Holly Hunt, center, with interior designers Laura Kirar and Doug Levine (her former staffers, featured in our May/June issue)

It was the biggest design party of the year. That’s a risky statement as I am not the biggest partier at the office, but I’m going to throw it out there ’cause I haven’t been to a party like this in a long time (I blame a certain three-year-old who lives in my house for this). Holly Hunt’s 25th anniversary bash Monday night on the terrace of the Harris Theater was HUGE. Some 1,200 beautifully dressed people showed up to fete the design doyenne, who seemed genuinely touched by the show of support as she addressed the crowd from the stage before introducing the evening’s entertainment, Poi Dog Pondering. Hunt is beloved by the design industry and this showed—as did her long-held business mantra of offering the “best in class.” The food and wine were abundant and delightful, and the setting was classic and perfectly appropriate. Guests looked like movie extras lounging on the Holly Hunt Great Outdoors casual furniture line, displayed in surprisingly un-muted tones, below a gigantic billowing white tent that was illuminated by modern orange-shaded fixtures. Even the day’s iffy weather cleared up just in time. Here’s to another 25!

—Gina Bazer


Photos by Chris Guillen Photography

" />

Holly Hunt, center, with interior designers Laura Kirar and Doug Levine (her former staffers, featured in our May/June issue)

It was the biggest design party of the year. That’s a risky statement as I am not the biggest partier at the office, but I’m going to throw it out there ’cause I haven’t been to a party like this in a long time (I blame a certain three-year-old who lives in my house for this). Holly Hunt’s 25th anniversary bash Monday night on the terrace of the Harris Theater was HUGE. Some 1,200 beautifully dressed people showed up to fete the design doyenne, who seemed genuinely touched by the show of support as she addressed the crowd from the stage before introducing the evening’s entertainment, Poi Dog Pondering. Hunt is beloved by the design industry and this showed—as did her long-held business mantra of offering the “best in class.” The food and wine were abundant and delightful, and the setting was classic and perfectly appropriate. Guests looked like movie extras lounging on the Holly Hunt Great Outdoors casual furniture line, displayed in surprisingly un-muted tones, below a gigantic billowing white tent that was illuminated by modern orange-shaded fixtures. Even the day’s iffy weather cleared up just in time. Here’s to another 25!

—Gina Bazer


Photos by Chris Guillen Photography

" />

Holly Hunt, center, with interior designers Laura Kirar and Doug Levine (her former staffers, featured in our May/June issue)

It was the biggest design party of the year. That’s a risky statement as I am not the biggest partier at the office, but I’m going to throw it out there ’cause I haven’t been to a party like this in a long time (I blame a certain three-year-old who lives in my house for this). Holly Hunt’s 25th anniversary bash Monday night on the terrace of the Harris Theater was HUGE. Some 1,200 beautifully dressed people showed up to fete the design doyenne, who seemed genuinely touched by the show of support as she addressed the crowd from the stage before introducing the evening’s entertainment, Poi Dog Pondering. Hunt is beloved by the design industry and this showed—as did her long-held business mantra of offering the “best in class.” The food and wine were abundant and delightful, and the setting was classic and perfectly appropriate. Guests looked like movie extras lounging on the Holly Hunt Great Outdoors casual furniture line, displayed in surprisingly un-muted tones, below a gigantic billowing white tent that was illuminated by modern orange-shaded fixtures. Even the day’s iffy weather cleared up just in time. Here’s to another 25!

—Gina Bazer


Photos by Chris Guillen Photography

" />
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June 2008
Holly Hunt’s Big Bash

Holly Hunt, center, with interior designers Laura Kirar and Doug Levine (her former staffers, featured in our May/June issue)

It was the biggest design party of the year. That’s a risky statement as I am not the biggest partier at the office, but I’m going to throw it out there ’cause I haven’t been to a party like this in a long time (I blame a certain three-year-old who lives in my house for this). Holly Hunt’s 25th anniversary bash Monday night on the terrace of the Harris Theater was HUGE. Some 1,200 beautifully dressed people showed up to fete the design doyenne, who seemed genuinely touched by the show of support as she addressed the crowd from the stage before introducing the evening’s entertainment, Poi Dog Pondering. Hunt is beloved by the design industry and this showed—as did her long-held business mantra of offering the “best in class.” The food and wine were abundant and delightful, and the setting was classic and perfectly appropriate. Guests looked like movie extras lounging on the Holly Hunt Great Outdoors casual furniture line, displayed in surprisingly un-muted tones, below a gigantic billowing white tent that was illuminated by modern orange-shaded fixtures. Even the day’s iffy weather cleared up just in time. Here’s to another 25!

—Gina Bazer


Photos by Chris Guillen Photography

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Housing Bulletin— Affordable and Green in Highland Park
By Dennis Rodkin

In Highland Park, where the average home sale price is $769,000, there is a development of ten townhouses being built right now with price tags ranging from $165,000 to $239,000. The complex, which will also have four rental apartments and several important green features, is a good example of what can happen when a municipal government throws its ...

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A Divine Dresser

I stopped into Crosell & Co. in Bucktown the other day and boy is this one chockfull shop. I mean this in a good way. Table linens. Bar accessories. Dinnerware. A small selection of furniture. It’s mainly traditional stuff, but housed in a cute little cottage, it doesn’t feel stuffy. Owner Dianne Crosell, an interior designer, turned me on to a local artist whom she represents: Kelly Rauch, who refurbishes vintage furniture. She uses many techniques, including layering paint, stenciling, waxing, distressing, varnishing, reupholstering, etc. I was very impressed with this chest of drawers. It’s got a sort of quiet-glam quality to it that I find very endearing and it feels more sophisticated than a lot of other painted antique furniture out there.

—Gina Bazer

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More Eco Goods in Bucktown
By Rebecca Little

Live Green, Young Grasshopper

Grasshopper 510 (1944 N. Damen Ave.; 773-292-0510), a new lifestyle and gift shop in Bucktown, takes its name from the green insect and pairs it with the wavelength measurement in nanometers for the color green. Each item in the store is made from recycled, repurposed, sustainable, or organic materials. Co-owners (and husband and wife) Mike Roberts and Jean Taylor researched each product, and carry only those that their reduce the world’s...

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Rock Star Bar King

Plenty of bars claim to be rock-'n'-roll inspired (Rockwell Lounge, we hardly knew ye), but come this summer, Chicago finally gets a spot with an actual rock star leading the charge.

Earlier this year at an Obama fundraiser hosted by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, Lakeview Broadcasting Company's Stephen Westman gave me the heads-up about Angels & Kings, a nightlife venture he's launching with pals Wentz and Matt Eisler (Elm Street Liquors, Empire Liquors, Victory Liquors). An opening date of sorts has finally been announced for the bar’s Chicago outpost...

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New at Caste


When I stopped by the River West gallery/furniture showroom Caste (covered in our January/February 2008 issue) on a recent rainy afternoon, Ty Best, the artist behind most of the pieces in there, happened to be hanging out, working. He and co-owner Brad Rowley showed me these great new X-chairs, which called to mind African birthing chairs. The darker, faceted one is walnut that’s been treated with iron oxide to bring out the grain ($3,980) and the one joined by splines is Jamaican Blue Mahoe with a hand-rubbed wax finish ($3,770). The name of the store is Latin for “pure and clean,” not the repressive class system, and these sleek and surprisingly comfortable lounge chairs embody those ideals with aplomb.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

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Simply Bubbly

Imagine how you’d look carrying this into Ravinia:
The Veuve Clicquot Globalight, designed by Karim Rashid, is a portable champagne cooler that features soft LED lighting. It’ll keep your bubbly cold for four hours (no word on whether it automatically ejects a non-Veuve sparkler). Hurry, only 500 were made ($4,000 a pop). We saw it last night at a launch party at the W Hotel. Buy it here. And no, the Clicquot is not included.

—JAN PARR

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Tasmanian Super Bowl

Here's how terrified we are of our waking our child: Rather than open the creaky door to our youth hostel room, Sarah and I both peed in a sink in the corner. It was dark and our aim was suspect, at best. But it got the job done. I can't wait till Hannah is older and I can tell her that her mother stripped from the waist down, climbed on a chair, and let loose in a sink two feet away from where she (Hannah) was sleeping. Somehow, I can't see my mom doing that.

Apart from the sleep thing, the kid's an ideal travel mate so far. She's always smiling. She hasn't begun crawling...

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The Man with the Golden Pen
By Rebecca Little

Never a Lovely So Real

Outsiders, derelicts, and other members of the urban underbelly may never again find a spokesman like Nelson Algren, but the prolific writer’s voice of the streets is as relevant and compelling today as it was in the 1950s. The Lookingglass Theatre remounts John Musial’s interpretation of Algren’s poetry, Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Single Day, a multimedia performance infusing selections from Chicago: City on the Make and The Last Carousel with live jazz, set against a backdrop of gritty...

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