How Two Kitchens and a Hotel-Like Living Room Transformed a 1927 Colonial in the Chicago Suburbs

Time：2024-08-01 Click：

The Kenilworth, Illinois, property had great bones but needed a revamp to accommodate a young family after they relocated from the city
BY TRACY KALER
 | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 4, 2024 | MANSION GLOBAL
 
 
The six-bedroom home was the first house Maureen and her family looked at.
REBEKAH ZAVELOFF AND DREW NELSON
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For Maureen Dixon, living in Kenilworth, Illinois, a suburb about 15 miles from downtown Chicago, is carefree compared to her previous life in the Windy City’s Lincoln Square/North Center area. 
In 2017, she and her husband, Brian, and their three young children moved to the community bordering Lake Michigan and have never looked back. 
“I wanted the life I had envisioned, a community, a church. I wanted to be friends with my neighbors,” Dixon said. “I wanted my kids to be able to ride their bikes around and not have to worry about their safety.”
Dixon unexpectedly discovered the home while visiting open houses, spending about four weeks searching in Kenilworth and Winnetka. 
“The house we bought was the first house we looked at,” Dixon said of the 1927 six-bedroom Colonial in east Kenilworth that the family purchased for $2.675 million.
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She fell in love with the lot on a cul-de-sac, the expansive backyard, and the bones of the house. Though the property had a homey vibe, it also felt disconnected and was in need of an update. For instance, Dixon wanted to open the existing kitchen and bring in more light.
Dixon said Zaveloff imagined three distinct areas, including a sunroom with a banquette, so the space assumes a hotel lobby feel.
Rebekah Zaveloff and Drew Nelson
“I liked the character. Nothing was removed,” she said of the architectural details, including the house’s graceful arches. While past owners added on to the home, they didn’t remove the charm. The Dixons also held on to the structure’s allure, deciding to make only cosmetic updates, though they “took the home down to the studs” when they remodeled.
Because it was so large, remodeling the living room was not easy and came with its own challenges.
Rebekah Zaveloff and Drew Nelson
The Dixons hired Chicago-based Imparfait Design Studio to tackle the renovation. Planning began in 2019, the rehab started in 2020 and the project was completed in March 2021 after eight months of construction. Though the scope was a comprehensive remodel from top to bottom, a lot of time, energy and budget went into designing not one but two kitchens.
“To maximize the kitchen layout and storage within the footprint of the home, we closed up one of two patio doors and added a coffee and breakfast center,” said Imparfait co-founder Rebekah Zaveloff. The team also decided to close a wall leading to the basement stairs to carve out space for a pantry and open a wall to create an arch between the kitchen and living room. “We turned what was an office into a romantic and atmospheric butler’s pantry to appease the client’s dream of having two kitchens.” The Dixons now have a kitchen that’s a showpiece and “doesn’t feel utilitarian.” 
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“We made a huge effort to make this space look and feel as glamorous as the rest of the house, from the exquisite stone mosaic backsplash to the glass chandeliers over the island,” Zaveloff continued. The design team carried that glam into the butler’s pantry, where moody cabinetry and Farrow & Ball wallpaper take center stage.
“We turned what was an office into a romantic and atmospheric butler’s pantry to appease the client’s dream of having two kitchens,” said Imparfait co-founder Rebekah Zaveloff.
Michael Kaskel
The oversized living room had its own design challenges. With so much square footage, planning a functional yet appealing layout was no easy feat. Dixon said Zaveloff imagined three distinct areas, including a sunroom with a banquette, so the space assumes a hotel lobby feel.
“We can lounge by the fire and read in one corner or sit as a family and play board games at the game table in another,” she noted. “Our living room now is beautiful yet cozy––the opposite of the formal living rooms I was accustomed to seeing.”
Storage was also on the wish list, a necessity for a family of five. A litany of built-ins keeps items tucked away. “With two working parents and three young children, there is a lot of stuff that we need, but don’t want it to all be visible,” Dixon said. The design team also facelifted the foyer, expanded the mudroom, and made over the bathrooms, creating a Jill and Jill for the two girls and installing a dramatic tile pattern in the primary bath. The result is a spacious home that accommodates the family’s lifestyle and taste while maintaining its character. 
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Mansion Global connected with Maureen Dixon, who shared more details about the family’s renovation experience. 
I describe my aesthetic as… Elegant. I like pretty things but I understand that they need to be welcoming and kid-friendly.  
The one tip I’d offer to someone undertaking a renovation is… Try to have realistic expectations about how long it will take and how much it will cost. If you decide to move forward, then try to enjoy the ride and embrace the process. 
My biggest surprise was… Uncovering the history of the house and the character of the prior owners. It was built in 1927 and the most recent owners had added on right before we bought the house. For example, we had a telephone network of about 70 lines. Apparently, a prior owner in the 1990s was a day trader so he had phone lines to accommodate his trading.
Our favorite room after the renovation is… The living room, absolutely. By opening it up into the kitchen, it is connected with the lifeline of our home and the space where we all spend so much time.
The most dramatic change is… the kitchen. It’s entirely unrecognizable from what it was before. The layout was completely gutted and reoriented.
The one material (or product) I discovered is… Tile. Before the renovation I thought tile just served a function, but came to understand it’s a key design feature.
The one expense I didn’t expect was…. The cost of cabinetry. When we received the estimate for the cabinetry––they were $225,000––we had to revisit the initial budget. But at the end of the day, I am so glad we invested in high-quality cabinetry that is beautiful, timeless and extremely functional.  
I decided to renovate instead of building a new home because… We had moved from a new construction in the city and wanted a house with more character. Our home had a distinct look and feel to it, and we preserved key elements and harmonized them with a more contemporary aesthetic. 
The renovation ended up costing… about $1.3 million.