[Show as slideshow]

Well this is some good news, especially so soon after the Black Hammer of Apathy swung so harshly at Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, built in Oak Park in 1908, has just received a $10 million grant pledge from The Alphawood Foundation Chicago for restoration, subject to a joint fundraising effort with the Temple’s congregation and the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation to raise additional funds needed for the project.

That could mean as much as another $10 million, but the pledge is still fantastic.

Water leaks and damage over the years has caused both structural issues and problems with interior elements, prompting the National Trust for Historic Preservation to place Unity Temple on the list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2009.

You can read more at PrairieMod, which also has links to other articles on the subject.

Usually the homes that catch my eye are ranches, but here’s an example of a very interesting modern home that is not only two stories, but is quite different than most other homes in general, not to mention those modern gems from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Hit the link to read about this unusual home in Chicago’s northwest burbs…

The rough, earthy texture found on the exterior of this Rolling Meadows home, along with the concrete’s color and the many mature trees, helps to make the house feel like it’s perfectly situated in its environment.

Anders, the home’s owner, doesn’t know who the architect was, but he knew right when he saw the home that he loved it.

“I liked it already from just looking at the advertisement in North Shore Magazine. I looked at it on a Friday with my wife and then saw 15 more homes the next 2 days, but we were both sold on this house even though it was further from work and more expensive than we intended to buy.”

The home, built in 1974 as far as Anders knows, is a series of concrete cylinders of varying sizes connected by a central volume. The smallest cylinder is the one in the front, which is the entryway that houses a three-story, spiral staircase leading both up and down from the front entry.

The cylinders on the sides of the home are living areas (on both levels), while the largest space, the cylinder at the back of the home, houses a pool with a slide and walkway around the perimeter of the 2nd floor.

“I love the home’s unique shape and construction, and living in a home that’s so different,” says Anders. “And the skylight over the family room through the open second floor is another one of my favorite features. Of course, I also love having an indoor pool.”

The family room is in the central volume, which is diamond-shaped, with each of the four cylinders eating into a corner of the diamond.

Although a concrete house seems like it might stick out of the surrounding landscape like a sore thumb, Anders’ house actually blends in quite nicely. The garage is underground (along with several other rooms and storage spaces) and the trees in the area are plentiful and mature, making the home look well-incorporated into its landscape.

Additionally, the interior of the home feels very warm, thanks to the use of quite a bit of tambour paneling.

Anders says the experience of living in a concrete home is different than that of a “normal” house: “It’s quiet. And there are no creaky floors,” he says. “There’s really no maintenance of the walls, either, but I do have to maintain the roof and balconies.”

The home works out to nearly 4,000 square feet, including a couple of rooms in the basement, but not including the pool area, which is about 825 square feet more.

On the main floor, the rooms flow into one another. From the middle of the family room / bar area, you have views into the living room, the pool and the kitchen / dining room.

The fireplace reiterates the circular themes found throughout the house, but it was originally in the living room, and the previous owners, who remodeled a fair amount of the house, moved it to its current location, giving it the additional role of room divider.

Many of the rooms in the house feature built-in furniture, due to the unusual shape of the home and its rooms. The living room and family room both feature built-in or custom-made seating and tables. The kitchen has a built-in table with fitted chairs, and the kitchen and dining room are separated by a built-in cabinet.

“The prior owners had done a great job renovating the house a few years before we bought it, so we didn’t change much for a long time,” says Anders. “Recently, I completely re-did the kitchen and the two main bathrooms to look more modern.”

The master bedroom on the second floor resides over the living room, and features a round bed in the center of the room, complete with a lighting control panel embedded in the built-in cabinet that acts as a headboard and offers additional storage.

Of course, I wondered how you get a round mattress for a bed like this. “You can’t find a regular spring mattress,” said Anders. “When I first got here, I found a place in California that made round waterbeds, so that was my first one. When I got tired of that, I found a company that sold memory foam mattresses who was willing to create a custom round shape. I put the foam mattress on top of the waterbed, which made the bed higher as you see now. Bed sheets have to be custom sewn to fit the bed.”

A little more work than normal mattress shopping, but definitely unique!

“When people come here for the first time,” says Anders, ” they say they’ve never seen anything like it. Some have even asked if Hugh Hefner lived here when they see the round bed and the mirrors above it.” Anders remodeled the bedroom, which originally had a dark, velvet-like fabric covering most of the walls.

As far as Anders knows, Hef was never a resident, but he has heard some bits and pieces about the home’s past.

“The whole house was poured in one long day,” he says. “The locals used to call it the O’Hare house because the round shape was similar to the control tower at O’Hare.”

The central volume of the home on the 2nd floor is mostly open to the living room below, with the skylight Anders mentioned offering up abundant natural light. At the back of the space, sliders lead to the walkway around the 2nd story perimeter of the pool tower, and the 2nd floor above the kitchen and dining room has two more bedrooms and another bathroom.

The pool tower features the slide I mentioned previously, and a partial rock wall at the back, above which is a piece of art that Anders believes was created by the original owner of the home.

Behind the home is a massive, multi-level deck that Anders and his son enjoy for its entertaining capabilities.

“The huge deck allows for large gatherings without feeling crowded,” Anders says. “We’ve had more than 100 people out there for big BBQ parties. My son has had parties here, inside, with up to 150 people.”

I would love to know who the architect of this home was. During one of my “urban archaeaology” sessions (aka me driving around looking for interesting homes), I discovered another concrete home in a nearby suburb that shares some features with Anders’ home. The owner of the other home, who’s been there only about a year or so, didn’t know who the architect of that home was, either, but had heard that it was somebody involved in some way with the concrete company who worked on Water Tower Place when it was built. Anders did tell me that the original owner / builder of the house owned a construction company that built small office and apartment buildings.

If you have any information on who the architect of this home might be, please leave info in the comments.

Our Third Annual Special Guided Tour of the Modern Design in the Merchandise Mart

Wednesday, April 24 @ 2:45 p.m.

FIRST STOP:

This year, members Suzanne Archer and Mel Crum, ASID, have arranged a fantastic tour for us at the “all new” Merchandise Mart, 222 Merchandise Plaza (between the Chicago River and Kinzie St. at Wells St.)

We will start our tour at BERNHARDT DESIGNS, a beautiful contract and residential showroom to get a talk and tour
including the new CHARLES POLLACK armless lounge chair, (shown above) from the famed 60′s designer (Nelson swag leg and more) who quietly retired, but was found by the president of Bernhardt and brought back to create another classic. To read more about Bernhardt/Pollack collaboration, click HERE

SECOND STOP:

Second stop at the legendary HOLLY HUNT for a guided tour of their exquisite contemporary design in their all new showroom.

THIRD STOP:

then on to our final stop, a reception hosted by BENJAMIN MOOREin their all new showroom for architects and designers; a magnificent showcase of colors and finishes all showrooms will include a short orientation and tour of their wears/items/furnishings

FREE for members + 1 guest

Please RSVP by email with the names of attendees! You will receive further info on the tour once you are registered

Chicago Bauhaus and Beyond and Columbia College are proud to present humorist and author Charles Phoenix for one night only, September 20th at 6pm.

Charles is an aficionado of all things Americana, especially the kitschy, pop cultural aspects of the mid-century. Charles has been seen on Conan and Martha Stewart, has been heard on NPR and has been featured in nearly countless newspaper and magazine pieces.

And now Charles Phoenix will be bringing his retro flavor of humor and his boundless appreciation for Americana to Chicago for the first time for his Big Retro Slide Show!

I spent a few minutes on the phone with Charles today to talk about what to expect at the Chicago show and more. Take a listen here (press the little triangle-shaped “Play” button to listen!)

Charles Phoenix Big Retro Slide Show!

Columbia College Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash Ave., 8th Floor
Thursday, September 20th, 6:00pm
Tickets are $25 available from Chicago Bauhaus & Beyond
Free to Columbia College Students, Faculty and Staff with Columbia ID

Don’t miss the first Charles Phoenix show in Chicago…be there or be square!

Palatine’s Plum Grove Estates is a bit of a hidden gem. Although the entrances that lead to the subdivision are off of fairly busy roads, you might not even know it’s there.

It’s not all that common to find a neighborhood this beautiful and this well-integrated with the surrounding nature, while being so close to so much. Immediately west of Route 53 (290) and 5 minutes north of Woodfield (if that), Plum Grove Estates incorporates a series of winding roads that roll gracefully over the hills and dips in the landscape. It’s a lush haven for many fine examples of mid-century architecture, and includes countless century-old trees and beautiful ponds that lend a serene tranquility to this refuge within the busy northwest burbs.

Read on to find out why Briarwood needs Saving…

Salt Creek also runs through Plum Grove Estates, and where it crosses under Briarwood Lane – the street that runs through the subdivision from Plum Grove Rd. to the Rte. 53 frontage road – there’s an architecturally-significant, mid-century stone & concrete bridge, built in 1954 as part of the subdivision’s master plan.

The Save Briarwood campaign is focused on this bridge, as well as the section of Briarwood closest to the bridge. Unfortunately, the Palatine Township Road District (PTRD) wants to replace the bridge and modify the flow of Briarwood Lane at the significant taxpayer cost of approximately $1 million.

“We believe that the bridge is a very important part of the history of Plum Grove Estates,” says PGE resident Cathy Reichl. Cathy’s one of a number of residents spearheading the Save Briarwood campaign. “Not only is it a neighborhood landmark, but if you look at its design, you can see that its stonework matches the stonework at all six entrances to the neighborhood. Replacing the bridge would not only take away the charm of an original mid-century stone bridge, it would destroy the aesthetic continuity that was obviously a part of the thoughtful design of Plum Grove Estates back in the 1950s.”

PTRD’s plan will adversely affect many elements that make Plum Grove Estates a standout community, not only by destroying the original stone bridge, but by cutting down mature trees, and by changing the course of Briarwood Lane in such a way that will encourage traffic to travel at higher speeds, reducing the safety of the roads, which have been shared by pedestrians, bikers and cars for over 50 years.

“The PTRD was trying to push this project through for completion this year,” says Reichl. “One of our goals was to slow down (if not stop) that process until homeowners were made fully aware of the adverse effects this project would have on our neighborhood. While the Committee still has other work to do, we feel that we’ve accomplished that particular goal.”

Many residents in Plum Grove Estates are opposed to the plan. Members of the community have taken it upon themselves to get experts to show that the bridge doesn’t need to be torn down and replaced. The community has proposed an alternative plan that involves repairing the bridge deck, without replacing, widening or elongating the bridge and without altering the flow of Briarwood Lane or resorting to cutting down mature trees.

“We’ve recently made some significant progress and have received a lot of support from Plum Grove Estates residents as well as residents of neighboring communities in the form of signed petitions and displaying of yard signs in support of Save Briarwood,” says Reichl. “We’ve also garnered interest in both the Briarwood Bridge and in the Plum Grove Estates neighborhood from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Their input regarding the bridge and the neighborhood has the potential to slow down, if not stop, the PTRD’s plans to replace Briarwood Bridge, and to change the direction of the project.”

And you can help too.

“We’ve been gathering petitions from both Plum Grove Estates residents and residents in neighboring communities,” continues Reichl. “We’re more than happy to have the support of anyone out there to show the Township that preserving part of history is an important issue to many people.”

I encourage you to look through the Save Briarwood website where, in addition to information about the campaign and the petition, you’ll find a scan of an original brochure detailing the benefits of home ownership in Plum Grove Estates. There’s also some cool information about the community’s land planners (Carl L. Gardner & Associates) and landscape architect (Harold O. Klopp), both of whom were recognized as leaders in their fields.

You can e-mail your signed petition to Save.Briarwood@yahoo.com or send it via postal mail to this address:

Save Briarwood
c/o 353 Park Drive
Palatine, IL  60067

Recently I happened to meet a woman named Min, who’s the owner of an Erickson & Stevens home in Palatine. She mentioned to me that she’d be putting the house up for sale soon, and “soon” has now arrived.

Min was kind enough to let me photograph her home and property, a nice-sized piece of land in a great area. She’s made plenty of improvements, both to the home and to the yard. Keep reading to take a look at this very cool mid-’60s home by one of my favorite architectural firms.

The first thing you’ll notice is an Erickson & Stevens trademark: the “Jamaican” roof. Although most locals think of these as Asian style pagoda roofs, the design was inspired by architecture that Erickson & Stevens observed when working for a client in Jamaica. The upward-sweeping roofline was a signature element, as were the many skylights and some of the interior features that you’ll see later on.

The firm designed three similar houses for this Palatine subdivision, all of which initially had the same layout: Side-facing garage at the front with a Jamaican roof and skylight, then a half-cylinder skylight running the full width of the house that separates the garage from the rest of the residence. The kitchens had an eat-in area that could be used as a dining room or den, then there was a main living area, a central courtyard with a fountain, three bedrooms, a master bathroom and a guest bathroom.

Over the main part of the house, from the far side of the foyer skylight back, was another Jamaican roof. All of the rooms in the houses, except for the bathrooms, were open to the soaring ceiling, allowing the natural light from the skylight at the top to reach all parts of the house.

The entry foyer of each home features another somewhat common Erickson & Stevens element: A cut-out in the foundation out of which a tree is growing. These cutouts were actually never poured when the foundations were laid, and the trees are growing in the very ground on which the home sits.

Each house also featured a partial basement (the area of the house from the kitchen back has a basement, while the rest is slab.

This particular house was at one time the personal residence of Dennis Stevens, Don Erickson’s business partner, and he made several modifications to it.

“I dug out under the original garage and made a new garage underground,” says Dennis Stevens, still working as an architect in Idaho. “Where the garage used to be, I made three new bedrooms and a bathroom, then I put a roof over them and made a playroom for the kids upstairs, with the stairs being suspended from chains.” The chains are another signature element of many Erickson & Stevens projects.

In addition to moving the garage and adding the new rooms at the front of the house, Stevens also combined the master and middle bedroom of the original house into a single, large master bedroom.

“The homes had three bedrooms originally, all of which were 13′ x 13′. There were two reasons for that,” Stevens says. “First was that when you put together a bed, nightstands and have a dresser and all that, 12 feet is a little tight. Plus, we used these 3″ x 6″ pecky incense cedar planks from an industrial mill and they came in 13-foot lengths.”

Of course, one of the most striking features of the home is that you can see up into that roofline from pretty much everywhere in the house. The pecky cedar, or wormy cedar as Don Erickson used to refer to it, has natural insulating properties.

“We just put one-and-a-half-inch fiberboard on the outside of the roofing, and put the shingles right on top. You can’t do that today,” says Stevens.

Stevens and his family lived in the house for 32 years, and two other owners occupied the house before Min bought it 7+ years ago.

“I’ve done a lot of work to the house,” says Min. “I replaced the front door, re-did the kitchen, and I replaced all of the skylights.”

The foyer is a striking area, with its hexagonal terra cotta tiles (carried through much of the home) the ficus tree growing out of the cut-out in the foundation, and the half-cylinder skylight that runs from the front door, over the tree, and continues across to the other side of the house.

The skylights are a major feature of the house. In fact, all ceiling volumes are either topped with a skylight or are skylights. Min replaced all four of them: The two at the tops of the Jamaican roofs, and the two half-cylinder skylights in the foyer area and over the sun room.

“Over the sun room, I raised up the skylight when we replaced it. The original one was sitting right on top of the wood beams and water would sit there and some of the beams were rotting. I fixed the rotting wood parts, raised the skylight up and pitched the roof next to it so that water won’t sit there anymore. Now it drains off to one side or the other.”

In one of the lower bedrooms that Stevens added while in the house, there were bunk beds suspended from the ceiling by chains. One of the bed platforms remains while the other had been removed some time in the last 15 years. Min, an artist, uses that room as her studio.

The other two front-facing bedrooms have sliders that open up to a balcony over the underground, tandem, 3-car garage (two cars go side by side with a third further back behind the car on the left).

Min also remodeled the lower bathroom and the guest bathroom in the main part of the house.

The central courtyard area is unique not only because of the fountain (each of the three houses has a different fountain design), but because of the louvered, bi-fold doors that can be opened and closed to rearrange the flow of the spaces.

The dining room area features an original light fixture (with some more lights added later) and cabinets that were there when Min bought the home.

The fireplace has a supsended look to it, and has a really great natural stone hearth and side-surround, while the main chimney facing is cedar.

Almost the entire perimeter of the house is wrapped in clerestory windows that let in even more natural light, while benefiting from the large overhangs at the bottom of the roof line. The lights along the clerestory sills give off a warm glow up into the ceiling volumes at night, but aren’t really needed during the day for the most part.

“There’s so much natural light in here that I almost never turn on the lights,” says Min, “It’s really nice.”

In the master bedroom, the original bathroom has a unique layout, with the vanity area facing into the bedroom, and a separate tub/shower/toilet room. The shower is a corner tub with a domed skylight over it that gives the bathroom some privacy while still letting in natural light from above.

The carpeting in the main part of the house has been replaced recently, and you can see another common Erickson & Stevens feature, the cedar light boxes around the perimeter of some rooms, that just cover a bulb in a socket, but give off warm up/down lighting.

The sun room at the back of the house is a real treat year-round, where you can sit in comfort while you soak in the nature all around you, including above, thanks to the massive skylight that makes up the roof of the space.

Outside, Min has done even more work, adding a lot of really lush, beautiful landscaping to the property, much of which has an Asian flavor to it.

The home’s geometry is as interesting from the outside as it is from the inside, with the Jamaican roofs soaring up into the surrounding trees.

The walkway from the driveway up to the home’s entryway is a combination of aggregate concrete and wood beams, and they lead visitors through an array of planted spaces and rock gardens.

Out back, there’s a brick patio that leads to and alongside the sun room, beyond which is a deep back yard with a number of mature trees that look to be at least a century old. The dense foliage at the back of the yard gives so much beautiful privacy to the area that you might not know that it’s almost directly across from Deer Park and just a few minutes from Route 53.

“I’ve loved living here,” says Min. “It’s such a beautiful, open space, and so unique.” The home is currently on the market and some lucky buyer is going to buy themselves a very special home indeed.

UPDATE: If you’ve visited recently and found the link to the listing broken, we’ve updated it (as of 8/26/12) to reflect the new version of the listing.

Being pleasantly surprised by a chance encounter is so much fun. Recently I was driving past a mid-century home that I’d seen and admired before, and the owners happened to be outside at the time. I stopped and chatted with them, and soon we were making plans for me to come visit and photograph their home to write about here.

(click any photo to see it at full size)

The Long Grove home, designed by architect Richard J. Stromberg and built in 1955, sits on a beautiful lot with a bunch of 100-year old trees. As far as the owners, Lee and Rick, know, Stromberg, who seems to have done mostly commercial projects, designed the home for some friends of his parents.

“They told him what they wanted: ‘We want two bedrooms, a bathroom, some living space, an eating space, a kitchen and a utility room, and a garage’ and he designed it for them,” explained Rick.

“It was love at first sight for us, both the house and the property,” says Lee. “We love the beamed ceilings and how the exterior architecture was carried into the interior.”

The home features Douglas Fir beams and ceiling planks, exposed Roman brick, deep roof overhangs, clerestory windows and has a really great flow to it.

Rick, a retired industrial product designer, also happens to be very handy. The couple bought the house in 1967 and soon realized that the two bedroom setup wasn’t going to work for the family that they were just starting at the time.

Over the years, Lee and Rick made a number of changes to the home that, thankfully, haven’t changed the character of the home at all. In fact, they’ve made the home more livable for themselves, modernized it, and all the while have kept it true to the home’s original spirit.

“We divided a huge master bedroom into two smaller bedrooms, because we knew we were going to be starting a family,” says Lee.

“The one bathroom in the house only had a shower stall,” added Rick, “so we put a tub in there. We re-did the bathroom but we wanted to keep the original character, so we put this tub in, but we kept the original sink and toilet.”

They also expanded and remodeled the kitchen. “The original utility room was just huge. It went all the way from one side of the house to the other,” says Lee. They made the utility room smaller and used the extra space to extend the kitchen toward the west end of the house.

“The original kitchen cabinets were white birch. They had these big, round knobs on them,” says Rick. You can still see samples of these in a cabinet left facing the dining room, as well as on the doors in the room divider / hallway. “It was like all these giant eyeballs staring at us all the time!” continues Rick. The updated cabinets have integrated pulls for a look that’s both cleaner and still fitting with the rest of the home.

I thought it was really cool that they kept the original, vintage Hotpoint oven. “It still works, so we decided to keep it,” says Lee. “Plus, ovens today are wider,” adds Rick, “so we would’ve had to completely reconfigure this part of the kitchen.”

One of the biggest changes was adding a family room and a second bathroom, by moving the original garage out and putting the new rooms where the old garage was. “They literally cut off the last six feet of the garage and just pushed it out, then framed out the new garage,” says Rick.

The added family room features a double desk designed by Rick and built by a friend of theirs. Rick added texture to the south wall by embedding white stone in epoxy. “It was pretty tricky, because the epoxy would dry really fast, so I had to put epoxy on a small area, get the stones in right away and then, quickly, move onto the next area.” The result is great: It bounces natural light from the north windows all over the room.

Rick also built a shed in the back yard to match the house, and recently, they re-did the home’s roof.

“When we first had the roof of the house re-done, it was rubber, and when it rained, it was so loud. It was terrible…I thought ‘I can’t live with this!’ Sometimes it was so loud, the raindrops would sound like thousands of marbles hitting the roof!” says Lee. “The original roof had gravel on it,” continues Rick, “and so the people who did the roof for us came back and put small stones up there to sort of diffuse and dissipate the rain.”

Rick also designed and built a deck on the back of the house with clean, low lines that echo the style of the home.

One of the greatest things about the home is that, in addition to the various structural changes and additions that Lee and Rick have made to be consistent with the home’s original character, the furnishings and decor are also very mid-century.

“Once we moved into our house and in order to maintain a mid-century modern look to our furnishings within a ‘reasonable’ price range, we camped out at the annual Herman Miller sale in Holland, Michigan to snag some classic pieces. This required you to be one of hundreds stampeding the entrance and laying your body over whatever you wanted to buy! Several times we did this and purchased an Eames leather lounge chair and ottoman, an upholstered Eames side chair, stereo system credenza, desk, file system that we used as dresser drawers, cabinet system for storage, and file cabinet and drawers for storage.”

They’ve also had some good luck (and good friends) with regard to furniture: “A dear friend of ours had purchased Warren Platner’s sculptural table and chairs,” says Lee. “We told her how much we loved it and, if she ever wanted to sell it, to let us know as we would want to buy the set. After many years, we did buy it…what was practically a gift! She was a very good friend.”

The home is beautifully decorated with classic mid-century furnishings and accessories. In addition, Lee and Rick have had a number of pieces made to suit their decor, either to match existing pieces or built according to Rick’s own designs.

“We had these two pieces in our master bedroom from Founders Furniture,” says Lee. “A friend of ours, who made our kitchen cabinets, made the nightstands to match.”

Other changes inside include painting the exposed brick. “We love the red Roman brick,” says Lee, “but with the beams and the ceiling, it was just so dark, so we decided to brighten it up by painting the brick white.”

The couple also replaced the homes original cork flooring with hardwood and carpeting.

“The other thing we did was, when we split the original master bedroom into two smaller ones,” adds Rick, “the middle bedroom had no windows, so we had this vertical window put in. So the room has natural light, and it still feels right with the original design.”

Another cool feature is the planter at the entryway that’s carried in from outside. Next to the center-knob front door, Rick designed the stained glass sidelight, which had the added benefit of being very strong due to the diagonal lines in the design that prevented the window from buckling.

The living room is very spacious and includes a nice angled fireplace feature. And the room divider / closets that form the hallway serve multiple purposes: Not only do they provide ample storage, but they create privacy for the bedrooms and offer a nice, warm backdrop for the living room.

Both the living room and entryway / hallway feature ceiling fixtures designed by and made in part by Rick.

One thing about the home that’s a bit of a mystery is the architect. I wasn’t able to find out too much info on him: Richard J. Stromberg was born in 1915 in Chicago and died in October of 1972. He graduated from Maine East High School in 1933 and at one point he lived in St. Charles. He had two children and, from what I found, mostly worked on commercial projects, including work for a number of local architectural firms: H.V. Von Hoist, William Campbell Wright, R. Harold Zook and Elmer Gylleck & Associates.

Eventually, Stromberg started his own architectural firm, based out of Elgin, where he’s credited as the architect or co-architect on a number of projects that include Emmie J. Ellis Jr. High School (1951), Vincent Coleman (1952) and Huff (1954) grade schools in Elgin, as well as the Elgin Medical Building (1954), State Bank in Algonquin (1954) and a warehouse for a company called KPA (1955) in Melrose park.

I wasn’t able to track down any other residential projects or his kids, so if you know anything about Richard J. Stromberg, please leave comments below!

It was such a treat to have met Lee and Rick, and even more so to be able to get a look at and inside their home and to hear all of the stories that go along with it. I hope you enjoy looking through these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

This past weekend, Chicago Bauhaus and Beyond member and real estate agent John Park co-hosted an open house of this wonderful mid-century modern home. Click through to read & see more…

The current owners have done a fantastic job of improving the house – re-done roof, radiant heat in the floors – without altering the home’s original character at all. In fact, much of the home is original or has been painstakingly restored to its original beauty.

The house is somewhat of a mystery, though, in that the architect is unknown. What is known is that the post and beam house was built in 1961 and features bright, open spaces, an open kitchen, and original custom bathrooms.

Take a look at the pictures below to get a view of this great mid-century home, and if you have any information on the architect, please leave a comment on this post.

The multiple low-angle roof lines show off the post & beam construction from the outside. Nice privacy tree by the front door.

Immediately, the living room / dining room volume sets the design & decor language for the home: Exposed brick, asymmetrical hearth,  tongue-and-groove ceiling, post and beam construction, concrete floor, triple staggered pendant. I love the “orange peel” world map rug. So cool.

Looking up toward the front of the house from the back of the family room, you can see how smart this layout is, with the large, floor to ceiling windows & sliding door at left allowing unobstructed views of the home’s private patio & garden area, while the clerestory windows bring in tons of natural light while maintaining privacy at the front of the house.

Another shot to the kitchen and into the living room / dining room, from the wet bar area in the family room.

The home features a lot of really nice furniture and decor items, like the sideboard / credenza with woven wood door panels, and the textured, art piece above it.

I like that the living room / dining room area is intimate without feeling stuffy at all. The openness to the kitchen, and the glass wall looking out to the patio & garden keep things airy and light.

I’m a sucker for a good Danish modern lamp.

Another view of the living room / dining room area, this time looking toward the front of the house.

I love the shape of the dining room table…so cool!

A crowd gathers in the kitchen / family room.

CBB members Susan and Gary, who’s moving too fast to stake his claim on the sofa to be captured on camera. Another great furniture piece, the bookshelf in the back of the family room houses lots of nice art and accessories, while simply incorporating a modern flat-panel TV.

Nice drama in the master bedroom, thanks to the sloped ceiling. More period-specific lighting fixtures are found throughout the home.

Part of the larger bath that’s shared by the two bedrooms. Original tile and cabinetry.

The other part of the larger bath. Those sliding medicine cabinet doors at the base of the mirror are fantastic.

A shot of the second bedroom. Notice how the roof lines make the sleeping areas (in both bedrooms) more intimate. Nice.

A shot from behind the wet bar. Thanks to our hosts Alley Ballard and John Park for the nice spread and hospitality.

The smaller bathroom features the same overall style, with its own color scheme and a cute shower door.

A trio of classic mid-century pendant lights really helps create a cool mood for working or relaxing in the office / den.

Some more nice details.

Somebody at the event said these switches came out in the ’70s and allowed a homeowner to wallpaper the switches to coordinate with a home’s decor. If you have any more info about these really cool paddle switches, post in the comments!

If you think you might want to purchase this super-cool home and you’re interested in seeing it for yourself, you can contact @Properties real estate agent John Park at 847-651-1983.

From the event description:

Harry Weese’s stunning 1968 Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist is the perfect setting for Pulitzer-Prize winning writer and Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, Paul Goldberger, Editor of Architect magazine, Ned Cramer, and Chicago’s own Lee Bey, Architecture Contributor for WBEZ, to take a hard look at the legacy of Modernism in Chicago. Explore what Modernism means today, why it still matters (or does it?), and the main impediments we face in saving our Modern heritage.

Reserve your tickets here.

The Chicago area and, in fact, much of Illinois is home to pockets of some of the most engaging examples of mid- to late-century modern residential architecture and design.

In the years before the McMansion epidemic hit, there were plenty of lots on which were built one-off designs imagined and carefully planned by architects for individual clients.

This site is dedicated to those homes. The random structures that catch my eye as I drive down tree-lined streets. Sometimes these architectural gems are visible from main roads, but often they’re hidden just out of site, behind a berm or a fence or a strategically placed cluster of trees, making the homes invisible except to those intrepid explorers and (sub)urban archaeologists.

My focus will be on homes designed for the most part between 1950 and 1985. During these years in particular, many modern architects designed homes that conveyed a sense of hopefulness, style and artistic creativity that really speaks to me.

I hope these homes speak to you, too, and that you’ll enjoy what you see here. Hopefully, something you see will inspire you in your own discoveries or, better yet, in your plans to have your own modern home built some day. One that, 50 years from now, will draw in somebody to discover, admire and write about it.