Natural habitat
By Michelle Dellinger
March 2019 View more Home
“Twenty years ago,” says Rubinstein, “people weren’t talking about solar modeling, but I designed the window location to maximize solar gains.” The 1.25-acre lot allowed her the flexibility to turn the home 20 degrees to bring in a lot of eastern light. No matter where you stand in the house, there is light coming in from three directions, including a large skylight above the central staircase.
Wood panels on the flanking walls help ground the space so it doesn’t overwhelm. The cherry and oak structures in the house are aging gracefully, becoming more mature and beautiful over time, Rubinstein says. “Organic architecture,” she says, “is part of the American Craftsman movement.”
Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” The 1880 proclamation by Englishman William Morris—long before Marie Kondo’s spark-joy litmus test—has been a Golden Rule of his Arts and Crafts movement for over a century.
The famous Red House he constructed in southeast London was an inspiration for a local home built by general contractor Mia Rubinstein 20 years ago.
“It’s a celebration of nature,” she says of the home. “The most important part of our current lifestyle is to bring nature into the house.”—MD
Seeing Red
The five-bedroom, four-bath Red House in Lisle is currently on the market for $1 million. For more information, contact Monarque Real Estate, 630.637.0997. To read about the Red House in England that inspired it (now a café and bookshop run by preservation nonprofit National Trust), visit nationaltrust.org.uk.
Photos courtesy Monarque Real Estate Group
