Gary and Gail Haller bought a 51-year-old house in Park Ridge during the Gulf War, when housing sales were slow. The owner had moved from the house months before and was eager to sell.
The three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath house features a full, finished basement with terrazzo tile imported from Italy, a two-car garage, built-in bookcases and a tiled wet bar. The original owner had the two-story house custom-built with details such as contrasting tiles in the bathroom in fish, water and tree designs.
The Hallers say they have found their dream home. “Gary grew up near here and used to walk past the house twice a day (for school). He never dreamed that he would live here one day,” Gail said.
While the house has many unique details, Gail and Gary would like to modify parts of the floor plan to bring it up to date with their lifestyle.
“I’d love to build out a master bedroom suite over our flat-roofgarage,” said Gail. The addition would include space for a large walk-in closet, a dressing area and skylights.
The couple also wants to convert the garage to a family room, build a new garage adjacent to it and expand their kitchen. “The kitchen really is tiny,” Gail said. “I only have one drawer for storage.”
With so many decisions, the Hallers were confused about how to proceed. “We really didn’t know where to begin,” Gail said.
We asked Robert A. Monroe and Cynthia Robb, of Robb + Monroe, a Chicago architectural firm, to offer suggestions. Monroe, an architect, said that the expansion should be designed to accent the many custom elements of the house.
“The house is a marvelous study in architectural style because it has a collection of many styles,” Monroe said. The house is considered a colonial, but has Georgian and Frank Lloyd Wright features.
The space in the house was designed efficiently and interior details blend together, Monroe said. A few odd-shaped wall sections were made into storage spaces; casement windows and interior storm windows were designed to match the room’s wood trim.
“You have to appreciate the fact that it has a lot of detailed woodwork,” he said.
The master bedroom is to the left of the staircase landing on the second floor. To provide a flowing movement into the suite and eliminate the need for a door, Monroe suggested creating a formal vestibule to separate the suite from the stairs.
The upstairs bathroom is adjacent to the master bedroom. The area behind the bedroom could be expanded to connect it with the bathroom and create a large bath and dressing area, he said. Skylights and perhaps a whirlpool tub would add a contemporary, open look to the room, Monroe said.
Moving downstairs to examine the kitchen, Robb suggested removing the wall between the kitchen and adjacent “mud room” leading to the side door. The mud room would become the eat-in kitchen and the original area would be used for meal preparation. An existing eat-in table area would be removed.
Robb, who oversees the company’s construction management, suggested buying new cabinets to give the kitchen a more contemporary look. Because countertop space is limited, large cabinets could be added to store electrical appliances and kitchen gadgets, she said.
The kitchen expansion could be designed to create a large, open area that flows into the family room. The project would be more difficult to configure than the master bedroom because of its shape and plumbing and electrical needs, Monroe said. “It’s going to take some effort to make it work.”
