Howe St. Residence
Chicago, Illinois
Single Family Home
4,400 sq.ft. plus 630 sq.ft. outdoor living spaces
Completed 2009
Built on the existing foundations of two former townhomes, the footprint of this long residence stretches eighty five feet from front to back. To maximize natural light, the front and rear faces are windows and in the middle, where normally it would be dark, light enters through another central expanses of windows that rival the front and rear facades. This fills the center of the house with an unexpected brightness. This central hub of the house is a double height volume through which a pedestrian bridge spans connecting the two halves of the second floor.
The first floor is the main living floor and contains the entry, living room, dining room, kitchen, and family room. On the second floor are two bedrooms and one guest bedroom/office, and two bathrooms all housed in a clearly defined volume clad in a stained maple veneer which runs the length of the house and actually beyond, popping out of the front as a bay. The third floor is the master suite with a small front outdoor room and a large outdoor second living room.
Materials: Inca grey stone floor tile, stained maple veneered panels, dyed and stained rift sawn white oak tongue and groove flooring, painted steel, aluminum storefront system windows, various natural stone and glass tiles in the bathrooms, Parklex exterior wood veneered panels, stucco, concrete composite panels, 1x4 oiled ipe wood, dyed concrete flatwork.
