Evanston, Illinois
This 100-year-old building has had many lives--among them a Polish delicatessen, a candy store, and a corner market. All the while it housed a second-story apartment that was accessed through a separate entrance. In 2014 the building was converted to a single family home with a small, metal-sided addition, an open floor plan, and a soaring two-story living area capped by a skylight. The exterior entrance became a window, and the staircase that once led to the apartment was painted the distinctive red of the Golden Gate Bridge (a nod to the owners' San Francisco roots), providing a shock of color in an otherwise minimalist setting.