FLIGHT of FANCY

Pragmatism and whimsy combine as designer Summer Thornton and her husband, Josh, transform a 19th-century Chicago townhouse into a theatrical wonderland for their family.

- CELIA BARBOUR

THE THORNTONS' HOUSE - HUNT was going nowhere-one property after another proving “so expensive yet so cookie-cutter,” recalls Josh Thornton. At the close of a particularly frustrating day, he asked his then-pregnant wife, designer Summer Thornton, “If we could live anywhere, where would it be?"

She didn't hesitate: “That white house on the corner." She was referring to an elegant but run-down, 19th-century townhouse a few blocks from their Chicago condo.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: Handmarbled ceiling paper (Marbled Art) crowns the apricot living room. Summer and her son welcome guests on an entry stairwell cloaked in panther print carpet (Stark).

Though it wasn't for sale, Josh contacted the elderly owners anyway. As luck would have it, they were happy to sell so long as they could rent the ground floor as a pied-à-terre for themselves.

The sunny second-floor kitchen overlooks a walled courtyard. Range, Lacanche OPPOSITE: Flowering cherry standards and maidenhair fern flourish in the side garden.

In the courtyard, classic stripes (fabric, Perennials) cloak steel dining chairs. Stone flooring, Exquisite Surfaces

“The trellised walls in the garden room are my ode to The Decorator-legends like Bunny Mellon, Parish Hadley.

-INTERIOR DESIGNER AND HOMEOWNER SUMMER THORNTON