29 designers show their skills at Lake Bluff house and garden show

A Lake Bluff mansion provides plenty of rooms for 29 designers to show their skills for the 2009 Showhouse and Gardens, sponsored by the Lake Forest chapter of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.

The house will be open through Saturday, May 17.

Lansdowne is a historic 14,500-square-foot home, designed by Benjamin Marshall and built in 1911 for the head of Rand McNally. Its 22 acres represent one of the last great lakefront estates.

Besides the main house, the grounds have a coach house, pool house and pool. Marshall was a prolific architect known for designing the Samuel Insull Estate in Vernon Hills, now the Cuneo Museum; the Drake and Blackstone Hotels; and the South Shore Country Club.

Designers include Annika Christensen, Midnight Sun Swedish Antiques & Design, Libertyville; Gail Plechaty, Real Simple Design, Old Mill Creek; and Jillian O'Neill, Aurora.

Landscape designers include: Barbara Rosborough and Mike Breen, Rosborough Partners, Inc., Libertyville; Rocco Fiore and Drew Johnson, Rocco Fiore & Sons, Libertyville; James Martin, Martin & Associates, Vernon Hills; Tracy Bertog, Bertog Landscape, Wheeling.

Tickets are $30 online until May 16 and $35 at the door.

The home is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Visitors will park at the Lake Bluff Recreation Center, 355 W. Washington Road and ride shuttle buses to the house.

Visit lakeforestshowhouse.com or call (847) 234-2117.

The home is owned by Orren Pickell Designers & Builders and is for sale, as are lots carved from the estate.