North Shore Modern
- Location Highland Park, Illinois
- Design 2003-05
- General Contractor Rizzolo Brothers’ Company, Inc.
- Structural Engineer Enspect, Inc.
- Mechanical Engineer Midwesco Services, Inc.
- Interior Design Grunsfeld Shafer Architects, LLC
- Landscape Architect Scott Byron & Company
- Design Principal Thomas L Shafer AIA
- Project Architect Scott Crowe AIA
- Project Team Shawn Gordon, Lisa A Jacobson, Edgar Wong, Ben Gauslin
- Photography Doug Snower Photography, Hedrich Blessing Photographers & Grunsfeld Shafer Architects, LLC
The challenge was to design a modern home for a family of six on a bluff site above Lake Michigan, to celebrate the lake and to simultaneously provide privacy from neighboring views and street noise. The home needed to be multi-dimensional, including activity areas for family time, work and play, and for entertainment both indoors and out. An interesting exterior material palette was requested as were the design and coordination of all interiors, including colors, finishes, lighting, furniture and window treatments.
Our response was direct; respect the site orientation and topography, be sensitive to the bluff, and create a diversity of interior and exterior environments. A full height stone landscape wall conceals an exterior courtyard providing a safe haven for child’s play. The ground floor living spaces literally open onto the rear terrace and bluff through 10 foot pivoting door panels. All the second floor bedrooms face the lake, the quiet side of the house, whereas noisy playtime is muffled in a subterranean Sport Court below. A third floor features a private office suite and large expansive deck offering panoramic views of the lake and of the setting sun to the west.