Outside Chicago, A Historical Home Is Refreshed Without Sacrificing Character Or Charm

Details

A circular entry table is...

Architect Michael Abraham worked to open this Hinsdale home's entry to provide sight lines to the back of the house.

white living room abstract artwork...

A graphic rug by Francine Turk, part of her Paris series for Lapchi, serves as the foundation for the living room. “The French script resonated with the client, who was helping to plan her son’s wedding in Paris at the time,” says designer Jennifer Kranitz. “It was a coup de foudre!” RH sofas, a pair of vintage Baker wing chairs, abstract artwork by Amanda Morrison and feather palms complete the look.

The kitchen has Venetian plaster...

Vintage Parisian streetlights from 1stdibs illuminate the spacious kitchen, formerly a dark-paneled dining room. Venetian-plaster walls and Calacatta Lincoln marble countertops from Lemoncello Stone Protection and Restoration complement the walnut cabinetry by O’Brien Harris.

The dining area has a...

A velvet-covered banquette by Barron Custom Furniture, vintage French Art Deco dining chairs from 1stdibs covered in fabric from Lee Jofa, and an RH dining table compose a comfortable, elegant space. Seamus McGlinchey of Ulster Custom Plastering made the quatrefoil ceiling, which was inspired by the home’s façade.

African-inspired portraits are at the...

Portraits by a friend of the homeowner hang at the top of the staircase.

A tribal necklace hangs next...

A feather-and-shell tribal necklace purchased at Randolph Street Market occupies a wall niche by the staircase. The custom stairway runner is by Lapchi.

The family room features collected...

An organic metal wall sculpture by Eric Gushee takes center stage in the sunken family room, which is furnished with an RH sofa and a Carrara marble slab coffee table styled with vintage horns, a wood-carved Buddha and other collectibles from the clients’ personal collection.

The guest room has dark...

An Italian chandelier from RH highlights the wallcovering by Schumacher on the ceiling of the guest bedroom favored by the owner’s adult daughter, when she visits from New York City. The bed is by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and the linen bedding is from Matteo Los Angeles.

The corner of the guest...

Stylish yet comfortable, a Mongolian fur chair by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams looks even more dashing when paired with a woven jute rug and a Mongolian pelt in the guest bedroom. The drapery fabric is by Holly Hunt.

For years, realtor and serial renovator Mimi Collins admired a historic early 20th-century Tudor Revival home in Hinsdale, Illinois, by renowned architect R. Harold Zook. So when its owner decided to sell the house after more than five decades, Collins and her husband, Dan, swooped in and bought it. “Dan knew that I would fix it,” Mimi says.

Mimi has renovated more than a dozen other houses, so she used her expertise to assemble a skilled team to carry out her vision, recruiting designers Jennifer Kranitz and Aimee Wertepny, along with architect Michael Abraham. Abraham could arguably be considered an expert in Zook homes, as he’s revitalized several others in the area. “Zook’s work has been a source of inspiration over the years,” Abraham says. “His houses are all kind of funky and cool for the time.”

Like Mimi, Abraham had long loved the house, even touring it on several occasions, and he already had ideas about how to bring it into the modern era. For example, he eliminated a wall in the front foyer, opening up the curved stairway and creating a sight line between the front and back doors. He also eliminated a narrow back stairway altogether. “It was kind of a maze of little rooms and hallways that were difficult to use,” he explains.

Barely touched by the previous owner, the charming abode still boasted its original flooring and millwork, hand- forged brass hardware in the shape of animal heads and signature Zook touches like a small window with a spiderweb motif, which is hidden away in the foyer closet. “This home really has its own language,” Kranitz says. “We just had to show up and let it shine.”

To achieve that, Kranitz says the designers asked themselves, “How do we bring this house up to date without undermining the original intent, character and charm?” In one of the most dramatic changes, they converted the small original kitchen into a breakfast space outfitted with a wall-to-wall tufted banquette and a pair of intentionally mismatched round tables. At one end, Mimi’s office houses handsome built-in cabinetry. On the ceiling, a quatrefoil pattern in a motif taken from the home’s front façade elevates the look. “I call it SoHo House of Hinsdale,” Mimi says of the room, noting that she and Dan often sit in there all day long.

The original formal dining room is now a much larger kitchen with gray-stained walnut cabinetry by O’Brien Harris, honed white Lincoln Calacatta marble countertops and open metal wall shelving. When illuminated, the vintage Paris streetlights above the center island reflect off the original beamed wooden ceiling and the Venetian plaster-covered walls. “It’s alive with texture,” Wertepny says. “Buh-bye, subway tile.” Although the designers lobbied Mimi to open the spacious new kitchen to the adjacent living area, she resisted. Instead, a pair of doors integrated into bar cabinetry can either be closed off or left open, creating options. Nearby, a pair of contemporary sofas and more traditional wing chairs surround the original stone fireplace atop an elegant wool- and-silk rug that’s based on a painting by Francine Turk. “We push Mimi away from her comfort zone and make her spaces a little funkier than she would do on her own,” Kranitz says.

Mimi especially credits the designers for sourcing the many new light fixtures throughout the interior. A modern linear leather-wrapped bronze fixture contrasts the original moldings and beams in the living room. And a sculptural tiered glass medallion chandelier takes advantage of the newly lofted ceilings in the master suite, where a low-slung tufted headboard and a decidedly modern chaise lounge coexist with classic antiques from Mimi’s existing collection. “The room is humanly scaled, yet the volume allows the light to pour in,” Wertepny says. “It’s heaven.”

While Mimi sacrificed a bedroom to create a more spacious master bathroom with dual vanities and a spacious Carrara marble-clad shower, there’s plenty of room for guests in the new detached garage and second-floor coach house. Built with the same materials as the original and featuring the same unique roofline, the structure looks as if it’s always been there.

Dan and Mimi feel right at home in the newly revitalized house. “I have to give Mimi a lot of credit,” says Kranitz. “If any other client had said that she was going to do the renovation herself, I’d say, ‘We’re out,’ but I’d seen her do it before. Most people don’t have the vision. She does.”