Trish VanderBeke is an architect whose office is located in Carl Street Studio, an unusually weird complex of buildings on Burton Square in the old city, decorated with colorful tiles, art and glass. 

In 2015, when a more traditional-looking building next door was threatened with demolition, VanderBeke bought it, as she said, partly because of the "save our story." Both Carl Street and its more austere neighbors date back to the late 19th century, but Carl Street’s fashionable appearance is the result of a legendary transformation by artists and craftsmen led by Edgar Miller and Sol Kogen in the 1920s.

Van der Baker said that the building she bought “is the predecessor after Karl Street, and it helped us tell the story.” In addition, she bought the building because the conservationists believed it would destroy it if it was demolished. The structural integrity of the Carl Street Studio. 

Since purchasing the brick and limestone three-story apartment, VanderBeke has been renting out these units, and plans to repair and sell every vacant one. Now, she has transformed the first-floor unit into a sunny two-bedroom with sharp finishes, such as the elongated black tiles on the mantelpiece in the living room, the awning-style upper window that can be opened in the rain without worrying about water ingress, and the kitchen door Creative small stool outside. 

VanderBeke's rehabilitation center fits the traditional building where it is located, but cleverly incorporates the innovative spirit of Karl Street, using recycled materials, including the old-fashioned interior door she found at a reused exit. In the 1920s, rehabilitators used discarded materials because it was what they could find; VanderBeke did this to reflect the history of the building and keep her project green. 

VanderBeke previously had a 1,450 square foot two-bedroom unit on the market. Today, she is changing the product to include a 900-square-foot basement, which can accommodate two other bedrooms, a family room, and two bathrooms (three in total). After the first floor was completed, the basement was a clean white box with pipes and wires, but it was not ready to move in. Completing it requires an additional investment of 2,350 square feet on top of the purchase price. 

The asking price is $750,000. The property is represented by Luke Blahnik of @properties. 

The tall windows of the restaurant face east, above the side courtyard of the Carl Street Studio, where there is a fish pond and colorful entrances to the units. 

"When the window is open, you can hear the hum of the fish pond," Van der Beck said. 

The light maple floor in the main room is brand new, replacing the maple and cherry striped floors of the previous owner.   

Although it may not be as peculiar as Karl Street, it is not a simple building. The decorative decorations on the upper part of the facade and the stone surrounding the front door give it the solemnity of classic Chicago architecture. 

It was originally a row of three similar buildings in the late 19th century, but the two to the left of it were completely redone like Carl Street Studios, and now it is hard to believe that they are from the same era. 

"I didn't really appreciate this building until I bought it," VanderBeke said. Adjacent to Karl Street, Theophil Studio with portholes and other quirky buildings, this building stands quietly behind a high brick garden wall. The left window can see the buildings of Karl Street. 

The dining room is slightly higher than the living room and is not visible on the left. VanderBeke uses the space as a music room. 

The previous owners raised the level to allow them to run utility lines underneath it. During her rehabilitation, VanderBeke removed some parts of the wall and extended the steps to the length of the entire room to obtain a cleaner visual appearance. 

The black line is not only a safety device that attracts the eye so that people will not stumble between floors, but also echoes the black decoration in the living room fireplace, granite window sill and other details. 

The space where the grand piano is located can now be used as a family room or library. 

The kitchen is almost brand new, except for the passage to the dining room (see left). It has a black window sill, which was made by VanderBeke with an old countertop. The new one is quartz. 

VanderBeke used some clever designs on the windows above the sink. The upper pane opens from the bottom, so it protrudes like an awning. This means it can stay open in the rain. The lower pane is fixed in place, and this is its ingenuity: there is a small flower pot at the bottom, which is flush with the countertop, and there is a small convenient place to grow some kitchen herbs. 

At the back end of the kitchen, the old cabinets are leaning against the sliding glass doors. "When you are outside, you are looking at the side of the cabinet," VanderBeke said. 

She put it in a cabinet not so far away, but more importantly: VanderBeke replaced the full-width slider with a pair of narrower and less awkward-looking swing doors. 

Above the door are more awning-style windows. 

In the master bedroom, VanderBeke also installed French doors and awning beams, overlooking the backyard shared by the residents of the three units of the building. 

There is a closet in the room, which is not visible on the right, and a corner on the wall where you can connect a flat-screen TV.   

VanderBeke said she wanted the bathroom to have white tiled showers and black decorations to make people feel "calm." 

Her commitment to green rehabilitation is also reflected here. The black window sill in the shampoo corner of the shower room is part of the old kitchen counter, and the brown sand-colored tiles on the wall are leftovers of the building she bought at the Rebuilding Exchange at a significant discount, which prevents the building materials from entering the landfill. 

Currently, this is the only bathroom. This and the small size of the second bedroom helped convince VanderBeke to add the basement to the product. There are also two bathrooms, two large bedrooms and other spaces. 

In the backyard, VanderBeke laid an eco-friendly Techo-Bloc platform to allow rain and snow to drip into the ground through ungrouted joints. She also reused old paving, Chicago ordinary bricks, as the edge of the top of the old stucco planter. 

Although the ground yard is shared with others, the residents of this apartment have a small cozy terrace outside the kitchen door. This is a demonstration of VanderBeke's ingenious method: the bench is not only a place to provide seating, but also a place to provide space underneath the stairs to the basement. 

The residents of the upper two floors would not break into this small retreat: their back stairs would not lead to it. 

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