Many photo editors get to travel to the likes of Paris and Milan for glamorous fashion shoots. Given the local nature of this magazine, I find that most of my travels for work often are decidedly unglamorous. In early April, I donned pigtails, galoshes, and my "I Support Organic Farmers" T-shirt and headed out to a farm near LaGrange, Indiana. Photographer Kevin Banna, his assistants Bjorn Kavanaugh and Stevie Rischow, and I spent a day with farmer Greg Gunthorp and his pigs (See "Hello, Beautiful!" from our June issue)...

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By raising his pigs the natural way, an Indiana farmer has defied the industrial style of animal production and found a high-end market for his gorgeous pork with some of Chicago's top chefs. Read more
The grand Blackstone hotel was a favorite of U.S. presidents, movie stars, smart-set Chicagoans, and jazz musicians. Now, after decades of decline, it's beautifully buffed up and back in business Read more

My husband and I have been shopping for a new house for months and if we ever find a home that we both agree upon and that we can actually afford, it will be a miracle. Here’s one issue. While we both want a vintage place, we are divided on our preferences for original wood trim (husband likes; I don’t). All the real estate ads make a big deal about “original woodwork,” and I when I arrive at these places I feel the weight of history pressing on me the second I walk through the door. If I buy this place, am I morally obligated to carry on this torch of originality? In wanting to paint the woodwork white, am I as evil as all those developers who destroy old buildings to put up hideous new construction?

I turned to two interior designers, Laura Soskin and Jessica Lagrange, to get their two cents. Both were adamant: Paint it white! “Just because that’s how they used to do it doesn’t mean that’s how it should stay,” said Soskin. “White is modern—your house doesn’t have to look like grandma’s!” Lagrange added, “Many times, the wood itself is nothing special—just stained pine.” That made me feel better. Now I just have to find the house.

Living room photo from Jameson Realty.
Soskin’s home photographed by Nathan Kirkman.

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List Price: $3.25 million
Sale Price: $3.15 million

The Property: This lavish townhouse has splendid views across the street into Lincoln Park, a nice perk for a house that itself was built to block an unsightly view. In this case, it's the view of a two-story parking structure on a block lined with handsome old co-ops and apartment buildings.

The association of owners in the vintage condo building immediately north of this house had a slim ground-level parking lot that they wanted to expand without fouling up the block. They enlisted the architect Lucien Lagrange to design the parking structure with two townhouses...

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