VILLA PARK : City OKs Tall Home; Suit Is Threatened

Despite objections from residents, the City Council this week approved the construction of a 29 1/2-foot-tall French country chateau on Santiago Boulevard.

People who live around the 29,500-square-foot property, where the proposed 6,788-square-foot luxury mansion will be built, objected to the home’s height. They pointed out that no nearby homes exceed 24 feet in height and threatened to fight the council’s decision with legal action.

City codes permit the construction of homes up to 25 feet in height. Since Thomas Q. Nicholson proposed building a taller house on his property, he needed approval from the City Council, which he received unanimously.

At the council meeting Tuesday night, Nicholson asked to be allowed to build a home 32 feet in height. But after neighbors complained and Mayor Barry L. Denes asked him to compromise, Nicholson said he would be willing to shave off 2 1/2 feet.

After more than a year of doing battle with neighbors over the design of his home, Nicholson, who twice redesigned the proposed million-dollar mansion, said he will begin construction in the next two weeks.

One of his neighbors, Charles B. Davis, said the city made a mistake in allowing Nicholson to build his home. “Now, we’ll have to go to court and I think we’ll prevail,” Davis said.

Davis and eight of his neighbors hired an attorney who told the council that the chateau “does not fit in the neighborhood” and will obstruct neighbors’ views.