ML - Michigan Avenue

2014 - Issue 8 - December/January

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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photography by neil burger ago, when Chicago society was celebrated in this same home. Built circa 1906 and measuring an expansive 8,000 square feet, the row house was designed by famed architect Jarvis Hunt as a gift to his newly engaged younger sister. (Hunt gained renown for grand build- ings like Kansas City's Union Station and the clubhouse for the prestigious National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York, of which he was a founding member.) The once-glamorous East Division Street home had been unoccupied for years and lay in disrepair until Loquercio began his self- described "labor of love" in 2006, with the goal of restoring the residence to its early-20th-century gran- deur—and boosting it into the 21st century as well. Loquercio commissioned Patrick Plunkett of Patrick Plunkett Architectural Design Ltd. in Hinsdale (630-789-8100; patrickplunkett.com) to design the home renovation. Painstaking attention was given to re-creating the original splendor of the front room, entryway, and stairway, recalls Plunkett. "You could feel what the house was built for when you walked in, and what [Hunt] was going for," he explains. "The house was about urban elegance remi- niscent of the late-1800s-era Gold Coast homes." Plunkett also repurposed original elements of the home where possible, including leaded-glass doors with inlaid stained glass that were restored and installed in the kitchen. The architect then trans- formed the upper floors and kitchen area to incorporate state-of-the-art modern furnishings. The overall interior design was supervised by Arlyn Goodman of W.W. Design (312-644-0278). The results are stunning—particularly the first floor's expansive front room (a combined living room and formal dining area), which boasts intricate triple- crown moldings, including piano-key details that were a Jarvis Hunt hallmark. Picture-frame moldings adorn the walls, and elaborate pilasters jut out in vari- ous spots. These dramatic features are softened by muted wall colors, clean-lined Holly Hunt furniture, and a silk rug from Oscar Isberian. A Sergio Bustamante headless torso sculpture from Mexico accents one side of the fireplace, and a bronze sculp- ture bought on the Italian Amalfi Coast sits in the dining area. A Donghia chandelier hangs from the 13-foot ceiling. On the second floor, the guest bed- room designed by Loquercio's fiancée, Veronica Zepeda, who juggles a modeling career with interior design work, feels sensuous and eclectic. "I wanted our guests to have a six-star experience," she insists. The third-floor master suite bedroom invites Zen-like calm, while the back-room coffee bar and study for Loquercio has an energetic, masculine sensibility. More recently, the couple added on 2,000 square feet of rooftop space. The entire home renovation set Loquercio back about $1.7 million; he spent an addi- tional $400,000-plus for the rooftop addition, which was designed by architect Bill Kokalias of Axios Architects & Consultants Ltd. (312-750-1333; axiosarchitects.com). The home renovation process was anything but smooth—setbacks included a shutdown by city inspec- tors for asbestos violations during demolition; Loquercio's selling the home to a developer one year into the project, then buying it back from a bank four years later; waiting for approvals from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and a 2012 rooftop flood that forced the pair out. But the couple settled in perma- nently last year and assert the wait for the home and its four bedrooms, eight bathrooms, four fireplaces, gym, and 1,000-bottle wine cellar was worth the delays and cost overruns. "Our budget was consider- ably less at the outset," admits Loquercio, "but we were inspired by this project, and we made it a priority in our lives to make it as perfect as we could." ma pieces of history Enjoy landmark living in these architecturally significant Chicago homes. 1428 N. State Parkway: Boasting original woodwork and stained glass, this six-bedroom Gold Coast mansion and Chicago landmark was built in 1886 for German beer baron George Weiss by architect Harald M. Hansen. Price: $5.8 million. Listing agents: Eudice Fogel, 312-576-1200; efogel@koenigrubloff.com; Jayme Fogel Slate, 312-268-0640; jslate@koenigrubloff.com 1345 N. aStor Street: Built in 1887 by famed architectural frm Treat and Foltz, the fve-bedroom "Gardiner House" mansion is one of few Gold Coast homes with a façade of red-fruit-colored sandstone— not to mention views of the lake. Price: $2.79 million. Listing agent: Meladee Hughes, 312-636-8020; meladeehughes@yahoo.com 2142 N. FremoNt Street: This four-bedroom, three- and-a-half-bath Lincoln Park row house was built in 1876 by architect Edward Burling as part of a massive housing rebuilding effort after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Price: $1.995 million. Listing agent: Rachel Krueger, 312-802-0082; rachel.krueger@cbexchange.com "WE WErE insPirEd By THis ProjECT, and WE MadE iT a PrioriTy in our LivEs To MakE iT as PErFECT as WE CouLd." —bob loquercio The guest bedroom was designed to feel warm and luxurious. Painstaking attention was given to re-creating the original splendor of the front room, entry, and stairway. 132  michiganavemag.com haute property News, Stars, and trends in real estate

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