A Chicago Condo Becomes A Home Away From Home

To execute the design for the front door of a La Jolla house, architect Mark A Silva tapped Studio Deline for the metalwork and Stine Poole for the woodwork. Once inside, the eye goes immediately to the ocean views. Landscape architect David McCullough used cacti and grasses, among other plantings, to soften the rectilinear lines of the home.

Mixed media are a winsome combination in the dining room, where armless Saarinen chairs covered in Holland & Sherry mohair velvet pull up to a custom 70-inch-square walnut table beneath an Alison Berger Glassworks crystal sphere chandelier. The painting to the left is by Chicago artist Eva Carlini; on the far wall, Richard Koppe ink-on-paper pieces hang over a walnut console with parchment-framed doors from Barron Custom Furniture. The oneof-a-kind silk woven rug has subtle accents of mustard and blue.

An iron bench from Holly Hunt is positioned in the foyer of a unit in Chicago's Lincoln Park 2550 building. Paper collages by the late artist Robert Natkin are stacked on a textured wall, which was made from a Roger Thomas paper created with a cheesecloth overlay; the material was then colored and hand-screen printed at the Maya Romanoff Studio.

A large Abstract Expressionist painting by Jack Roth, purchased from Gregg Lane Art Management, adds vibrancy to the neutral-colored living room. Touches of walnut warm cool upholstery hues, and depth is added through a mix of materials--such as the De Plaine coffee table from Mattaliano featuring velum with antique brass. A Nepalese silk-and-wool rug from Holly Hunt grounds the grouping.

Designed for casual comfort, the family room displays pops of orange accents, such as the lacquer shelf on a custom walnut table, the leather on the Knoll womb chair and the sofa's star pillows in clementine fabric by Galbraith & Paul. The drapery material, Donghia's Frolic, is a digital print on pure linen with a chintz finish.

A den does double duty as a guest room when the A. Rudin sofa pulls out into a queen sleeper; the custom lacquer cocktail table is on casters for easy moving. The linear abstract oil painting by Lisa Nankivil plays off the plaid wool-and-dull-silk rug from Tai Ping's Epoch collection. Custom shelves were milled from plain-sawn American walnut.

In the daughter's bedroom, the linen curtains' striking Pierre Frey print, called Futuna, brings a tiedyed vibe in coral on cream, which provides tangy accents for grays and neutrals. The homeowners purchased the bed and the Delia chaise from Room and Board.

A glossy quintet of oils by Janis Pozzi-Johnson reads like glazed tiles and captures a serene mood in the master bedroom. The palette of grays and blues is enhanced with occasional pattern, such as the opulent velvet-and-viscose Mokum jacquard on the Christian Liaigre bench and a soft watercolor print from Schumacher on the draperies. The polished-nickel-andwhite-glass Agnes chandelier by Lindsey Adelman adds sparkle.