Adler, David, Estate

This Libertyville estate was the home of architect David Adler from 1918 until his death in 1949. He bought about 17 acres north of the village in 1917 and remodeled an 1864 farmhouse into his residence. Over the years he added a servants cottage joined to an existing barn, a garage in 1926, and further additions in 1934 and 1941. The house combines Colonial Revival, Classical Revival and French Renaissance elements, with a bell-cast roof, a fanlighted front door and a dining porch with Doric columns. Adler also laid out formal landscaped grounds, including axial gardens, hedges, walls and tree-lined allees, and eventually held 240 acres. The listed area covers 11 acres now owned by the village park department and used as a cultural center. The form finds the property significant for its link to Adler, whose country houses for affluent clients around Chicago defined his career, and for the way his own estate reflects his design approach.