A Chicago couple had already rehabbed a vintage Victorian. They acquired an extra-wide lot in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood in order to build a new house on a modern plan, but in classic five-color polychrome Queen Anne style.

The Queen Anne is well suited to the opportunities afforded by the extra lot width, allowing a cross gable fully expressed on the sides of the house, as well as asymmetrical gable ends, a wide porch and other playful elements that lends the style its charm. Mimicking houses that originally were hand-crafted by master carpenters means finding or custom-crafting many of the rich details that adorn these façades.

The 5,000 square-foot home is organized on four levels with four bedrooms plus large office, 4 full and 2 half-baths, and a three-car garage. The design features clear circulation, large well-defined spaces, and a spacious kitchen and great room opening to a rear deck that cascades to a paved patio. The main stairway leads to a third floor study under the cross-gable, with decorative windows behind period verge boards.

Completion is scheduled for late-2006.