By Nan Greenough

Every spring the Winnetka Landmark Preservation Commission accepts nominations for the annual Preservation Awards program and conducts an award presentation at a Village Council meeting in the fall. The Preservation Awards program seeks to honor construction projects that have helped preserve the history and character of the Village. Private, commercial, and public properties are eligible. Nominations may be submitted by anyone, but require the property owner’s consent. To qualify, the project must have been completed within the past five years. Only exterior projects are eligible, although some of the interior work is described here.

There are three award categories: restoration, rehabilitation, and new construction. On October 20, 2015 seven projects were honored at the regular Village Council meeting. This year there were two restoration projects, four rehabilitation projects, and one award for new construction that is sensitive to its neighborhood context.

1045 Sheridan Rd (Restoration)
Owners: Bob Scales and Mary Keefe
Designer: Tom Ferguson, Tom Ferguson Interiors, Chicago
Architect: Cheron Stern, Chicago
General Contractor: Peter Construction, Kenilworth
Landscape Designer: Miquel Vara
This 1950s modernist house was updated extensively for today’s living, including a new, modern kitchen, while leaving the exterior unchanged. Original features such as wood beams and a travertine fireplace were retained, while family living areas were reconfigured. The warmth and simplicity of the resulting project were described in the February 2013 issue of Make it Better in an article called “MidCentury Melody.”

965 Spruce St (Restoration)
Owners: Jim and Jill Vent
Designer and General Contractor: Michael Freiburger, Newlook Development, Wilmette
The project added a new front porch to this century-old farmhouse that is sensitive to the time period, scale and details of the house. Details include stained bead board porch ceilings, a restored front door, simple columns, railings and lantern-style fixtures on the porch.

577 Ash St (Rehabilitation)
Owners: Chris Barbin & Lori Csaszar
Designer: Laura Bergquist, lk Interiors, Glenview
Architect: Neal Gerdes, AKL Architectural Services, Lake Villa
Builder: Paulson Builders, Libertyville
This house received a complete exterior renovation, emphasizing repair rather than replacement of materials, whenever possible. Work was based upon or inspired by historic photos of the house.

1000 Vernon Ave (Rehabilitation)
Owners: Pete & Jenny Rosenstein
Designer and General Contractor: Michael Freiburger, Newlook Development, Wilmette
This project included an exterior renovation of this 100-year-old Tudor Revival brick home, including matching the “weeping mortar” joints between bricks.

510 Poplar St (Rehabilitation)
Owners: Ethan & Christine Holland
Architect: Healy Rice, Healy M. Rice Architecture, Wilmette
On this 1941 brick Cape Cod, a one-story enclosed porch was replaced with a 2-story addition that houses a family room on the first floor and a private master suite on the second floor. The highest priority was given to maintaining design consistency with the original house.

827 Prospect Ave (Rehabilitation)
Owners: Eric & Emily Walker
Architect: Neal Gerdes, AKL Architectural Services, Lake Villa
The interior of this 1890s foursquare was reconfigured to update the house for modern living, while restoring the exterior to its original appearance by removing subsequent alterations.

627 Sheridan Rd (New Construction)
Owners: Clyde McGregor & LeAnn Pope
Architect: Liederbach & Graham Architects, Chicago
Landscape: Mariani Landscape
This new house was designed to echo traditional lakefront styles in terms of character, scale and details to look as if it had always been there. The design emphasizes simple materials: Chicago common brick, an Indiana limestone base a slate roof, and a restrained composition of carefully proportioned French doors and windows. ■