Luxe Magazine
Volume III Issue II
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Interior Design
Steve Kadlec, Kadlec Architecture + Design

Architect
Ernest A. Grunsfeld III, FAIA, Grunsfeld Shafer Architects

Home Builder
Jeff Rizzolo, Rizzolo Brothers Company, Inc.

Bedrooms 3, Bathrooms 5, Square Feet 5,000

written by Lisa Skolnik
photography by Tony Soluri

Smoothmoves
Luxury means different things to different people, even for a couple so simpatico they've been blissfully married for 34 years.

Such was the case for two North Shore empty nesters that decided it was time to sell their sprawling 1930s colonial. She wanted to move to the city; he preferred a short commute to his suburban office. So they compromised, deciding to build a smaller home nearby.

Negotiations ensued: Her dream was to build on a strikingly rugged piece of property hugging a ravine; he wanted the luxury of a lakeside lot. “I figured that if we were going to be that close tothe water, we might as well be on it,” says the husband, who shared his thoughts on “her” property the very day she thought they’d buy it. “I was upset at first,” she says. “But as we weredriving away we saw a ‘For Sale’ sign on a wooded lot a half-block away, right on the lake.” The 90-foot-wide property came with several covenants, however, including a stringent setback. Wary, the couple consulted Evanston architect Ernest A. Grunsfeld III, FAIA, of Grunsfeld Shafer architects, whose modernist-inspired contemporary work they had long admired.

He deemed the lot “quite lovely” and suggested that the setback wasn’t an issue. “I convinced them to build even farther back so the trees would become pieces of sculpture,” he notes. With that, the couple bought the lot and added to the design mix Chicago-based architect Steve Kadlec, of Kadlec Architecture + Design, who specializes in interiors.

The team in place, the couple immediately expressed their particular version of luxury, and it didn’t include the dazzling façades, colossal kitchens and statement-making furnishings that hadbecome routine in lakeside residences. “We didn’t want the house to attract attention from the street, and we didn’t want huge rooms we didn’t need,” explains the wife, who instead allotted the space where they’d use it most.

Inside, Kadlec fulfilled the wife’s request for “nothing fussy, oversized,uncomfortable or involved.” Sleek contemporary pieces, many custom designed by Kadlec himself, grace the home yet let the lake view take center stage. Its only rival: the icy-white sea-like limestone floor that flows smoothly across the entire first level—a luxury the couple didn’t put on their wish listbut now celebrate. It was a feat to achieve, says builder Jeff Rizzolo, of Rizzolo Brothers Company, Inc., in Libertyville.

“It’s actually made up of 2-by-2-foot tiles that had to be wet ground after they were installed to get that seamless look. It was an incredibly laborious process,” he confides. The couple now look forward to their first summer in the house, and to enjoying the lush grounds designed by Lake Bluff-based landscape architect Scott Byron of Scott Byron and Co. Wide ledges that terrace down to the lake (an eco-friendly move to conserve the bluff) give the couple more space to entertain—and that’s a luxury both husband and wife agree on.