Officials Commemorate Winchester House History

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — Officials gathered this past week to bid farewell to the Winchester House in Libertyville. Winchester House is scheduled to be torn down this fall, and the Lake County Board will consider future use for the property at a later date.

For more than 150 years, Winchester House served vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals in Lake County, including twenty-four-hour skilled nursing and rehabilitative care that provided for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and related illnesses, according to a news release.

“The people at Winchester House are what really made it a special place,” said Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart. “We honor this space and remember fondly the individuals who lived here as well as those who provided such high-quality care for its residents.”

After several years of work by Lake County, the Winchester House Advisory Board, and local community partners to preserve the focus of providing long-term skilled nursing care to residents, the Lake County Board in 2015 approved a lease agreement and operator’s license with Transitional Care Management (TCM) transferring ownership of Winchester House, according to a news release from Lake County.

In 2020, residents of Winchester House moved to TCM’s state-of-the-art Thrive Lake County facility in Mundelein, which is the first new skilled nursing care facility to open in Lake County in more than 20 years.

“This marks the culmination of years and years of work by so many people,” said Julie Mayer, Winchester House Advisory Board Chair. “It’s a bittersweet moment for many of us. The transition from Winchester House to Thrive Lake County is truly a community success story.”

At the end of the farewell ceremony yesterday, attendees wrote their thoughts and kind words on postcards to be shared with former Winchester House residents who are now provided care and live at Thrive Lake County.