In 1918, Thorne built a 28-room mansion on a estate on Sheridan Road in Lake Forest, Illinois. The estate, called White Oaks, became a major showcase home in the area.Kim Coventry, Daniel Meyer, Arthur H. Miller, Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest: Architecture and Landscape Design 1856-1940, W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. During the 1930s, Thorne became president of the board of trustees of Lake Forest Academy.
