Once Upon a Time
A storybook charmer gets a sophisticated refresh by Steve + Filip Design.
Seating in the family-friendly living room includes streamlined Bernhardt Club Chairs and lighting by Visual Comfort, all from CAI Designs.
Good architecture never goes out of date, speaking to us as clearly now as the day it was new. When Steve Somogyi and Filip Malyszko of Chicago’s Steve + Filip Design were asked to work on a Cotswold-inspired Hinsdale residence designed by R. Harold Zook in the 1920s, they were eager to dialogue with the fine stonework, lead-glass windows, and exposed timbers that give the home its engaging personality.
Left: A vintage Eames lounge chair is covered in nubby bouclé. The lead-glass spiderweb window is a common element in homes by R. Harold Zook.
Right: A Watson Smith area rug grounds the Four Seasons room. The custom club chairs are covered in Mokum fabrics, through Holly Hunt.
The house—home to a couple and three teenage children—had been attentively restored by Michael Abraham Architecture and decorated by the previous owners in a decidedly darker, more traditional style. “We wanted to make the decoration a bit softer and more sympathetic to the architecture,” says Malyszko. “Our clients didn’t want chintz and checks, and plaids. And they didn’t want a formal living room, they wanted a television in there, and the baby grand piano that the kids play. The homeowners loved the idea of using an Eames lounge chair in the living room, but instead of doing it in leather, we did it in a bouclé, which lightens it and brightens it.”
Left: The Etsy-sourced swing chair in a daughter’s bedroom is upholstered in a cozy fabric by S. Harris, from Fabricut.
Right: A custom paint application, inspired by the stripes of a favorite Paul Smith shirt, adds a lively note to the home office. Rug by Watson Smith.
When it came to the color palette, the designers opted for hues in sympathy with the elemental moodiness generated by the wood, stone, and ironwork that pervades the home. “I wanted a pleasing connection to the architecture, not a marked contrast, so ivory, ocher, pimento, and burnt sienna,” shares Malyszko. Newly applied Venetian plaster, in tones from bone to dove gray, creates a soothing envelope throughout. “One of clients’ favorite colors is a smokey blue, which we accented throughout the spaces. And we played a lot with texture, using mohair, suede, and subtle patterns, especially on first floor, so that all the rooms play off each other and flow.”
A not-too-studied informality, shot through with saucy notes, gives these rooms a stylish yet playful character. A blue-suede ottoman pops amid the earth tones in the living room, and the walls and ceiling of the home office in the coach house are painted in stripes inspired by a Paul Smith shirt. “We added antiqued mirrors to the four existing built-ins in the dining room, and placed pieces of old Swahili armor in each for another layer of interest and texture,” notes Malyszko.
Left: Sofa in the home office was reupholstered in a Lee Jofa fabric, through Kravet. Lamps by Regina Andrew, through CAI Designs.
Right: An iconic midcentury Saarinen table serves as a game table in the living room, surrounded by architectural, cane-back chairs upholstered in fabric by Pindler.
Comfort is key everywhere. A quartet of Steve + Filip-designed club chairs ground the steeply pitched Four Seasons room, where a run of casement windows offers an eye-filling view of the greenery outside. A custom-designed sofa in charcoal bouclé and a pair of mohair-covered Bernhardt Club Chairs from CAI Designs create a welcoming conversation area in the living room. The family room—an outdoor space when the house was first built—is outfitted with a custom-designed sectional upholstered in contrasting leather and shearling, and a midcentury-inspired game table paired with chairs upholstered in a bold pattern from Pindler. No doubt about it, with Steve + Filip Design dealing the cards, these homeowners are holding a royal flush.