A growing trend in suburban development is to create a city look and lifestyle, and Windward Development‘s Regents Row, a 20-unit townhome community in downtown Lake Forest, is creating a look that’s more London or Paris than Chicago.
Designs by architecture firm Witmer and Associates reflect a European influence: a narrow, cobblestone road with an upward-sloping grade separates the two rows of townhomes, constructed of limestone, brick, copper and slate materials. “We looked at a lot of English brickwork to go along with the rowhouse idea,” said Peter Witmer, one of the architects of Regents Row. “It’s timeless. In a hundred years, it’s going to look the same way.”
He was influenced by the repetitive shapes and forms that hold English rowhomes together as a group. “Fortunately the development isn’t huge, but it’s big enough to get some repetitiveness to it, which I think helps the overall look and design,” he said. “It’s just the right size. If you get too many more it’s pretty monotonous, but there’s enough to start to get a pattern and a rhythm.”
Pieces of the façade are differentiated with angular or square bays and mansard roofs, Witmer said. Special emphasis was also placed on landscaping. Mariani Landscaping is bringing in about 50 35-foot-tall trees with lots of vegetation to balance the brick exteriors and roadway, according to Witmer.
Top-of-the-line materials deck the interiors as well. Finishes include Downsview cabinetry by nuHaus, a fireplace with stone surrounds, crown moulding, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, a six-burner Wolf gas cooktop, built-in Thermador ovens, a Bosch dishwasher, granite countertops with a tumbled marble backsplash, and a master bathroom with stone floors and countertops, a Jacuzzi tub, and Jado Lav designer hardware.
The three-story homes have private elevators, formal dining rooms, 10-foot by 20-foot terraces, about 3,900 square feet of living space, an additional 500 square feet of unfinished space on the lower level, and heated, two-car garages.
Regents Row’s location four blocks north of historic Market Square on Western Avenue is proving a big draw for active empty-nesters downsizing from single-family homes, said Dennis Bailen, managing partner of Regents Row and COO of Windward Builders. “The notion here, as many suburbs are doing, is to create a city lifestyle in a suburban setting, where you can walk to restaurants and shopping,” he said. Two 1,000-square foot retail spaces were designed to flank the entrance road, Bailen said, to maintain the commercial aspect of Western Avenue.
Townhomes have three or four bedrooms, and prices range from $1.6 million to $2.2 million. The first phase of ten townhomes is sold out, and construction is underway on phase two. Marketer Griffith, Grant & Lackie Realtors has an offsite showroom, and Bailen expects first occupancy in the early winter.