When a couple purchased a Chicago co-op in a prestigious 1920s building, they knew they had a lot of work to do. The grand Gold Coast flat on a high floor had remained mostly true to its original layout from a century ago, but decor choices had left it more coastal grandma than Art Deco swank. A refresh was most definitely in order.

Jessica LaGrange, known to have an eye for high-touch design that’s still effortlessly livable, was the obvious choice for the owners, who both claim family trees ripe with fruit. (His family has been in the juice concentrate business for three generations; hers is in juice manufacturing.) LaGrange decided to use the building’s history as a guide in order to create a home that could serve as a sanctuary when the art-collecting couple was in town. 

“They loved the provenance of the building, along with its location and views,” the designer says. LaGrange saw the apartment early on, when it was swathed in chintz and shades of powder blue and peach. “It had a very gracious layout and was the perfect size for their city pied-à-terre.”

LaGrange devised a brilliant idea to set the tone: She’d inlay into the elegantly proportioned foyer a custom terrazzo-and-bronze circular design that’s both Deco and exceedingly modern. It beams from the floor like a captured sunburst. An art piece by Jacob Hashimoto, constructed out of kites, adds texture and pop: another warning shot of the surprises still to be revealed further in the home.

Beyond the living room stands a Lilliputian dining room, its walls covered in embroidered silk birch trees. A chandelier made of crystal nuggets gives the vintage Karl Springer table and four chairs a luminosity that teeters on ethereal. The couple likes to cook, so the kitchen—no longer anchored by dated green granite countertops—accentuates its efficient functionality.