Sweet Success
November 1, 2007
Location, location, location. It remains the mantra for homeowners seeking a residence. And when the owners are real estate developers and property managers, the right location takes on an even greater importance.
When Jeff Grinspoon, co-founder of Maven Management in Chicago, looked for an urban lot to build a new home, he quickly recognized the value of one site in the city’s chic Lincoln Park neighborhood. Not only did it have a house that was ripe for a teardown, but it was a corner lot with great light, one-and-a-half times the size of the average local area parcels and adjacent to a parking lot that was unlikely to be developed. But that was just part of its appeal. The lot also was within view and earshot of a railroad line that brought sugar twice a day to the Peerless Confection Company factory.
"The locomotive would pass by what was the kitchen window of the existing house," Grinspoon says. "I loved that."
After having worked successfully with designer David Kaufman of Kaufman Segal Design on a prior home, Grinspoon hired Kaufman and his colleague Tom Segal to execute his vision and gave them almost carte blanche with budget and design decisions. "I asked them to run everything by me, but they have impeccable taste," explains Grinspoon.
Early on in the project, Grinspoon also met his business and life partner, Jon Foley, who helped tweak the emerging design. While the pair envisioned an unadorned classic facade that would fit into its vintage neighborhood rather than resemble another showy post-teardown, they imagined the rear as a stark, contemporary contrast. The homeowners also wanted spacious rooms and multiple terraces to accommodate the large charitable events they regularly host, with a fair share of intimate spaces as well. That settled, the designers went to work, one room at a time, ensuring that each reflected a similar juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary. Architectural features, detailed millwork and luxurious materials offer a timeless sensibility, while furnishings and colors are clean and modern.
The front foyer sets the mood with a sweeping elliptical stairway that rises three stories and is worthy of a Scarlett O’Hara descent. Thirty-three "S" balustrades were brought back from a Paris flea market and spaced throughout the winding metal stairway that has a cordovan-colored, Spinneybeck leather–wrapped railing. The flooring consists of large rectangles of Jerusalem limestone framed in mahogany. "I wanted people’s jaws to drop when they walked in, not because the designs were over the top, but because everything was so beautiful," Grinspoon says. "I wanted everyone to say, ‘Oh, I’d love to live here’ rather than, ‘It’s nice, but I could never imagine living here.’"
Every space in the house includes sufficient room to display the owners’ varied artworks and antiques—glove molds, 120 samples of wood species mounted on stands, a 1,160-pound petrified maple tree that required the floor beneath it to be reinforced, and an outdoor copper sculpture weighing 900 pounds. Santos mahogany flooring and a palette of earthy tones both reference the art and provide a sense of cohesiveness throughout the home.
Since the men like to cook intimate dinners as well as large ones that sometimes necessitate bringing in a catering staff, they requested two work zones. A long counter with stools serves as the stage in their main workspace within the large open living area; the secondary one is arranged in an efficient butler’s pantry.
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