This project entailed the total renovation of a 4200 sq. ft. vintage apartment.  Located within a building designed by Chicago architect  Benjamin Marshall,  it was one of several apartments to undergo a renovation after the building was converted to a cooperative.  Although suffering from seventy years of deferred maintenance, it could not be surpassed for its views, amenity, location and the refined, classical order of its formal rooms. The most striking feature is the large reception room at the center of the apartment. This unites the living room with its curving bay window seat on the North and the dining room and L’Orangerie beyond to the South. From the reception room, one has a clear view of the city: the sweeping curve of Lake Shore Drive and the beaches of Lake Michigan on one side, and the lights of the Hancock Tower and Michigan Avenue on the other.

The challenge of this project is typical of these antiquated high-rises: recombining  the too small servant spaces so that their new size can meet the needs of modern families without sacrificing the impressive effect of the original formal rooms. To this end, the maid’s room and butler pantry were combined to provide space for a new, commercial grade kitchen. Two existing bedrooms and bathrooms were combined to make up the new master suite complete with separate dressing rooms, new luxury bath and a sitting area. The remaining existing rooms received complete cosmetic restoration, along with entirely new windows and mechanical and electrical services.