A five-bedroom, 4,300-square-foot house close to Lake Michigan has been updated and is about to go on the market for just under $2.6 million.

This Lake Forest house was perfectly OK when a father-son pair of developers bought it in mid-2016, but they believed it had the potential to emerge from a renovation both looking better and priced well for potential buyers.

It had a flat front and roof line that stood out as ordinary in a part of Lake Forest, a block from Lake Michigan, that is sometimes called VELF, or Very East Lake Forest, where finely designed historical homes are the norm. As redesigned with a row of dormers up top and a sheltered arrival at the front door, the Spruce Avenue house has a stately presence more suited to its environs.

Inside, the floor plan was opened up and the finishes redone in the popular coastal style: shiplap siding, black and white details, a beadboard ceiling in the screened porch, and an open, airy beach house feeling throughout.

For several years, Peter Childs has been redoing midpriced Lake Forest homes,targeting buyers in the $850,000 range who want a largely new house in an old shell but don’t want to handle the project themselves. For this larger and higher-priced redo, he partnered with his father, Jamie Childs. They bought the property, which had been in one family’s hands for at least 20 years and was in need of updating, for a little more than $1.31 million in June 2016 and will put the updated home on the market for just under $2.6 million tomorrow.

“If you wanted to build this new, it would be $3.3 million,” Peter Childs said. By keeping the bones of the original—as required by Lake Forest in this historic district—the builders keep the final cost of the home down where it is more likely to attract a buyer, he said. On top of that, “you’re moving into a house that’s all been done.” Homebuyers in upper-price brackets are notoriously resistant to taking on a renovation project these days.

The five-bedroom, 4,300-square-foot house will go on the market tomorrow, represented by Peter and Sophia Childs (she’s his mom) of Childs Realty Group.