Loyola at Cuneo Mansion and Gardens — Attraction in Vernon Hills

We were so fortunate to have the Cuneo estate (built by Benjamin Marshall) with 100 acres of beautiful gardens and the amazing Mansion with rather unique exhibits. We were! Until it was gifted (not even sold!), gifted to Loyola University Chicago. It seemed like LUC didn’t have any idea what precious gift they had received. Like barbarians, piece by piece, year after year they crippled and destroyed the beautiful estate until finally sold it a developer, who built some ugly looking and cheaply made residential buildings in place of historic trees and garden. I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty soon the main Mansion will be sold to some rich buyer. The estate had appeared in many movies and was used for years as the site for the Christmas Lights events and wedding events. People were devastated when they found out that the decades’ long Holiday Lights tradition was canceled by Loyola University in 2014. The Cuneo estate was closed for years to the public for the so-called ‘renovation’, when in fact it was just being prepared for a construction site!! In Europe, there were people who during the WWI and WWII risked and sometimes even lost their lives to save antique art collections and the unique trees in famous gardens, just so the future generations could enjoy them. And here in America in time of peace, without any necessity an architectural and landscape gem was ruined and sold just to get a couple of bucks. The Cuneo estate has fallen under attack of a simple Greed. Shame on Loyola university and people who were in charge...

The Cuneo mansion was a wonderful location for our July 2014 wedding reception! We were married in a church, and then cake here for photos cocktails on the beautiful terrace, and dinner & dancing in the ballroom. This is such a great space. It has the history of the mansion, which used to be owned by a great industrialist American who inspired the "monopoly man". Guests can tour the mansion during the cocktail hour and see this history of the beautifully preserved estate. The gardens are beautiful and we have amazing photos for our wedding from using this space! We had a beautiful evening for our reception and we were able to be outside for the entire cocktail hour to enjoy time with our guests and explore the gardens with a drink. We used Bauer's catering which was fabulous- they have years if experience in the mansion and to this day people are raving about the food. They were also amazing to work with for the planning if the entire event. The pavilion is newer than the rest of the mansion, but it's beautiful and able to be transformed into whatever look you want for your big day. It also includes a huge dance floor and room for a head table and a band (both of which we had). I loved the Cuneo, and I see many of my friends and siblings getting married here...

Wonderful tour from Steve Grace as docent. Astonishing building with an incredible history, really well outlined. Beautiful scenery and some really amazing details regarding the artifacts on display. The whole tour made it so clear how the Cuneos lived and, before them, the amazing story of Samuel Insull... Such an important figure in the history of America. From the Tiffany-made stained-glass window, the exquisitely-painted decorations and the Napoleon-owned lamps... It's a true treasure trove and hopefully can be preserved for future...