Lake Shore Drive Residence, Chicago, IL
Photography by Alan Shortall
When longtime, repeat clients called to inform me that they just had purchased a residence on Lake Shore Drive, I was thrilled at the prospect of working with them again. Ironically, the building they purchased in was next to mine which made for a short commute during the project.
I knew the unit and the layout was intelligent. One first comes into the entry which features a wall-hung cabinet in the manner of Florence Knoll and an ornate white plaster mirror that pays homage to the legendary decorator Dorothy Draper.
Upon leaving the entry, there is a long, spacious gallery that separates the private areas from the public. I wanted a theatrical feel to the space, so on one wall there are two custom seven-foot square mirrors and on the opposite wall art rails hold a collection of antique architectural prints which are reflected in the mirrors.
In the living room, a custom sofa from their previous residence, that was lengthened for the space and is enveloped by a custom mica screen. The two side tables consist of stainless-steel restaurant table bases with stone tops. On their existing Catherine Memmi cocktail table, I added metal sabots to raise its height and give it a sense of importance. The pair of vintage Brueton chairs and the pair of French Regence chairs, that were bought on a Paris buying trip, are upholstered in the same bouclé fabric so that they have a relationship to one another. On the wall opposite the sofa, there is a custom 12-foot-long wall-hung cabinet which is the same design of that in the entry. Since the ceiling is concrete slab and down-lights were not an option, at either end of the cabinet I used a pair of the classic “Parentesi” light fixtures.
No attention to detail was spared, all of the area rugs are nine inches off of the walls with an eighteen-inch distance between them to create a Mondrian effect.
When longtime, repeat clients called to inform me that they just had purchased a residence on Lake Shore Drive, I was thrilled at the prospect of working with them again. Ironically, the building they purchased in was next to mine which made for a short commute during the project.
I knew the unit and the layout was intelligent. One first comes into the entry which features a wall-hung cabinet in the manner of Florence Knoll and an ornate white plaster mirror that pays homage to the legendary decorator Dorothy Draper.
Upon leaving the entry, there is a long, spacious gallery that separates the private areas from the public. I wanted a theatrical feel to the space, so on one wall there are two custom seven-foot square mirrors and on the opposite wall art rails hold a collection of antique architectural prints which are reflected in the mirrors.
In the living room, a custom sofa from their previous residence, that was lengthened for the space and is enveloped by a custom mica screen. The two side tables consist of stainless-steel restaurant table bases with stone tops. On their existing Catherine Memmi cocktail table, I added metal sabots to raise its height and give it a sense of importance. The pair of vintage Brueton chairs and the pair of French Regence chairs, that were bought on a Paris buying trip, are upholstered in the same bouclé fabric so that they have a relationship to one another. On the wall opposite the sofa, there is a custom 12-foot-long wall-hung cabinet which is the same design of that in the entry. Since the ceiling is concrete slab and down-lights were not an option, at either end of the cabinet I used a pair of the classic “Parentesi” light fixtures.
No attention to detail was spared, all of the area rugs are nine inches off of the walls with an eighteen-inch distance between them to create a Mondrian effect.
