Change text size 
| 
| The Cuneo Museum and Gardens, Vernon Hills, Ill.
Tour the mansion and gardens of printing tycoon and philanthropist John F. Cuneo in Vernon Hills.
By Barbara Humeston, Contributing Editor, Midwest Living
Renaissance art, tapestries, Oriental rugs and antiques fill the sprawling house, built in 1914 to resemble homes of the wealthy in Venice, Italy. The Cuneo family lived there for more than 50 years, until 1990.
Eighteen of the 32 rooms are open to the public. You'll marvel at marble walls surrounding the indoor swimming pool, and the ornate, custom-made grand piano in the ballroom. Forty-foot ceilings and a balcony grace the great hall, and stained-glass windows and frescoed ceilings decorate the private chapel. The 75-acre grounds include lakes, fountains, formal gardens, classic statues, a conservatory housing exotic plants and a private nine-hole golf course.
Reviewed April 2004.
