This historic home and coach house in a landmark district on Astor Street was built in the late 1800’s. Originally designed as an 11,000sf single family residence, the home
was divided into nine apartments in the 1960’s and had fallen into disrepair. The new owners purchased the property with a vision to convert the building back to single
family residence for their young family.
The design concept was to restore the limestone exterior to its original state and reconstruct the interior into a home with an open floor plan and modern amenities for entertaining and family living, incorporating vintage details from the original property whenever possible. Program requirements included five bedrooms, all new bathrooms, contemporary kitchen, salon, library, billiards room with bar, home office, cinema, playroom, garage with stacking car lifts, and outdoor gardens with all new landscaping.
The home is unified by a grand staircase which is flooded with natural light from a glass laylight roof. The first level includes a formal entry with rich wood and marble finishes,
a walnut-paneled billiards room with custom bar, a play room, and a separate family entry with mudroom. A formal living and dining room with adjoining intimate salon are located on the second level; an addition at the rear of the home includes a custom deGiulio kitchen and family room. The third level master suite includes a marble bathroom, dressing room, library, and office. The fourth level includes the family bedrooms and a guest suite with a terrace and views of Lake Michigan. The lower level houses a custom cinema. Sustainable elements are seamlessly integrated throughout and include renewable materials, high-efficiency mechanicals and thermal envelope, restored original mahogany windows with new high-performance low-E glass, and a green roof.
dSPACE Studio Ltd Thank you for the compliment! This was a fun project for us and we loved working with the homeowner to bring new life to this historic single family residence.
I'm looking for a smooth limestone exterior veneer. Any sources you can recommend please? - I'm looking for a light colored (grey tones versus browns/yellowspreferred, like this building. Thank you! »
dSPACE Studio Ltd We recommend taking this photo to a local stone yard. A high quality stone yard will have a range of color and finish options and should be able to match the look you are going for. Good Luck with your project!
dSPACE Studio's portfolio of work can been seen at www.dspacestudio.com
Could someone give me the name of a country house or estate with this same architectural style? - This is amazing! I couldn't ask for a better facade for my dream home. I would love to explore the idea some more! »
dSPACE Studio Ltd Ben, The Chicago Landmarks Survey of 1996 lists this home as being built in 1899 with no permit and no architect of record. It is classified as Gothic Revival. I also see elements of Italianate and French Chateau.
If you need to replace your windows, make them as efficient as possible, but if increasing efficiency is your goal, don't start by replacing your windows. Historic single-pane wood windows can be weatherstripped and paired with an interior or exterior storm window to achieve perfectly good R values.
Rotted frames, deteriorated sashes and leaking air can generally be fixed in window restoration — even a rotting window isn't necessarily too far gone for restoration.
This historic home and coach house in a landmark district on Astor Street was built in the late 1800’s. Originally designed as an 11,000sf single family residence, the home
was divided into nine apartments in the 1960’s and had fallen into disrepair. The new owners purchased the property with a vision to convert the building back to single
family residence for their young family.
If you need to replace your windows, make them as efficient as possible, but if increasing efficiency is your goal, don't start by replacing your windows. Historic single-pane wood windows can be weatherstripped and paired with an interior or exterior storm window to achieve perfectly good R values.
This historic home and coach house in a landmark district on Astor Street was built in the late 1800s. Originally designed as an 11,000sf single family residence, the home
was divided into nine apartments in the 1960s and had fallen into disrepair. The new owners purchased the property with a vision to convert the building back to single
family residence for their young family.
The design concept was to restore the limestone exterior to its original state and reconstruct the interior into...
Rotted frames, deteriorated sashes and leaking air can generally be fixed in window restoration — even a rotting window isn't necessarily too far gone for restoration.