The architect had scouted the Lincoln Park property for a client, but the project fell through when the owners wouldn’t sell.
When the architect’s wife saw it later and met the owners (three sisters, who had lived there since they were children, and their families, all of whom had private quarters), the deal was nearly sealed. The clincher wasn’t the physical structure–a three-story brownstone with a rear building–but the good karma she felt from the people who lived there.
The feeling must have been mutual, because the sisters decided to sell to this couple, now the property’s third owners.
The buildings were constructed in the 1890s by a German noodlemaker who lived in the brownstone and used the rear building as the factory. He sold the property in the 1940s to a couple with three daughters .
Although the sisters had left everything in “immaculate” condition, the architect had other plans. “It’s a shame I had to tear it down. In my country (Chile), it would be a sin to destroy a move-in-condition building. My mother would have spanked me had she known.”
But there were too many choppy rooms, not enough light, no garage, no entrance landing and there was the problem of the disconnected rear building.
The architect, who has his own firm, linked the two buildings.
The result is an expansive, nearly 7,000-square-foot, three-story home with a full basement, three bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, a heated swimming pool on the second level, rooftop deck, a garage and quarters for the nanny.
“Space is so central to a home and I have always loved the feeling of walking into a cathedral,” says the husband, an avid collector who has traveled extensively.
To get that, the husband built a landing for the entrance. He built three steps up to the house, then moved the door in by five feet, leaving a 5-by-5-foot portico, gated from the outside.
On the first floor, he knocked out the walls and used free-standing partitions to divide the living room, dining room, kitchen and the bar and serving area, giving the sense of movement and openness throughout.
The walls are painted a warm yellow and diamond-textured glass-block windows on each stair landing let in diffused light.
On the next two levels are the master bedroom, guest bedrooms, his-and-her offices, a library and the children’s rooms.
Another potentially high usage area is the basement. It contains an entertainment center, kitchenette, pool table–and a 17-by 19-foot dance floor that is sometimes a staging area for the architect to practice fencing.
“As the kids get to be teenagers, they’ll have everything they need,” says the wishful father, “without leaving the house.”
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RESOURCES
Architecture and construction: Macondo Corp. Color and fabric consultant–Schmidt Designs, Oak Park. Paint throughout–Pratt & Lambert.
On pg. 4: Bath: Medicine cabinet–Luminaire; mirrors–personal collection.
On pg. 22: Living room: Bishop’s garment from Cuba, circa 1650s; First Hugenot Church pew, circa 1790s; sofa table; wrought-iron coffee table–personal collection; sofa–Crate & Barrel.
Kitchen: Cabinetry–Domani Cabinet Creations, Toronto; Mexican tile floors–Hispanic Designe, Merchandise Mart; Thermidor appliances–North Shore Refrigeration Co., Skokie; maple table and chairs–personal collection.
Pg. 23: Living room: Polynesian theater masks; French parasol, circa 1800s; pre-Columbian statuettes; sofa; and reproduction Biedermeier chairs–personal collection; British Colonial table–Golden Triangle.
Pg. 24: Deck construction–Maneyski Construction Co., Chicago; pool–Norbert Pools, Niles.
