Homey, for 20,000 sq. ft.
With a double curved staircase in the massive foyer, two-story library, indoor basketball court and a spa room inspired by a villa in Pompei, you might think the South Barrington mansion has it all.
Apparently not.
Even as the 20,000-square-foot home is on the market for $7.3 million, homeowner Joe Aldeguer has construction plans.
He is building a swimming pool and cabana in the back yard and wants to turn the family room fireplace into a limestone affair tall enough to walk in.
Aldeguer, owner of a mortgage firm called The Mortgage Exchange, which he promotes with local radio and television shows, also is a developer.
He had this home built in 2002, or at least that's when it started. Construction of the exterior took a year, and the inside much longer. Obviously, Aldeguer doesn't consider it finished yet.
The inspiration for the exterior with its round tower, square turrets, pillars and an arched drive-through to the parking court came from a French castle. Aldeguer was waiting in his architect's office when he saw the photo in a magazine.
Besides all the space, visitors immediately notice the abundance of stone and dark woodwork.
Most floors are travertine, a marble-like stone, or thin-strip maple. And stone often covers the walls as well as the floors in the bathrooms.
"The skinny, skinny maple is like that in homes 100 years old," said Aldeguer. "I wanted the house to feel like it was very old when I moved in."
Much of the decorating with a red and gold palette that brings warmth to the huge home is the work of A' la Ambiance, a design firm owned by Laura Aldeguer.
The wallpaper in the dining room and foyer is a rich red, gold and green large-scale traditional design. Laura Aldeguer and her associate, Gina Le Clerc, also selected a gold torn-paper for walls in the family room.
But the ride-on cars parked behind one of the faux marble pillars and the multitude of colorful toys throughout the home make it obvious that Laura Aldeguer's priorities lie with the couple's three young children.
Her husband gets in on the fun, too.
He said the spa room hosts family time on Sundays -- complete with pizza and chips and maybe a movie.
The home is listed with Omar Azam of Starck Realtors in Schaumburg.
Aldeguer said he is selling the home because he would like to invest in property in Miami where prices have dropped considerably.
Despite the sub-prime loan problems, business at The Mortgage Exchange is very good because people are refinancing their homes into mortgages with interest rates below 6 percent, he said.
Here are some numbers that describe the Aldeguers' home:
• Eight full bathrooms and four powder rooms.
• Six bedrooms -- each with a sitting room, bath and fireplace.
• At least nine cars can be parked in the garages, which are on the main and lower levels.
• Eleven fireplaces.
• Almost two acres of land.
Luxury features include a loft above the two-story library that connects to the second-floor master suite.
The suite enjoys a sitting area in a tower and a bathroom that's almost 1,000 square feet.
A formal dining room and living room are tucked under the curving staircases on either side of the foyer. And each opens through French doors to a little terrace on the front of the house.
A larger, rear porch is reached through the billiards room.
A visitor gets the feeling of wandering through a castle and encountering surprise spaces not often found in a new home.
• On the other side of the main-floor garage is a two-story apartment.
• The unfinished attic is huge, and with roughed-in plumbing could provide a fourth level of living space.
• Besides all the finished space on the lower level, there's a room that could become a home theater.
• And off the kitchen with its tall ceiling, creamy cabinets, intriguing stone range hood, sitting area and walk-in pantry is a large room full of even more toys for the Aldeguer children.
"It's a homey house as big as it is, and it's open," said Joe Aldeguer. "I love the lighting in this house, there's a lot of natural light."