Appeared in the Fall/Winter 2024 Gazette
By Laurie Petersen

445 Sheridan, 1964.

It is easily the most recognizable house along Winnetka’s shore. Known as the Clement Stone house for its longtime previous owner, 445 Sheridan Road truly merits the adjective “iconic.” The house stands out even among its stately neighbors due to its height and massiveness as well as its unusual Mission Revival style that features a white stucco façade and multiple red-tile roofs. The openness of the wrought iron fence increases its visibility.

The house’s second owner, Albert Pick II, was one of the many who admired the house on his pleasure drives up from the city. After being home to three more families, the house’s days are now numbered. The current owner has filed a demolition permit that will take effect November 1, bringing the storied history of this building to a close.

The house was built in 1912 for Lena Gilmore, a widow who lived there with her daughter and sister. Born in 1858, she moved to Chicago from her native California to care for 62-year-old Judge Van H. Higgins after the death of his wife, who was Lena’s aunt. Lena married Higgins in 1883 and when he died a decade later, she inherited his extensive real estate portfolio. She continued to amass properties in Chicago and used a commercial building in the city as partial payment for 445 Sheridan. Lena and her daughter Isabel went back and forth between California and Chicago, even after building the Winnetka house. Perhaps Lena’s California connection explains the house’s style, which was very unusual for the time. She sold the house in 1919 and moved back to California with Isabel.

The buyer, Albert Pick II, was the owner of a successful hotel and restaurant supply company founded by his father. He sold the company in 1926 and founded the Pick Hotel Corporation in partnership with his son. Their hotel business suffered greatly during the Great Depression and Pick was forced to sell the house in 1931. During his dozen years of ownership, he made significant improvements to the large entrance hall, which extends to the lake side of the house. There is an elevator, which was one of the only residential elevators in the country. Four wrought iron and bronze doors were commissioned from leading metalworker Oscar Bach, whose archive is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The entrance hall is entirely floored in ceramic tiles created by the Batchelder Tile Company, a Pasadena-based company renown for handcrafted tiles.

The next owner of the house was James G. McMillan, who lived in the house with his wife Emily until his death in 1964. He was president of the company that manufactured Ovaltine, which sponsored the radio show Little Orphan Annie and offered popular premiums such as secret decoder badges to listeners who sent in proofs-of-purchase.

W. Clement Stone bought the house in 1966 and became its most famous owner. He was a self-made millionaire, having founded an insurance agency at age 20 that became Combined Insurance Company (now Aon Corporation). Stone became widely known for extolling his brand of optimism, PMA (positive mental attitude). He was also a prominent political donor, especially to Richard M. Nixon.

445 Sheridan, 2024.

The Stones extensively renovated and lavishly decorated the house. An August 1967 article in the Chicago Tribune was headlined “They’re So Busy Partying There, Who Can Move In?” Stone and his wife Jessie both lived to age 100 and died on the same day two years apart: September 3, 2002 and 2004. The house was sold in 2006 to Randy and Sherry Abrahams of Chicago. They worked with architect Paul Konstant to improve the property while maintaining its historic character.

The house went on the market in 2022 and sold the following year. In October 2023 the new owners submitted a demolition permit, triggering a review by the Village of Winnetka’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). After receiving a preliminary opinion from the Winnetka Historical Society about the significance of the house, the LPC required the owners to submit a Historic Architectural Impact Study (HAIS) that documents the features of the house and presents an opinion on its architectural and/or historical importance. When the HAIS confirmed its significance, the LPC urged the owner to reconsider demolition. The Commission voted to delay the demolition for the maximum time allowed: 270 days. This means that the house can be demolished as of November 1, 2024. Neither WHS nor the Village have authority to prevent the demolition of historic buildings. ■