Choice of builder's sites in North suburbs

A fixture on the North Shore since 1935, Jacobs Homes is growing up and growing out with new communities designed for today's buyers.

Jacobs Homes currently is developing three luxury communities in the Chicago suburbs -- row homes at Aspen Pointe in Vernon Hills, single-family attached homes at Chelsey Crossing in Gurnee and luxury single-family homes at The Sanctuary Club in Kildeer.

For 72 years, three generations of the Jacobs family have built homes from Lincolnwood to Highland Park, Glencoe to Kildeer.

"While custom homes were the center point of our offerings in the earlier years, lifestyles and buyers needs have changed over the decades," Jacobs said. "As housing needs have changed, we've evolved -- constantly staying on the cutting edge while maintaining the highest level of quality."

It's a lesson that's been passed down through the generations of the Jacobs family.

In the late 1940's Albert Jacobs purchased a tract of land and proceeded to sell homes for $12,000. With his eldest son Marvin at his side, the Jacobs legacy was born.

After a series of successful Northbrook developments Albert's youngest son Joe joined the family business.

For the next forty years, Jacobs Homes continued to break new ground pioneering the many luxuries buyers expect in a new home.

Jacobs Homes believe they were the first in the area to offer customized floor plans, the first to offer air conditioning, the first to import materials to satisfy customer preferences as well as the first builder in Northbrook to use insulated sheathing and plaster walls in new home construction.

Joe and Marvin Jacobs continued the legacy that evolved into a company that built roughly 30 homes per year in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range.

The tradition continues with Keith Jacobs, Marvin's son, who joined the firm full time in 1983. Now Keith Jacobs has been named President and Chief Operating Officer.

The firm now builds 75 homes per year in the $300,000 to $6,000,000 price range.

In his eighties, Marvin Jacobs serves as chairman and chief executive officer.

"It's really rewarding to sell a great home to a young family and have them tell us 'my parents bought their first home from you too'," Jacobs said.

For more information on any Jacobs Homes community, please call (847) 945-6500 or visit the online gallery at www.jacobshomcs.net.