Cuneo Museum
The Cuneo Mansion and Gardens in Vernon Hills, Illinois is a historic house, art collection, and gardens. It was built in 1914 and designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of Marshall & Fox. The first owner was Samuel Insull, an early leader of General Electric. John Cuneo, Sr. bought the mansion in 1937 after the collapse of Insull’s empire. Cuneo later founded the Cuneo Press and Hawthorn Mellody Dairy. The mansion’s interior features murals by Chicago muralist John Mallin.
In 2009, Loyola University Chicago received the house as a donation. The mansion stayed in the Cuneo family until the death of Cuneo’s widow in 1990, after which it became an art gallery and historic house museum. It opened to the public in 1991. The collection includes paintings, tapestries, and other furnishings from the family’s long-time collecting.
The grounds were designed by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen. Beginning in 1994, the Cuneo family allowed the village to decorate the gardens with holiday lights for a “Winter Wonderland” display, which ran until 2014. After that, Loyola decided to develop the land, but many decorations can still be seen around the village during the holidays.
In the past, guided tours were offered. The mansion is used for corporate meetings, wedding receptions, and other events. It is a Mediterranean-style building with an arched central hall, a grand dining room, and a private chapel. The collection includes antique furnishings, Renaissance paintings, tapestries, and silver and porcelain.
The Cuneo Museum has appeared in several films, including My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and Witless Protection (2008).
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:13 (CET).