Harry Caray would be proud. This year’s Park Ridge Youth Campus Designer’s Showhouse, opening today in Wilmette, includes among its 25 rooms one aptly described as a “Cubbie’s dreamland.”
Ron Zapfe of Creative House, a Glenview interior design firm, says he created his fantasy-filled boy’s room “right out of Wrigley Field.” It features a hand-carved baseball-diamond rug, a laminated wall unit that houses a “dugout” bed and “upper deck” play loft, and window treatments made from Cubs uniform material. Done in the team colors, the room also features unusual collectibles, including a life-size soft sculpture of Caray himself.
“In our industry, no one seems to care about boys’ rooms. In fact, you hardly ever see one in a showhouse. I wanted to show people that boys can have real knock-out rooms too,” said Zapfe, who also designed the adjacent boy’s bathroom to look like Old Comiskey Park.
Other highlights at the Georgian-style mansion, situated on two acres on Wilmette’s lakefront, include: a living room design in silver and white by Chicago’s Anthony Michael; a picture-perfect artist’s retreat in lush green and lilac by Marsha Jones of Wheaton; an inviting Mediterranean kitchen and courtyard by Mt. Prospect’s Jenese Busch; and a powder room transformed into a vine-wrapped “secret garden” by Lynn Wickham of Crystal Lake.
The showhouse runs through May 23; closed on Mondays. Tickets are $10 at the door. For information, call 708-823-5170.
