PREVIOUS SPREAD, FROM LEFT: Nearly 2,000 books, curated by bookseller Kinsey Marable, line the shelves of the hand-cerused European white oak-paneled library. Black-and-honey rattan chairs (Paolo Moschino) and "peanut-butter-and-jelly" zellige floor tiles (Mosaic Factory) lend a playful spirit to the breakfast conservatory. BELOW, FROM LEFT: A foliage-laden mudroom hall offers a verdant welcome. Mirror, Michael-Cleary. Andy Warhol's Sitting Bull, a nod to the homeowner's American Indian heritage, presides over the library's neoclassical cabinet. OPPOSITE: Hammered metal sconces (Soane) ascend the stair hall's botanical de Gournay wallpaper.
Every new house comes with surprises, traditions tweaked, leaps of faith.
In the case of a new suburban residence outside of Chicago, the first twist was the owners' decision to build it at all. They'd initially contacted designer Summer Thornton to help plan an addition to their existing home.
"They wanted to freshen things up," Thornton says of the clients she had worked with on prior projects. However, the addition they had in mind was an ambitious two-story library-something the husband had longed for since childhood.
"It looked odd to tack the library on to the existing house," says architect Heidi Lightner, whose firm was hired to draw up the plan. So she approached theclients with a proposal: "If you really want to do this right," she told them, "you should design a new house around the library." They said, "OK, let's do it!" Yet their lot was fairly small, and they didn't want to move.
The wife had grown up in Chicago, and most of her relatives still live nearby; her twin sister's backyard even abuts hers.
"I have a huge, close-knit family," she says. "Eight siblings, lots of nieces and nephews, three grown kids." Last year for Thanksgiving, she hosted 52 people for dinner.
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Esta historia es de la edición January - February 2025 de Veranda.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Social Study
In the Chicago suburbs, a convivial family home is reimagined with intoxicating color, wild florals, and a sweeping two-story library-secret doors included.
Building DRAMA
IN A STORIED UPPER EAST SIDE APARTMENT, CHAIRISH COFOUNDER ANNA BROCKWAY TURNS UP THE HEAT WITH HIGH-VOLTAGE COLOR AND AN ULTRACHIC VINTAGE HAUL.
STORYTELLERS in Residence
Interior designer Stephanie Sabbe pens a new chapter for a Nashville author's guesthouse, creating a writer's cabin with muses stretching over centuries.
ELECTRIC REGENCY
Glamour, symmetry, and a bookish emerald study: In Richmond, Suzanne Kasler and Carter Skinner usher in a new era of bravado for so-called neutrals.
A Bold REWRITE
Designer Guy Oliver changes the narrative of a late 19th-century London townhouse to showcase exquisite art and literature and exude an ageless sense of comfort.
Handwriting HISTORY
WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW IMMERSIVE MUSEUM IN GERMANY, MONTBLANC CELEBRATES THE ART OF PENMANSHIP ACROSS TIME AND CULTURE.
ONCE UPON AN ODYSSEY
While sailing the Antarctic, a writer makes a thrilling discovery: an EXTRAORDINARY SHIP'S LIBRARY assembled with an explorer's heart.
The Drintmakers WORKSHOP
Venetian studio BOTTEGA DEL TINTORETTO conjures the creative spirit of its namesake Italian Renaissance painter, one hand-bound book at a time.
GOOD on PAPER
Using traditional Philippine techniques and recycled magazines and newsprint, Lori Weitzner champions the powers of page and plant with wallcoverings crafted entirely by hand.
Etched in TIME
Patek Philippe's new rose gold Retrograde Perpetual Calendar draws upon the sweeping scrolls, foliage, and volutes of a classic antique pocket watch.
