tribute to the Florsheims' Red Top Farm.

The Cuneo property, first owned by Insull, still stands as a museum and garden in Vernon Hills. In 2009, it was donated to Loyola University.

Adler's expanded farmhouse is home to The David Adler Music and Arts Center, 1700 N. Milwaukee Ave.