Collector's Cottage

Collector's Cottage by dSPACE Studio is located in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village. Originally built in 1895 as a workers’ cottage, the house was carefully preserved at its façade in response to its historic context, while the interiors and rear were adapted for clients who prioritize art display and contemporary living. The project brief called for maintaining the building’s heritage character while introducing more open, adaptable spaces suited to modern routines and an extensive art collection. To achieve this, the design couples a restored 19th-century front with a new double-height glass pavilion at the rear, visually and structurally separated by an exposed steel moment frame that references the area’s traditional gabled rooflines and connects the living spaces to the garden. Internally, a sequence of arched passageways guides movement between the intimate, restored front rooms and the open, gallery-style addition. At the center, an elliptical dining room creates spatial variety within the narrow plan. The primary suite incorporates a Turkish-inspired hammam that reflects one owner’s heritage, integrating private leisure with the home’s broader theme of balancing original and contemporary elements.