In an exhibition of bravery and talent, 47 inner and landscape designers have opened a historic 15,000 square meter house in Lake Forest, Illinois, for Lake Forest Showhouse and the Gardens 2025, April 26 to May 25th. The residence originally built in 1895 is located on more than three hectares and includes a formal garden, a calm reflective pond and a graceful pavebo with limestone. Finely completed Wisconsin -Kalkstein expansion of the outer, which is adorned with classic details such as dentil cornes and baltors.
It is not the first transformation that the house went through – in 1935 the productive Chicago architect David Adler expanded the family tree of the house that had already been set when he renovated the interiors for the daughter of the original owner. In addition, he designed a pool house and a gated pool. Adler's efforts were accompanied by Frances Elkins, his sister and a visionary designer who worked in many houses in the region throughout her career. Until the 1960s, ownership remained in the hands of the same family. In the 1970s and 80s, a number of renovation work remained in the home of his traditional aesthetics, although the exterior has largely remained unchanged since its original design.
“The challenge for Show House Designer was to restore the traditional details of the house and at the same time make a warm, inviting and functional space for a young family,” says Susan Rolander, director of Rolander Architects and one of six co-chair of the Lake Forest Shouse and Gardens 2025. Updated its mechanical systems, added an elevator and installed a smart home system and replaced in addition to the replacement of hardwood floors, Wainscot activities, crown strips, baseboards and skinning. In some rooms they discovered original mills and wallpaper under layers and used the finds as information for their restoration work. “It was like an archaeological excavation,” said Rolander. In the numerous rooms on the first and second floor – including eight bedrooms with bathing rooms of the EN -Suite – and the outdoor spaces, mainly from the Chicago region, created the next development of the house while they looked at its history and held some awe for Adler and Elkins.
“I felt like I was designing a special piece of Chicago's story,” said Celeste Robbins from the AD Pro Directory Robbins Architecture, which renovated a bedroom on the upper floor into a refined little girl's room. From pink natural stone and sculptural tree lights to the handmade Murano glass flower attachments and plaster vines on the fireplace, Robbin's room illustrates one of the best-known design trends throughout the house: bring in nature. The Rebel House Design, another ADPro directory company, deliberately referred to the organic by beautifying walls with an elegant botanical plaster installation and working with a local craftsman to create a tailor -made cocktail table from local limestone. “I gave Elkins a homage with our redesign of the reception room,” said Marli Jones, the creative director of Rebel House Design. “Your extremely modern revenue against classic interiors became our driving direction. Our ODE on Elkins came in the form of the biophilic plaster wall design with a local turn: instead of acanthus and palm leaves, we referred to local wildflowers.”