From Time to Time

An Art Deco classic in Oak Park gets a contemporary and compatible addition

By Liz Jaros

Home Book Magazine Contributor

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You can influence human behavior with structural design. That's what Daniel Mazeiro was told in architectural school. Now standing in the master bedroom of the Art Deco home he's amended in American classic contemporary style, detailing the measures he and his wife take nightly to secure their privacy in a room walled mostly with steel-framed glass, Mazeiro gives weight to his mentors' words.

"We don't want to be on display," he says, demonstrating the part of the routine where one of them pads across a Brazilian walnut floor to temporarily draw a massive brown curtain over the vista that most exposes them to neighbors. "The idea is to be at one with nature."

So as soon as they're ready to hit the sheets, the lights are doused, the curtain is reopened, and Mazeiro and his wife, Daniela Blanco -- both natives of Buenos Aires, Argentina -- are free to slumber in peace among the treetops.

"We have full view of the sky and we feel a great connection with the outdoors," he says. "It's pretty cool when there's a thunderstorm."

Tucked privately out of sight behind the master bedroom are a dressing suite with tempered glass closets and a copper-tile master bathroom with a cascading whirlpool tub (water spills over the sides into a second reservoir to create a waterfall effect).

From this, the second floor of Mazeiro's two-story addition, a glass-paneled bridge sweeps across an open central atrium and past the original home's brick façade to connect with the children's wing in the old space.

"You can see the contrast in the entryways," Mazeiro says, looking over the divide. Clean lines and flush doors on the contemporary wing are visually juxtaposed with 1940s-appropriate moldings and millwork on the other.

Roughly the same size and shape as the new construction, the existing home remains by-and-large true to its Art Deco beginnings. Built in 1939 against a backdrop of mostly Victorian-types, 214 S. Euclid Ave in Oak Park was an architectural standout from the start. Its austere geometric façade made it a natural choice for Mazeiro and Blanco, who as house hunters and fellow architects were looking for something that would jibe with a contemporary addition.

Oddly enough, when it came time to draw up the plans for what would be a radical structural alteration by local standards, Mazeiro says he didn't really butt heads with the gatekeepers of Oak Park's historic character. Since the new part of the house would be tucked almost completely behind the old, and the exterior was to remain virtually unaltered, Mazeiro says the sticking points were few. After a planning and construction period that consumed the better part of two years, Mazeiro and Blanco finally began living the dream in February 2004.

Mazeiro says none of the original load bearing walls were changed but décor updates were made throughout the existing house, which featured pink shag carpeting and a lot of 60s kitsch. He had the living and dining rooms floored with bamboo planks and modernized a bit, but not drastically altered. And replacement materials were chosen that would hit Art Deco notes but could also be repeated and/or complemented in the new space to create a natural transition between the eras. While black slate flooring, glass block sidelights and a primary paint scheme feel very '40s in the foyer, they scream 21st century in the great room.

"We took advantage of the height differences here," Mazeiro says while stepping down into a ground-level family room/kitchen addition that sprawls across the back of the home. Like the master bedroom above, this space has full view of the backyard through 10-foot windows in the east and south walls. Architectural surprises are delivered by an industrial-size refrigerator camouflaged within a red column that spans two stories, walnut cabinetry that soars to the ceiling and a horizontal band of windows where a counter backsplash would ordinarily be.

The key in the great room space, according to Mazeiro, was to keep the new design clean and modern without sacrificing warmth or comfort. "Even though this would now probably be considered a big house, you still need small places where a family can come together."

So at one end of an enormous center island that provides invaluable prep and party space, an informal dining arrangement offers intimate seating for four. And in the family room, a plush area rug and contoured chairs provide the children with a cozy spot to read by the fire or watch TV.

Outside, a two-story louvered pergola towers above a wrap-around deck in modern homage to the neighborhood Victorians. Mazeiro says they plan to hang linens out there someday to create a billowy outdoor room and deflect some of the intense southern sunshine.

Now that the house is close to being finished, Mazeiro says he and Blanco will concentrate on the decking the walls with art that means something to them -- pieces they find on vacation or acquire from friends. And he's also begun drafting plans for a garage replacement, so stay tuned.