An addition with an indoor swimming pool was all it took to turn a classic Prairie-style home designed by an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright into a party house.
Both Nichol and Greg James grew up with swimming pools at their homes. So it was the pool that sold Greg when the couple saw the house near downtown Lombard about seven years ago. But right from the start Nichol loved the home’s details, the wood trim on the walls and ceiling, the arched doors and windows and the Roman brick fireplace.
Over the Threshold, the Lombard Kiwanis Housewalk
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m., Friday, May 13.
Tickets: 25 dollars in advance; 30 dollars day of the walk. Available in advance at several area businesses and on the day of the walk at Mr. Z’s Supermarket, 401 S. Main St., Lombard, and at the houses; all ticket locations are listed on the website.
Information: (630) 935 7842 or lombardhousewalk.com
Etc.: Homeowners and designers will meet ticket holders at a reception from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The James home will be one of five open Friday, May 13, for the Lombard Kiwanis Housewalk. The others are a three-story Craftsman style built in 2007, an expanded house where a ranch once stood, a classic late 1920s brick home with features like stained glass windows and a 1930s bungalow that was once in the midst of a fruit orchard.
The James home was designed in the early 1920s by John Van Bergen, an architect known for his work in Oak Park and on the North Shore. He designed homes, schools and other buildings throughout the suburbs, including subdivisions in Hawthorn Woods and Barrington Hills after World War II, according to a biography by Martin Hackl.
This house was designed for William H. Watt, who was an auditor for the Chicago and North Western railroad, as was Van Bergen’s father. It was the second home that Van Bergen designed for the Watts, according to the book.
The entry, and living and dining rooms show original detailing. The woodwork includes a wide flat band high up on the walls, sometimes continuing around extensions that cantilever out from the walls. Two smaller pieces of trim follow the same path a little higher on the wall, and a third piece outlines the ceiling.
“The poor guys who put this together, all the trim work,” said Greg James, who is an attorney.
The Jameses have kept the woodwork the rich green it had when they found it, but the very light beige on the walls is their own color. The living room fireplace is golden Roman brick with an arched opening and no mantel.
Some of the home’s casement windows are original, as is some of the glass in the French doors from the living room to the Irish pub room. This wavy glass is the only feature of the house that Nichol James is protective of when the couple or their three college and high school age children entertain.
“They’re 75 years old,” said the substitute teacher. “I want the house to be kid-friendly and family-friendly.”
Nichol James also shows guests other old-house details she loves like the wooden screen at a staircase landing made from two widths of spindles, the hall linen closet with pullout drawers and a cubby for luggage.
Much of the mission-style furniture was purchased for the family’s previous home in Lombard, a bungalow. Artwork includes a large photograph in the living room of Greg’s Army unit participating in the ceremony when the unknown soldier from the Vietnam War was entombed at Arlington Cemetery.
The Jameses think the room with the 18-by-36-foot oval pool was built in the late 1960s or early ‘70s. The addition also includes an enlarged kitchen that along with the family room has a vaulted ceiling, and basement bedrooms and entertainment room.
The pool room is very impressive with sliding doors to the back yard and Prairie Path on one side and the family room on the other. The paneling on the walls and beamed cathedral ceiling is frosted cedar.
A friend helped Greg and their son, Joe, build an indoor koi pond for the fish who summer in the pond beside the home’s front door.
“We have giant parties,” said Greg, including cast parties for productions that their youngest, Joe, works on as well as prom pictures if inclement weather makes Lilacia Park a bad choice.
Both Jameses like to entertain their own friends, but they also love having a house full of young people.
“When Chelsea was a junior,” said her mother, “she had an end of school party. I wasn’t thinking. ‘Sure have a party.’ All the furniture got moved out. We had three bands. The police showed up at 11 and said it was quiet time.”
Nichol has always liked the color purple, and visitors will notice how well her use of various shades on the second floor fits in Lombard, the home of the annual Lilac Festival.
The Jameses plan to remodel the kitchen and are plotting how to replace a window box that a photograph shows was originally on the front of the house. And it bothers Greg that an apparent lowering of the ceiling in the front entry clipped off the top of arched wood trim around a door and a window.
And the couple has really come to appreciate what drew them to the home.
“It’s really cool to be swimming when it’s snowing outside,” said Nichol.
“I don’t get bored with it,” said Greg. “All the moldings. When I drive up at night, I’m happy to be home. I think it’s beautiful. My family is happy here, and we try to be good stewards of the house.”