Seldom do all the elements of a showhouse come together with the zest that they do in the Redfield Estate Designer Showhouse at The Grove National Historic Landmark in Glenview, which opens Friday.
The gracious stone-and-stucco country manor designed by George G. Elmslie of the Louis Sullivan school of architecture and built in 1929 was once the home of Louise Redfield Peattie and Donald Culross Peattie, both authors and traveling editors for Reader’s Digest. Interior designers and craftsmen transformed the rooms into the time of the couple’s wedding day in the 1920s.
The interior decor flows seamlessly room to room. Especially commendable is the Great Room, done in metals, textiles and leathers by Julie Hermanson of Point of Origin in Glenview. A unique twist: the replica of a 1910 French fighter plane diving from the cathedral ceiling. The dining room by Mary Ellen Larkin of One Magnificent Shoppe in Niles and Sandy Macarol of Macarol Interiors in Arlington Heights is intimate and inviting, with an avian theme. The Groomsmen’s Getaway, or sun room, by Elizabeth Burden Cassier of Cassier Associates in Evanston and Gayle Dahling Veach of Accumulations! in Hoffman Estates is complete with a 1926 newspaper heralding the untimely death of movie star Valentino.
Don’t miss the bumblebee theme in the upstairs guest bath by Sandra Wesson of Designs Alive Ltd. of Mundelein.
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The Redfield Showhouse at The Grove National Historic Landmark, 1421 Milwaukee Ave., Glenview, is open Friday through May 5, and benefits The Grove Heritage Association. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission: $12.50 in advance, $15 at the door. Call: 847-729-8876.
