designchicagomag.com designchicagomag.com THE MART DESIGN CHICAGO 59 58 DESIGN CHICAGO THE MART he house on Hinman Avenue, in Evanston, Illinois, has served several purposes since architect Stephen A. Jennings designed it in 1890 for Francis and Adaline Butterworth Gellatly: it’s been a retirement retreat for the Scottish-born attorney and amateur playwright; a home to generations of Chicago families; and, most recently, a canvas for interior designer Meghan Jay. Jay is originally from Madison, Connecticut; her husband hails from Vancouver. They settled in the Chicago area as a compromise — roughly equidistant from their respective families— that and the Midwest seemed the perfect place to raise their two young children, Colin and Charlotte. They were looking for an older home with character, so finding a Victorian here was a stroke of luck; they rarely come on the market. Their realtor happened to be the listing agent, and Jay got an early look before the house went public. At roughly 6,000 square feet with six bedrooms and a coach house out back, the place had excellent bones. What Jay needed to fix was how the house felt. Ceilings and walls had been painted, what Jay calls a “dismal brown.” Recessed spotlights threw haphazard pools of light onto the walls, and the entry T DESIGNER MEGHAN JAY REFRESHES AN 1890 CHICAGO VICTORIAN AND CREATES A HOME FOR HER YOUNG FAMILY. W R I T T E N B Y C A R L D E L L A T O R E P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y N A T H A N K I R K M A N NEW LIFE Old Bones, The symmetry of the Visual Comfort light fixtures, through CAI Designs , balances the dining room, a deliberate counterpoint to the eclectic mix of vintage and custom pieces underneath. Schumacher fabric and Samuel & Sons trim were fashioned into flirty slipcovers.