Drake on
the Lake
This East Lake Shore Drive co-op combined two 1960s-era units into one lavish apartment with a full gut renovation, including a new kitchen positioned at the front to capture sweeping lake views.
Inspired by the traditional elegance of the 1930s Benjamin Marshall building, the design adds modern styling and vibrant color for a young family’s weekend retreat in the heart of the city. This home was featured by Architectural Digest.
“After combining two units that hadn’t been touched since the 1960s, she expanded and moved the galley kitchen to the front of the apartment, replacing a small bedroom to maximize Lake Michigan views and installing a glass divider to provide a sense of separation while maintaining a connection with the adjacent living room. She and her team reworked the foyer layout, recreated original molding and replated existing hardware, and employed clever solutions like arched doorways and disappearing closets to hide unsightly steel beams and plumbing stacks.”
architectural digest“Summer is color and pattern to the max, which is completely opposite from me,” the homeowner says, recalling the trepidation that he quickly quashed. “We joked that I wasn’t her ideal client, but I went into this process with a really open mind. I knew that if I put my trust in her and let her do her thing, we would end up with something spectacular.”
Architectural DigestCHICAGOThe design adds modern styling and vibrant color for a weekend retreat in the heart of the city.
“I love our main house, but I didn’t want to repeat it for a weekend place. This is meant to be more fun, more feminine, and a little edgier because it’s in the city,” he says. “I never could have imagined this for us, but that’s what a good designer does. Sometimes it’s good to step outside of your comfort zone.”
architectural digest“One day, Summer Thornton, principal of her eponymous Chicago studio, drove past a fire station and remembers thinking, ‘What’s more attention-grabbing than red?’”
architectural digest“Pairing refined oxblood-toned insets with white oak cabinetry was exactly what she needed to ‘create a space that was handsome and arresting.’”
architectural digest“We were playing with pairing a tame base with a hit of color, but we calmed the red way down so it doesn’t feel over the top.”
SUMMER THORNTON