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Luxury Interior Transformation 

A Chicago Mansion is Dramatically Reimagined for a Sophisticated Owner

Elegant sitting area near fireplace with icon curved sofa in velvey with gold damqsk accent pillow across from walk-in fireplace in a dining room having black terrazzo floor, talk ralp lauren fanric drapery with gold fringe. for lake forest designer showhouse

There are rooms in old estates that were never intended to be quiet. conceived for balls, banquets, and cigar-smoking power deals, these spaces once lived in constant crescendo. But, what happens when a room as such outlives its original audience? What if it's purpose is quietly transformed?​

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​​​The Mediterranean Villa Estate, designed by sought after Gilded Age Architect to Chicago's wealthiest families, stands on a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan. Within you will find this epically conceived dining salon, once boasting rigid formality, now belonging to a worldly, self-possessed gentleman of means and imagination. A global traveler, he returns home, to find solitude in this small world of his vast home. He entertains rarely, but lives fully immersed in beautiful intimacy in this space designed for personal pleasures. 

This is one such story.

Elegant dining table draped with antique carpet having Morrocan tagine and lalique crystal place setting near a mid-centrut oil painting designer for lake forest designer showhouse by joseph szymczak
gentleman's scotch bar having george Jensen silver piutcher and ice bucket, Lalique crystal glassware under monumental orientalist painting of david and goliath design by joseph szymczak for lake forest designer showhouse chicago
Elegant Lake Forest Illinois Designer Showhouse

A Table Set for Two, Draped in Memory

Centered in the room an expansive dining table holds court. Formal in its design yet casually draped by a 19th century Bessarabia carpet. The traditional village pattern suggest centuries of  storytelling.

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Notice, a singular antique chair covered in luxurious Damascene silk holds pride-of-place at the head of the table, reserved for the host. Another seat adjacent,  reserved for someone worthy of sharing fine wine and worldly conversation.

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Lalique crystal stemware and French Art Deco sterling flatware procured in a Paris marche', comfortably share the company of colorfully decorated Moroccan Tagine, likely collected on tour of Rabat or Tangier.  The resulting taste blends European refinement and North African tradition. The imported elements woven throughout begin to reveal a story of adventure.

Luxurious antique console with scotch serving bar set-up next to a turle shell lamp under a monumetnal scale orientalist oil paingin of david and goliath for the lake forest designer showhouse by joseph szymczak

A View, a Painting, a Legacy

A gilded fauteuil stares out toward the expansive lawn and infinite lake beyond. One can imagine our gentleman reclining there, a Puccini aria filling the air, his cigar in-hand, while bathed in the warm light of the setting sun. This is his home, his story, and his sanctuary.

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Project location: Lake Forest Infant Welfare Society Designer Showhouse

Photo credit: Werner Straube

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