Weekend Retreat

A 3,300 s.f. complete renovation and addition to a stone house on 8 acres originally used as a dairy barn as part of a larger estate. The house is used by a family of four as a weekend house. Their primary residence is in downtown Chicago.

The work included removal of an existing sunroom and addition of a larger sunroom made of cedar structure and ceilings clad in cedar beadboard. A small entry piece was also added to the front of the house to demarcate an entry that was previously ill-defined leaving the laundry room as the main entry.

The former two-car garage was transformed into a family/t.v. room incorporating three pairs of French doors where the former garage doors were located. This is the only room that contains a t.v.

All rooms have access to the outdoors through incorporation of French doors. This was determined since the family uses the house in this manner and since the window sills were only 14” above the floor.

The challenge of this project was working with existing masonry openings as much as possible since the stone material that was used to clad the exterior of the building could not be found to match. All new addition pieces were designed in natural cedar to be stained to enhance the rustic quality of the split rubble façade.

Interiors:

Interior features include slate floors throughout the entire house except in the new family room where reclaimed pine from an 1880’s textile factory in North Carolina was used.

All cabinetry in the kitchen, butler’s pantry, front entry, living room niches and bathrooms was custom designed by Nicholas Clark Architects. All furniture, lighting, art and decorative items for the entire home were designed and provided through interior design services provided by Nicholas Clark Architects in collaboration with Jim Luigs Designs of New York City.