Mettawa · Lake County · IL
Homes for sale in
Mettawa.
- Active listings
- 2
- Median list
- $2.00M
- Avg time on market
- 96 days
- Sold · last year
- 0
Map data, Mapbox / OpenStreetMap contributors
Active listings
2 homes on the market
About the community
Living in Mettawa.
Mettawa is a Lake County estate village of roughly 560 residents incorporated in 1960 specifically to defend its rural character against annexation by Lake Forest, Libertyville, and Mundelein. The village enforces a five-acre minimum lot standard adopted in 1950, which means estates, horses, and woodland predominate where surrounding North Shore suburbs run quarter-acre cul-de-sacs. A corporate corridor along Route 60 and Riverwoods Boulevard, anchored by AbbVie's 560,000 sq ft twin-tower campus, generates the sales and business tax revenue that funds resident rebates and keeps the residential burden among the lowest in the North Shore. Five Lake County Forest Preserves sit inside or touch village borders, giving Mettawa a higher ratio of protected open land to housing than virtually any community in the region. Buyers come here for privacy, acreage, equestrian-friendly zoning, and a tax structure built around commerce rather than rooftops.
At a glance
~562 residents
One of Lake County's smallest villages. 237 occupied housing units, 94.5 percent owner-occupied per Data USA.
Five-acre minimum lots
Five-acre minimum zoning adopted in 1950 and preserved as the village's defining character since incorporation in 1960.
Incorporated 1960
Created specifically to block annexation by Lake Forest, Libertyville, and Mundelein and to preserve large-lot, low-density living.
AbbVie Route 60 campus
AbbVie's twin-tower headquarters at 26525 N. Riverwoods Boulevard anchors the village's corporate tax base.
Five forest preserves inside village
Old School, Grainger Woods, McArthur Woods, Captain Daniel Wright Woods, and the Adlai Stevenson Historic Home all sit inside or on village limits.
Median household income ~$181,333
Data USA 2022 ACS estimate. Well above state and national medians.
No municipal sales tax
Mettawa imposes a 0.0 percent municipal sales tax, with the combined state plus county rate of 7.0 percent applying instead.
Median home value ~$871,500
Data USA estimate. Recent Redfin listing medians have run above $1.1 million, reflecting the estate market.
What’s close
Mettawa occupies a quiet, wooded square of central Lake County wrapped by four better-known neighbors. The village sits along Route 60 (Town Line Road) with I-94 (the Tri-State Tollway) running its eastern edge, putting downtown Chicago, O'Hare, and the North Shore within an easy commute despite the rural feel.
- Lake Forest
- Sits directly east of Mettawa across I-94. Many Mettawa addresses use Lake Forest schools and postal service.
- Libertyville
- Northern neighbor. Independence Grove Forest Preserve straddles the Libertyville and Mettawa boundary.
- Mundelein
- Western neighbor along Route 60. The Mundelein Metra station on the MD-N and NCS lines is the nearest two-line stop.
- Lincolnshire
- Southern neighbor. Half Day Forest Preserve straddles the Lincolnshire and Mettawa boundary.
- Des Plaines River corridor
- Runs through and near the village. Indian Creek joins the Des Plaines here, the namesake landscape of Chief Mettawa's Potawatomi band.
- Route 60 corporate corridor
- AbbVie's twin-tower campus and several smaller office complexes generate the business tax revenue that funds the village resident rebate program.
What it’s actually like to live here
Life in Mettawa is built around space. Five-acre estate parcels are the rule, horses are common, and many homes sit far back behind woodland or prairie restoration plantings. The Mettawa Open Lands Association (MOLA) operates as a resident-led conservation partner, maintaining the village-owned Whippoorwill Farm Preserve and running restoration workdays and educational programs to keep the rural character intact. The village has no downtown, no commercial strip aimed at residents, and no Metra station of its own, which is the point: shopping, restaurants, and rail commuting are short drives away in Libertyville, Lake Forest, or Mundelein.
The cultural anchor is Mettawa Manor, a private estate whose gardens open select days through the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program, featuring two ponds, a silver garden, a bronze garden, a lily pool, an aqua-theater, fern garden, and a reclaimed oak-hickory forest. Buyers who land in Mettawa are typically executives, founders, and equestrian families who want privacy and acreage but still need a 50-minute reach to the Loop and a 30-minute reach to O'Hare. They trade walkable village amenities for forest preserve trails out the back gate and a tax structure that leans on the Route 60 office corridor rather than on rooftops.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Mettawa community pages coming soon.
Browse the listings above. Detailed neighborhood pages with market stats, school info, and lifestyle take-downs land here as we roll them out.
Schools
Districts serving Mettawa.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D125Grades 9 to 12
Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125
Schools serving the area
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Stevenson explicitly lists portions of Mettawa among the 16 communities it serves across a 42 square mile attendance area. Stevenson does not cover all of Mettawa. Verify per parcel against the Lake County district map.
- LFSDGrades K to 12
Lake Forest School Districts 67 and 115
Schools serving the area
- Lake Forest High School (D115)
- Deer Path Middle School (D67)
- Cherokee Elementary (D67)
Lake Forest Schools serves eastern portions of Mettawa adjacent to Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. Confirm per address.
- D70+D128Grades K to 12
Libertyville District 70 / Libertyville High School District 128
Schools serving the area
- Libertyville High School
- Highland Middle School
- Adler Park Elementary
Portions of Mettawa on the Libertyville side feed D70 for elementary and D128 for high school. Mixed boundary, confirm per parcel.
From the neighborhood
Around Mettawa
Real local creators on TikTok. Tap a tile to play it right here.
🚨GRAND OPENING TODAY🚨#algonquin #chicago #westdundee #lakeinthehills #chitown #illinois #Foodie #huntley #chicagobears #breakfast#bagel #chicagotiktok #nearme #Foodie #catering #goldcoast #lunch #ch
@.coreybagelsHuntley Fall Fest 2025 #car #carshow
@d4rkthoA bird’s eye view of last weekend’s BBQ in the Walled Garden at Hidden Huntley. Laid-back vibe and delicious food cooked fresh onsite. A lovely way to spend a summer afternoon with family and friends
@tablefoodcoHuntleys Bonfire 2025 hosted by events@huntlys was a fantastic turn out hope everyone enjoyed it and hope to see you all back next year ( or for one of our Xmas events) #follow for more
@eventshuntleysAround town
What there is to do in Mettawa.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Parks
Old School Forest Preserve
543-acre Lake County preserve inside Mettawa with trails, picnic shelters, biking, cross-country skiing, fishing, oak woodland, and a popular sledding hill in winter.
- Parks
Independence Grove Forest Preserve
1,159-acre preserve on Mettawa's Libertyville-side border centered on a 129-acre lake with swimming, catch-and-release fishing, boat rentals, and about seven miles of trails connecting to the Des Plaines River Trail.
- Parks
Half Day Forest Preserve
Quiet preserve on the Mettawa / Lincolnshire line with a one-mile loop trail for hikers, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers.
- Family
Mettawa Open Lands Association
Resident-led conservation group that maintains the village-owned Whippoorwill Farm Preserve and runs prairie and wetland restoration workdays and educational programs.
- Culture
Mettawa Manor Gardens
Private estate gardens that open select days through the Garden Conservancy. Features a silver garden, bronze garden, lily pool, aqua-theater, fern garden, gravel garden, and reclaimed oak-hickory forest.
- Culture
Adlai Stevenson Historic Home
Restored country home of two-time presidential candidate and UN Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II, operated by the Lake County Forest Preserves inside Mettawa.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Mettawa.
DriveBy car
- Routes: IL Route 60 (Town Line Road) · I-94 (Tri-State Tollway) at the eastern edge · U.S. Route 41 · IL Route 43 (Waukegan Road)
- Chicago Loop: ~55 min
- O'Hare Airport: ~28 min
- Lake Forest Metra: ~10 min
- Libertyville Metra: ~8 min
By the numbers
Mettawa taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
2.14%
effective avg
Sales tax
7.00%
combined
Median sold price
$1,012,500
MRED · last 12 mo (8 sales)
Median household income
$181,333
ACS
How Mettawa got here
A bit of history.
Mettawa took its name from a Potawatomi leader whose village stood near the confluence of the Des Plaines River and Indian Creek, and the founders chose it in 1960 specifically to avoid the standard suffixes of grove, lake, or woods that defined surrounding Lake County communities. The area had already adopted five-acre minimum zoning in 1950 under Lake County authority, and by the late 1950s landowners watched as Lake Forest, Libertyville, and Mundelein extended utilities and annexation petitions toward their unincorporated estates.
In 1959 residents petitioned Lake County for incorporation, and a court-ordered election confirmed strong support, formally establishing the Village of Mettawa in 1960 with the explicit goal of preserving large-lot, low-density living. The five-acre minimum has held in most of the village ever since, and over the following decades Mettawa worked with the Lake County Forest Preserves to lock in five protected sites within its borders, including Old School, Grainger Woods, McArthur Woods, Captain Daniel Wright Woods, and the Adlai Stevenson Historic Home. Selective annexation of the Route 60 commercial corridor through the 1990s and 2000s, including the office complex now owned by AbbVie, gave the village a tax base that funds operations without leaning heavily on residents.
The questions buyers actually ask
Mettawa FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Mettawa. If yours isn't here, text 815-355-0582, same-day reply.
- Why is Mettawa so low density compared to its neighbors?
- Mettawa adopted a five-acre minimum lot standard in 1950 under Lake County authority and then incorporated in 1960 specifically to preserve that standard against annexation by Lake Forest, Libertyville, and Mundelein. Most of the village still follows the five-acre rule, which is why you see estates and woodland where adjoining towns have subdivisions.
- Does Mettawa really have no property tax?
- Not exactly. The village levies a small municipal property tax and then uses business tax revenue from the Route 60 corporate corridor (notably AbbVie's twin-tower campus) to fund a rebate program for eligible residents. The result is one of the lowest municipal burdens in the North Shore, though Lake County, school district, and township taxes still apply, and the combined effective rate is around 2.14 percent.
- What schools will my kids attend in Mettawa?
- It depends on the parcel. Different parts of Mettawa feed Adlai E. Stevenson High School D125, Lake Forest D67 / D115, Libertyville D70 / D128, and Lincolnshire-Prairie View D103. Always verify district assignment per address using the Lake County district maps before writing an offer.
- How long is the commute to downtown Chicago or O'Hare?
- Downtown Chicago is roughly 38 miles, about 50 to 60 minutes by car via I-94. O'Hare is roughly 25 to 30 minutes south on the Tri-State. There is no Metra station in Mettawa; commuters drive to Lake Forest or Libertyville stations on the Milwaukee District North line.
- Who actually buys in Mettawa?
- Buyers in Mettawa are typically executives, founders, and equestrian families who want five-acre privacy with a North Shore postal vibe and quick highway access. Recent listing medians have run above $1.1 million, and 94.5 percent of homes are owner-occupied.
- Can I keep horses in Mettawa?
- Yes. The five-acre minimum zoning that defines most of Mettawa supports equestrian use, and horses, paddocks, and small barns are common features of village estates.
- What is there to do inside the village?
- Mettawa is intentionally residential, so most activity is outdoors. Five Lake County Forest Preserves sit inside or on the village line, including Old School (543 acres) and Independence Grove (a 129-acre lake with seven miles of trails). The Mettawa Open Lands Association runs restoration workdays at Whippoorwill Farm Preserve, and Mettawa Manor opens its gardens select days through the Garden Conservancy.
Nearby
Towns next to Mettawa.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Mettawa.
Your local agent
Joe knows Mettawa
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the communities I actually know, and the details that determine resale value here aren't in the MLS write-up: which lots back to open space, which streets carry the most consistent demand, which floor plans buyers ask for by name, and what each HOA actually covers.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who's walked the streets, talked to the residents, and read the last 50 closed comps in this market specifically. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Lives in McHenry County
- Local specialist
- Mettawa specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
Thinking of selling?
What's your home actually worth?
Not a Zestimate. A real CMA from someone who's sold this neighborhood, knows the floor plan premiums, and can tell you which upgrades the buyer pool here actually pays for.
- Pricing range with comp-by-comp logic
- Pre-list improvements that pay back, and the ones that don't
- No obligation, no spam, no auto-dialer