WMVP-AM weekday afternoon co-host and former Chicago Bears wide receiver Tom Waddle and his wife, Cara, on Nov. 1 paid $1.5 million for a five-bedroom, 6,818-square-foot mansion in Long Grove.

The purchase came more than five months after Cara Waddle and her husband, who played for the Bears from 1989 until 1994 before going into broadcasting, sold their five-bedroom, 8,000-square-foot mansion in Lake Forest for $3.1 million.

Built in 2006, the couple’s new home in Long Grove has been renovated and has 5½ bathrooms, two fireplaces, high ceilings, hardwood floors, intricate moldings and millwork, designer lighting, arches and columns, and a renovated kitchen with custom cabinetry, Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, marble countertops and an island with seating. Other features include a great room with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, a sunroom, a private office with built-ins, a turret area and a primary bedroom suite with heated floors, a sitting area with an antechamber and dual walk-in closets.

The mansion also has a finished basement containing a recreation area, a dedicated theater, a wine cellar, an exercise room and a bar with a fireplace. Outside on the 0.83-acre property are a patio and a fire pit.

The Long Grove home had been listed for $1.49 million in mid-September, and it went under contract to sell to the Waddles just two days later.

In Lake Forest, the couple had paid $2.15 million in 2015 for the 8,000-square-foot mansion. That means that on paper at least, they booked almost a $1 million profit in their sale in May, although undoubtedly offsetting some of that gain is the fact that they redecorated the mansion in 2019 and 2020. Built in 2002, the three-story brick and limestone house has five full bathrooms, two half bathrooms, a newer DaVinci roof, a grand foyer with a double staircase and a chandelier, 10-foot-high ceilings, 8-foot-high doors, hardwood and travertine floors, and tray and barrel ceilings.

The Lake Forest mansion also has five fireplaces, skylights, extensive moldings, wainscoting, a finished third floor with a kitchenette and a cedar closet, a heated four-car garage and radiant heated floors on the main level, in the second-floor guest suite and in the primary suite’s bathroom. Outside on the 1.8-acre property are an in-ground saltwater pool with a spa and an electronic pool cover, a circular drive with a fountain and a shed.

The Waddles first listed the Lake Forest mansion in real estate agents’ private listing network in March, for $3.25 million. They then publicly listed it in early April, and they found a buyer a few days later.

Real estate agent Mona Hellinga, who represented the Waddles both in their Long Grove purchase in November and in their Lake Forest sale in May, declined to comment.

The Waddles’ new Long Grove house had a $37,345 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year, while their now-former Lake Forest mansion had a $53,490 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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