This property, known as Bagatelle, was built by its first owner Edward H. Bennett, known as one of the most respected city planners in the country in the early 1900s. Though Bennett was the son of an English ship captain, he was passionate about architecture, graduating from L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts in 1901. Shortly after, he sought work in California, where he became acquainted with Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, famed designer of the 1893 World’s Fair. The two began working together and co-authored the influential 1909 “Burnham Plan” for Chicago. While working on this, Bennett met and fell in love with Lake Forester Catherine Jones. They were engaged shortly after and, as a wedding gift, Catherine’s father David Jones gave the couple property near his estate, “Pembroke Lodge.” There Bennett designed and completed the house in 1916. Both the house and its gardens were modeled after its Parisian namesake, Le Château de Bagatelle, in the French Renaissance style. Despite initial intentions to keep the property as a summer residence, the Bennetts spent most of their free time here. Bennett was the lead planner on Lake Forest's first zoning ordinance in 1923.

Subsequent residents after Edward Bennett’s death in 1954 include Elliot Detchon Jr. and H. W. Meers. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.