We entered a foyer with a high ceiling and a uniquely beautiful lighting fixture above. To one side was an elegant built-in hall tree. It wasn’t the kind that was freestanding, but rather integrated ornate woodwork, easily six feet wide with a bench, storage areas, and hooks. There was a louvered door to the right. Van opened it, offering to take my coat and hang it in the front closet. As he hung my outer coat and his, I peered at what was awaiting me beyond this enclosed entry, my curiosity piqued.

The house was blockaded by an exquisite set of tall French doors, the interior distorted by the leaded-glass panels. Van’s hand was again on my lower back as he opened the French doors.

I wasn’t unaccustomed to the finer things in life. The home where I was raised in Lincoln Park had been in our family for two generations. My mother’s parents, the son of her grandfather who founded Wade Pharmaceutical, purchased the home for nearly half a million. Fifty years later it was easily worth ten million. The six-bedroom limestone structure was every bit as grand as it had been when it first came to our family.

However, as Van opened the front door and we stepped inside, I was impressed with the understated elegance I saw before me. The floor plan, as well as the furnishings, was the perfect combination of opulent and rustic. The tiled entry within gave way to glistening wood floors, open rounded archways to both sides, and a large room beyond with pillars. The staircase curved upward to the second-story landing and beyond to a third story. Both levels and the staircase had railings and a banister with a shiny wood handrail and wrought-iron railing spindles.

“As you can see,” he said, “there’s plenty of space.”

Making my way beyond the entry, I saw the main level was open and spacious. I was drawn into the large living room and over to the wall of windows peering out over the bay. The water was frosted by snow, covering the ice under the tranquil sky. “This view is lovely.”

“It’s a bit different from Chicago’s skyline.”

I nodded, still mesmerized by the pristine snow covering.

“I appreciate the isolation,” Van said.

Turning one way and the next, I searched for other homes. “How much land do you have?”

“Not as much as I’d like.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “Earlier you said you want more power. Now you want more land. Will you ever have enough?”