When you love what you live with, it doesn’t always matter where those things sit in your home. A cherished painting may lean against a wall rather than hang prominently over the fireplace. Some books never make it to a shelf. But sooner or later, most of us want to give our treasures pride of place. When a Chicago couple turned to architect Eric Rothfeder to renovate their 2,400-square-foot apartment in the landmarked Montgomery Ward Company Complex, creating a sympathetic envelope for their art, antiques and modernist furniture were central to the program.
By the time Rothfeder came to the project, the owners – eager to completely change the layout of the three-bedroom unit – had already gutted the apartment. “This allowed me to really understand the constraints of the existing building and to move forward with a blank slate and without any assumptions about what the final design would be,” describes Rothfeder. “High-rise apartments have a lot of restrictions and building components that you can’t change or move. The architecture has to be a choreography, dancing around all these constraints, so that the final design feels natural and compelling. Even if it’s a renovation, it should always feel that it was intended to be that way.”
The architect relocated a small kitchen that had subdivided the living area to create a larger, loft-like space that accommodated entertaining, cooking and dining. “We moved around ductwork to raise the ceiling height and enhance the spatial drama,” shares Rothfeder. “And since they needed only one full bath, we converted the two other bathrooms into a small office and a large walk-in closet. They didn’t want to sacrifice much space for the office, so this is a very small room tucked away near the kitchen, but with double sliding doors so it can open to the rest of the living spaces.”
While a minimalist sensibility pervades the home, Rothfeder’s material palette provides a companionable visual and textural depth to these spaces. Large slabs of Calacatta Verde marble read like enormous abstract canvases in the primary bathroom. The cabinets and countertops of the undeniably moody kitchen are clad in large-format sheets of dark-hued porcelain. The office features custom oak millwork in an oxidized finish. “It’s treated with a vinegar solution, which reacts to the natural tannins of the wood,” notes Rothfeder, “creating a darker color while preserving more variation than you would achieve with a dark stain.”
Marked by a generous restraint, a clarity that is far from clinical, this handsome home has everything in its place, from the drawings by the British artist John Walker that grace the dining area to the antique Chinese door panels that line a wall in the primary bedroom. Cool, collected, comfortable. Who could ask for more?
Photography by Mike Schwartz.
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