Credit: architecturaldigest.com
In a display of bravado and talent, 47 interior and landscape designers have transformed a historical 15,000-square-foot home in Lake Forest, Illinois, for the Lake Forest Showhouse and Gardens 2025, which opens for tours April 26 through May 25. Renowned architect Henry Ives Cobb masterfully blended classic architectural design with serene English-style gardens when he designed the 30-bedroom manse once known as Pembroke Lodge. Originally built in 1895, the residence sits on more than three acres and includes a formal garden, a tranquil reflecting pond, and a graceful limestone-domed gazebo. Finely finished Wisconsin limestone cloaks the exterior, which is adorned with classical details such as dentil cornices and balusters.
It’s not the first transformation the house has undergone—in 1935, prolific Chicago architect David Adler augmented the home’s already storied pedigree when he renovated the interiors for the original owner’s daughter. Additionally, he designed a pool house and gated pool. Adler’s efforts were joined by Frances Elkins, his sister and a visionary designer herself who worked on many homes in the area throughout her career. The property remained in the hands of the same family until the ’60s. Then, a series of renovations in the ’70s and ’80s stripped the home of its traditional aesthetic, although the exterior remained mostly unchanged since its original design.
“The challenge for show house designers was to restore the home’s traditional detailing while making it a warm, inviting, and functional space for a young family,” says Susan Rolander, principal of Rolander Architects and one of six co-chairs of the 2025 Lake Forest Showhouse and Gardens. Challenge accepted: The participating pros took about 75% of the home down to the studs, updated its mechanical systems, added an elevator, and installed a smart home system in addition to replacing hardwood floors, wainscot paneling, crown moldings, baseboards, and casings. In some spaces, they discovered original millwork and wallpaper beneath layers, using the finds as cues for their restoration work. “It was like an archaeological excavation,” Rolander said. Throughout the numerous rooms on the first and second floors—including eight bedrooms with en suite bathrooms—and the outdoor spaces, the designers, mostly from the Chicago area, created the next evolution of the home while considering its history and holding some reverence for Adler and Elkins.
“I felt like I was shaping a special piece of Chicago’s history,” said Celeste Robbins of AD PRO Directory firm Robbins Architecture, who renovated an upstairs bedroom into a sophisticated little girl’s room. From pink natural stone and sculptural tree lights to the hand-crafted Murano glass flower pendants and plaster vines on the fireplace, Robbins’s space exemplifies one of the most prominent design trends seen throughout the home: bringing in nature. Rebel House Design, another AD PRO Directory firm, deliberately referenced the organic by embellishing walls with an elegant botanical plaster installation, as well as working with a local artisan to create a bespoke cocktail table made of local limestone. “I paid homage to Elkins with our redesign of the reception room,” said Marli Jones, the creative director of Rebel House Design. “Her decidedly modern takes on classic interiors became our driving direction. Our ode to Elkins came in the form of the biophilic plaster wall design rendered with a local twist: Instead of acanthus and palm leaves, we referenced local wildflowers.”
