An In-House Resort in Downers Grove

List Price: $3.85 million
The Property: A cobblestone drive leads over a bridge and past a waterfall to the front door of this 15-room country manor in Downers Grove. “This is our resort that we don’t have to travel to,” says Joel Anderson, the Downers Grove homebuilder who created the place for himself, his wife, Maggie, and their children in 2008…

Housing for Teenage Parents—and a Judge Resolves a Condo Buyback Standoff

On Chicago’s West Side, work has begun on a project that will help stabilize young families. New Moms, Inc., a Chicago not-for-profit that provides counsel and other services to teenage mothers and their children, broke ground last week on an $11.7 million facility that, when completed in mid-2012, will contain 40 apartments with room for 40 adults and 60 children…

A Vintage Lake View Greystone With Room to Grow

List Price: $985,000
The Property: When making their coffee order, some people ask for the drink “with room”—space at the top of the cup for adding cream or sugar. Here’s a 124-year-old greystone in Lake View that comes with room: about 1,000 feet of unfinished walk-up attic space with 12-foot ceilings that could become a master suite or an enormous family room…