Date and Time
Monday May 9, 2011 Friday May 13, 2011
Location
Shuttle bus service only from parking lot at the northwest corner of Laurel and N. Western Avenue in Lake Forest. Shuttle bus provided continuously during Showhouse hours starting 1/2 hour prior to Showhouse opening and 1 hour after Showhouse closing. Boutique, Garden Shop and Cafe open during Showhouse hours. No wheelchair access and no cameras. No children under age 8, including infants and no strollers.
Fees/Admission
$30 per person; $25 per person when purchasing 4 or more; $35 per person at entrance to Showhouse.
Description
Thorndale Manor has been chosen as the 2011 Lake Forest Showhouse & Gardens and the site of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago's Centennial "Celebrate the Children" evening event. The Manor and Coach House will feature more than 43 interior and landscape designers. Every other year since 1985, the Lake Forest Auxiliary Chapter of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago, founded in 1926, has hosted a nationally recognized designer Showhouse & Gardens in Lake Forest, Illinois. We are proud of the stellar quality of interior and landscape designers who represent our homes. As a result, throughout the three-week period the house is open to the public, we attract as many as 10,000 guests. More than $2.5 million has been raised from this prestigious event to provide monies to support the services of the Infant Welfare Society Clinic.
In 1916, railroad baron Darius Miller commissioned renowned architect Howard Van Doren Shaw to build his twenty-five room home on nineteen acres in Lake Forest. Landscape architect Jens Jensen was retained to design the impressive grounds, and the result was Thorndale Manor, an extraordinary home that calls to mind a different era. The stately formal rooms of the Manor house overlook the beautiful gardens and speak to an era of grand entertaining. The scenic grounds are not to be missed. The home still retains all of its original architectural details. Mr. Shaw's trademark baskets of flowers and fruit highlight the iron and stone work that surround the house. The manor house features 25 rooms, 6 bedrooms and 5.5 baths. The charming coach house, also included in the tour, features 5,500 square feet of living space, living room, formal dining room, 5 bedrooms, and a beautiful courtyard overlooking expansive gardens and grounds.