After living all of her adult life away from her native Chicago, Adrienne Weiss concluded it was time to move back home. She had spent 10 years in Boston, New York and Washington, followed by 10 years in Los Angeles. “I had this epiphany that there really is such a thing as roots, and after living all those places, I decided this is really the best place you could live,” says Weiss, CEO of Adrienne Weiss Corp., an international branding business.
For the last 18 years, Weiss has been at the helm of a company that helps its clients communicate who they are in a creative way. She has counseled cities, airports, stadiums and national corporations like Disney, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Wal-Mart and Target. The company also designs retail stores and restaurants and helped create Build A Bear Workshop.
Being in a business with no geographical restrictions made it easy for Weiss to relocate. And, for her, living in Chicago meant a view of the lake and a residence in the heart of the city.
Weiss also knew she wanted a home with the loft-like feeling of big, open spaces. “So everything I looked at, I was immediately tearing out all the walls and seeing what I was left with,” she explains.
To satisfy her requirements, Weiss purchased a corner apartment on a high floor of a downtown high-rise with spectacular views to the east and the north. Her living room, media center, dining room and kitchen overlook the lake. Her music area, study and bedroom face the John Hancock building and the skyline beyond.
“The (original) space was traditional in its architecture and furnishings,” she explains, “so in my mind, I had to wipe it clean to the shell that just holds the space.”
As a businesswoman with a very busy schedule, Weiss felt she needed a real retreat. “I wanted my nest to be very minimal and serene,” she says. “I wanted to clean every line, make everything lower and longer to get this sort of Asian aesthetic. And the soulfulness of it would come from antiques that I would put down as objects into a very clean, minimal space.”
Weiss found herself drawn to the work of architect Brad Lynch, principal of Brininstool + Lynch Ltd., who is known for modern design.
After demolishing the approximately 3,000-square-foot space, Weiss and Lynch created an open floor plan with no rooms other than two bathrooms. Her bedroom and study can be closed off with pocket doors.
The interior is a series of changing planes. “The ceilings are lower at the center of the apartment to contain and connect mechanical systems with the reorganization of interior walls, and higher at the perimeter, to emphasize openness and exterior views,” says Lynch. The lowered ceilings delineate space corresponding to the entry, powder room and master bath, where limestone covers the floors. The higher ceilings create a sense of anticipation, drawing you into the main areas. Pristine white walls recess an inch at the bottom, to look as though they do not meet the floor.
The kitchen was designed to appear as unlike a kitchen as possible. A barely visible electric cooktop is embedded in an 8-inch thick limestone slab which, cantilevered off a wall and supported by a thin stainless-steel leg, seems to float.
Fixtures in the master bath include a trough sink chiseled into a limestone block and a custom limestone tub. At the end of a long day, Weiss can relax here knowing she is now happily home.
———-
RESOURCES
Architect: Brad Lynch, Brininstool + Lynch, Ltd., Chicago. Living room and dining room: couch-Interior Crafts Inc., Merchandise Mart; cocktail table-Primitive Art Works, Chicago; Asian altar piece on table-Pagoda Red, Chicago; all other Chinese antiques on table-personal collection; dining table-designed by Brad Lynch, Brininstool + Lynch, Ltd., Chicago and Adrienne Weiss; Chinese dining chairs (late 1800s)-Pagoda Red, Chicago; bone candlesticks-Material Possessions, Chicago and Winnetka; light fixture-designed by Brad Lynch. Detail of living room: Piano-personal collection; standing lamp-Ligne Roset, Chicago; couch-Interior Crafts Inc., Mart. Kitchen: design-Brad Lynch, Brininstool + Lynch, Ltd., Chicago; Zen water fountain (on sink) and antique Chinese porcelain collection-personal collection. Master bathroom: design-Brad Lynch, Brininstool + Lynch, Ltd., Chicago. Entry: Aztec stone sculpture and Spanish church door-personal collection.
