Lives evolve and so do the spaces that hold them. For example, a home that’s perfect for a large family might feel a bit empty once the children grow up and take wing. That was the situation designer Bruce Fox’s clients faced, leaving them eager for a nest that felt more vibrant than vacant. Their solution? Trading their traditional, suburban place for something entirely different: a condo in a sleek tower overlooking the glimmering span of Lake Michigan.
“The building is beautiful, and it was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern,” says Fox, who worked on the project with general contractor Dimitri Kourkouvis. “It was lovely to begin with, but the clients requested adjustments to make it match the vision they had for how they want to live now.” Not only did the designer inherit good architectural bones, but he was also gifted with something else: an incredible landscape visible through the large windows. On one side of the abode are unobstructed vistas of the long horizon created where lake meets sky; on the other is the Windy City equivalent of a mountain range—a look to the tall buildings that sprout along the broad ribbon of Lake Shore Drive. “During the day, the lake is mesmerizing; it can be Caribbean blue, a moody green or muted gray—sometimes all of those in the space of several hours. But at night, it’s simply black, and that’s when the city lights sparkle,” the designer notes. “My job was not to detract from the view.”
Home Details
Interior Design:
Bruce Fox, Bruce Fox Design
Home Builder:
Dimitri Kourkouvis, Athens Construction Co, Inc.
Just off the kitchen, a Saarinen dining table and Mies van der Rohe chairs, both from Knoll, form a peaceful breakfast nook. Ed Ruscha’s Sign in a Rainstorm hangs above an antique tea table.
In a Chicago residence by designer Bruce Fox, combed Venetian plaster walls by Simes Studios provide a placid backdrop for Richard Serra’s Kepler. Beneath the artwork are a shagreen Alexander Lamont console and an antique Biedermeier stool upholstered in a Kravet Couture fabric with Samuel & Sons trim.
A Richard Misrach photograph presides over the living room, informing the hue of the Bourgeois Bohème Atelier stools covered in a Holly Hunt nubuck. The Metier LA coffee table rests on a rug from Oscar Isberian Rugs.
Found at Holly Hunt, the living room’s Jean-Michel Frank sofa is upholstered in a Mokum fabric. In the hall, a gallery wall showcases a collection of 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century French and Italian drawings in period frames.
Creamy white upholstery allows the art and Lake Michigan views to shine. Behind the pair of Holly Hunt swivels is an Auguste Rodin sculpture; in the dining room beyond, Picasso’s Small Head of a Woman with a Crown of Flowers and Dormeur are joined by a Mel Bochner work.
Henri Matisse’s Le Cirque from Jazz faces his Still Life with Fruit, Vence in the hall leading to the dining room. There, a custom Rohan Ward Designs table and De La Vega Designs chairs gather beneath a Murano-glass chandelier.
The home’s blue palette reaches its pinnacle in the office, where a glazed light-blue wall finish by Simes Studios sets the scene for a vintage Mies van der Rohe chair and artwork by Frank Stella. A vintage Murano-glass chandelier illuminates the Rohan Ward Designs desk.
From the primary bath, the homeowners enjoy stunning city views. A vinyl Holly Hunt wallcovering creates a calming ambience, furthered by a Diego Rivera artwork and antique chair.
Set against a velvet Phillip Jeffries wallcovering, a pair of Tacita Dean works from her “LA Magic Hour” series bring soft color to the primary bedroom. Beside the Nobilis-covered bed by Barron Custom Furniture is a nightstand from DeAurora and a Giacometti-style lamp.
Living nearby, Fox knows all about the allure—and the limits—of such vistas. “At first, you can’t look away, but after a time, you become accustomed to what’s outside the windows, and that’s when your focus turns inward,” he says. With that in mind, he set about creating an interior that is refined enough to stand beside the scenery without overshadowing it.
The couple’s incredible blue-chip art collection and meaningful antique pieces became an anchor for the project, giving the rooms drama, interest, and even determining dimensions and flow. “Bruce carefully listened to our vision,” says one of the owners. “The art placement went hand-in-hand with the furniture layout. In one case, we even extended a wall to accommodate a beloved Richard Misrach photograph.” That piece and others like it gave the rooms another defining trait: a distinctive color narrative. “I’m often associated with the use of color,” the designer notes. “But my client’s involvement in the art world draws her to a mostly white, gallery-like palette. I introduced notes of blue into the rooms by borrowing shades from their collection.” The hue runs throughout in elements such as the cobalt glass light fixture hanging above the dining table, the living room’s dark-blue ottomans and accent pillows, sky-colored upholstered chairs in the breakfast nook, and pastel blue walls in the wife’s office.
Though starting anew, the couple still brought along some treasured furnishings from their previous residence. A tall grandmother floor clock stands sentry in the dining room, while the primary bedroom is home to a more ornate grandfather model. The dark wood and traditional molding of these timekeepers might at first seem out of place in a modern dwelling, but the new context lends the antiques a sculptural, contemporary nature. Elsewhere, pieces such as the petite accent table in the breakfast nook inject additional moments of classicism into the modern environment.
Ultimately, the new home is as artful as its owners. “It suits them, and they are happily living their new lives,” Fox says. “I’m just so pleased I got to help them author it.”
In a Chicago residence by designer Bruce Fox, combed Venetian plaster walls by Simes Studios provide a placid backdrop for Richard Serra’s Kepler. Beneath the artwork are a shagreen Alexander Lamont console and an antique Biedermeier stool upholstered in a Kravet Couture fabric with Samuel & Sons trim.