2015 Preservation Awards

251 King Muir Road

This French Normandy house, located in the Deerpath Hill Estates neighborhood, was designated a Lake Forest Landmark in 2004 and placed on the National Register in 2006. When the owners purchased the property in 1998, they undertook extensive renovations to make the home more habitable and structurally sound. They were awarded a 2007 Preservation Foundation Award for the improvements. In 2008, they contracted with architect Michael Breseman to design a small, multi-story addition on the north side of the house.

On the first floor, a small kitchen was replaced and enlarged and a breakfast room, laundry room, and butler's pantry were added. A second-floor playroom addition was added above the kitchen and provides access to a walkout porch with handcrafted wrought iron railing. The lower level was expanded to accommodate a media room and wine cellar. Exterior materials and detailing were carefully selected to ensure compatibility with the original design. Vintage roof tiles and bricks were used to match the original, and hand-hewn timber framing was used on a portion of the addition to match a similar feature that exists on the south end of the hosue. The addition has been awarded a Rehabilitation Award for the careful integration and compatibility of the design and the original architecture.

128 Wildwood Road

This two-story home was built in 1920 by Alex Kelley, a Scot who had his construction business nearby at 169 Wildwood Road. By the 1970s, this was the home of retired Gorton School teacher Miss Edna Kelley, Alex's daughter. It is now the home of another descendant of Mr. Kelley. The owners recently completed a renovation of the front portico, which has been awarded a Rehabilitation Award. A previous non-original porch enclosure was removed and new wood columns were reinstated to reproduce the original open portico design. This house, along with several other houses on the block, is representative of the Wildwood neighborhood's early 20th Century, all-brick, central-hall plan, Georgian Revival houses. All are unchanged on the street facade and give a sense of unity to the street without being repetitious.

Lake Forest Entryway Signage

In 2012, the City of Lake Forest asked Melichar Architects to examine and evaluate the City’s existing entry roadway signage. It was the City’s concern that the entry signage needed to better communicate the true character of Lake Forest as one of the most unique communities in the country. Melichar Architects researched historic precedents both locally and throughout the country and determined that the new signage should include design attributes that are unique rather than generic. Everything from the lettering font style, to the contoured signboard shape, to the detailed post and arm configuration was carefully examined and designed to create a timeless sculptural and focal piece. This project has been awarded an Infill Award for its contextual compatibility with the traditional fabric of the community.

1005 E. Illinois Road

Once part of the Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick (Nettie Fowler McCormick) estate, House-in-the-Woods, the tile roofed Japanese teahouse at 1005 East Illinois was designed by architect Dwight H. Perkins and built in 1916. Mrs. McCormick was the widow of Cyrus Hall McCormick, inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. The original structure is a lovely winter-proof version of a cha-shitsu (a small Japanese garden pavilion) adapted for a Midwest climate by replacing traditional bamboo walls with glass and wood. The ceiling of the main room has a pattern of interlocking beams that mirrors the brick-pattern muntin bars in the upper windows, so that the interior and exterior mingle serenely.

In the late 1950s, after the estate was subdivided, the teahouse and 1.28 acres of land were sold off. The new owner tapped the architect I.W. Colburn to turn the teahouse into a single-family residence. Coburn embraced the teahouse with a set of one- story connected living spaces. The teahouse continues to function as a great room or enlarged living room for the home with added living quarters and support spaces in the later additions. The current owners of the residence have been awarded a Preservation Award for their continued stewardship and preservation of this one-of-a-kind property.

20 S. Mayflower Road

This single family home is a remarkably well-preserved historic Georgian-Style residence designed by David Adler. Built for the Wheelers in 1934 on land that was once part of the Mrs. Cyrus McCormick estate, this residence balances classical proportions with a comfortable scale. Adler situated the Wheeler house in a clearing near the 1916 McCormick teahouse, to which the design pays homage. Although the architecture of the house is based on Georgian precedents, many oriental details can be found throughout the house, including the west entry facade that features a strikingly picturesque Asian influenced entry porch and delicate plaster detailing between the dining and living rooms.

The residence is typical of a 1934 home designed in a classic county-estate style, with a floor plan and layout suited to housing service staff on site. In order to make the house more conducive to today’s lifestyle, the owners worked with The Poulton Group, Ltd., to add a two-car attached garage and back entry/mud room to the original servant’s wing of the building. The kitchen and bathrooms were also renovated. The addition was designed and constructed with the same high-quality materials and craftsmanship as the original house. All details were meticulously duplicated, including the use of solid masonry walls, handcrafted windows and clay-tiled roof. This home has been awarded both a Preservation Award and a Rehabilitation Award in recognition of the owners’ careful stewardship of the property, as well as for the sensitivity with which the new additions and alterations were carried out.

525 Broadsmoore

Built in 1909 as a summer place for James Ward Thorne and his wife, future miniature-room artist Narcissa Niblack Thorne, the house is a French-Baroque style chateau designed by Otis & Clark. By the 1930s, subsequent owners demolished the south wing and open porch to reduce property taxes in an era when the maximum income tax rate had been raised to 91%. The current owners purchased the property in the early 2000s and began planning for its rehabilitation, including reconstruction of the original south wing using the 1909 Otis & Clark plans.

Working with award-winning Chicago preservation architect John Eifler and his team, the owners restored the house and created a new compatible perpendicular northeast wing adjacent to the kitchen and family room. The new wing steps down in classic hierarchy-of-form manner to one and a half stories. The Broadsmoore property was awarded the rare Heritage Award, in recognition of the owners' faithful stewardship and their remarkable project that encompasses a number of award categories including preservation, restoration, reconstruction and rehabilitation.