In Black and White

By Lisa Arnett
May 2025 View more Home

A high-contrast modern French country home suits a couple’s many needs

Michelle and Larry Rydzewski were looking to downsize from their four-story home and sprawling yard in Downers Grove when they found just the right lot in Naperville. Slightly wedge-shaped and on a corner, it would be tricky to fit everything they wanted; however, their Naperville-based team—architect Steve Meyer of Meyer Design and Lakewest Custom Homes—was up for the challenge.

They loved that the corner lot would allow for a side-load garage, and they also wanted a pool for their adult children and grandkids to enjoy. And the less lawn maintenance and yard work required, the better. “The lot for our previous home was huge; it was 50 by 375 feet,” Larry says. “So what we wanted to do here was stuff as much as we could into a small lot so there wasn’t that much yard left for us to need to take care of.”

Having built new homes several times in the past, the Rydzewskis had the benefit of knowing exactly what they wanted in their new abode. “My signature thing is two islands, and I love trim and crown molding,” Michelle says. “My father used to be a builder so I just love those details.”

Michelle also took on the not-so-small task of selecting the finishes as well as furnishing and decorating. “It’s a hobby of mine,” she says. “I’ve been doing it for years and I’ve been doing a lot of friends’ houses.” She sourced most of their furniture from Bernhardt Interiors, with some finds from Crate & Barrel, CB2, and HomeGoods mixed in.

Though the property setbacks were tight, the team carved out fun and functional outdoor spaces on all four sides of the house, including a sunken patio off the front entry, a shaded porch next to the garage, and a bilevel deck and outdoor kitchen adjacent to the pool. As for the strip of land between their home and the next-door neighbors that was too shady to grow grass, that became a petite golfing green with faux turf.

1. (above) Architect Steve Meyer calls the exterior style of this home “modern French country.” “It’s elegant because it’s simple,” he says. “There’s not these overly complicated roof lines, but there’s the play between the really steep gables and the flat porch roofs and veranda off the back.” Painted white brick is matched with black Hardie composite siding for a high-contrast look.

2. In addition to two islands in the kitchen, homeowner Michelle Rydzewski had some other specific asks. “More typically in kitchens, what you’re going to see is perimeters that are dropped and the centers are higher,” Meyer says, “but Michelle wanted the center to be dropped and the perimeters to be higher, and for the cabinets to go all the way to the 10-foot ceiling.” A coffered ceiling with a trio of chandeliers anchors the all-white, wide-open space, and there’s ample storage behind doors and within drawers.

3. “Probably one of my favorite things in the entire build is this little cozy wine tasting area right there off the kitchen,” Meyer says. He designed this seating area with inset bottle displays to honor the homeowners’ shared love for wine. “We both like wine, and I’ve become more of a big wine drinker now that I’ve gotten older,” homeowner Larry Rydzewski says. “To me, it’s a conversation piece and it’s art just as much as it is for wine storage. Not all of it is what I would consider to be good drinking wine—we have a storage room in the basement for that—but some are decent bottles and others just have an interesting label, like there’s a [Mike] Ditka bottle up toward the top.”

4. and 5. Blond wooden beams add modern French country flavor, extending from the kitchen soffits to a wall of windows that look out to the patio and pool. Michelle picked furniture with shiny chrome details and black-and-white accessories for finishing touches.

6. and 7. A rectangular pool features a quartet of deck jets and an adjacent hot tub for soaking. “One challenge we had is Michelle said, ‘I love having all these people in the pool outside, it’s fantastic, but I don’t want them walking through my house to use the bathroom,’ ” Meyer says. They solved that quandary with a dedicated pool deck bathroom accessible only from the outside. A first-floor covered patio provides respite from the sun, while a second-floor sundeck is accessible via a spiral staircase and also from the homeowners’ primary bedroom. “We went with the decision to go with black railing and black decking, and it definitely does get hot on the sundeck, but it’s absolutely stunning.”

8. Black double doors open up to the homeowners’ primary suite, which features a dramatically angled ceiling and windows that stretch from floor to ceiling. “They also have access to the sundeck, so in the morning or evenings they can go out and have even better views of the neighborhood because they are up higher,” Meyer says.

9. Larry had a specific request for the primary bath: “One of the things I really like is car wash showers,” he says. The final bathroom design included a zero-threshold wet room with ample showerheads and a freestanding tub, all enclosed by glass.

10. The crown jewel of the primary suite is Michelle’s closet, which makes getting dressed for the day an experience of its own with an island, vanity, TV, and ample space to store and display clothing and accessories. “It became one of the most talked-about features of the entire home,” Meyer says. “We kept making it taller to fit higher racking and then tried to come up with innovative solutions of how she would reach it.” They considered motorized rods but eventually settled on constructing a loft with a library ladder. “It is a short ceiling height up there, but she’s not a super-tall person so it worked.”

11. Meyer also indulged the homeowners’ affinity for hidden doors, and they’ve served to surprise and delight their grandchildren who use this bunkroom for sleepovers. “The door to the bunkroom looks like a shelf, and another hidden door inside goes into a wardrobe in my closet from the bunkroom,” Michelle says. Meyer adds, “In here we have nice vaulted ceilings, the built-in bunks, and very stable stairs, not a rickety ladder.”

12. In the guest bathroom, vibrant gold fixtures match the metallic finish on the drawer pulls, mirror, and wall sconces. Because the homeowners’ primary suite is on the second floor, they decided to make this downstairs bathroom fully ADA accessible. “In the future if [the homeowners] are not able to walk the steps [upstairs to their primary suite], this bath has the curbless shower entry and complete accessibility for a walker or wheelchair.”

13. and 14. Larry’s office echoes the black-and-white motif found elsewhere in the home, but it’s the location that Meyer finds most interesting. “One thing we are encouraging our clients to think about is: Why do we always want to put an office on the first floor?” Meyer says. “We want to get out of that mentality, and second-floor offices can be absolutely beautiful with great views across the neighborhood.” Giving the office its own en suite bathroom is an added convenience for workdays.

15. to 18. How do you make a basement not feel like, well, a basement? Sloped lots present the opportunity for walk-out or look-out basements, but this lot’s flat grade precluded those options. Meyer’s solution was a sizable light well. “It really captures a lot of light coming in from the front of the house, so when you walk down the stairs, you do have that sense of openness, and light and it doesn’t feel like a basement,” he says. This lower level features a sitting area, a sleek wet bar with a textured metallic tile backsplash, and a theater room with two levels of recliners and a popcorn machine. One of Meyer’s signatures is converting the area underneath basement stairs into a kids’ playhouse. “It works so wonderfully and of course, the style has to match the house,” he says.

Photos: Rob Painter-Pix by Painter