Widler Architecture

Widler Architecture At Widler, we believe in an immersive approach to architectural design, creating spaces unique to you and your busy life.

We specialize in Renovations, Custom Homes, and Commercial Spaces.

What if you didn’t need a new house, just a new way to live in the one you love?For a young family in Chicago’s North Ce...
10/13/2026

What if you didn’t need a new house, just a new way to live in the one you love?

For a young family in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood, this historic Victorian held everything they loved about an older home. What it needed was a floor plan that could grow with them.

Our Bernice Restoration was a complete reimagining of how the home could function, feel, and connect.

We opened up gathering spaces, brought in natural light, expanded the home’s footprint, and created thoughtful spaces for everything from working at home to entertaining outdoors.

All while preserving the character that made this home special in the first place.

Because great architecture isn’t always about starting over. Sometimes it’s about seeing what’s possible in what’s already there.

Swipe to see the transformation.

A project like this takes an incredible team, and we’re proud to have collaborated with:

Architecture | Widler Architecture
Interior Design | Third Coast Interiors
Construction | Fingal Construction
Landscape Design | Rooftopia
Photographer| Jeffrey Johnson

Bernice Restoration | North Center, Chicago

residentialarchitecturedesig

Postcards from Paris.Lynse and I spent a few days in Paris recently, and I thought I’d share a few things from the trip ...
09/24/2026

Postcards from Paris.

Lynse and I spent a few days in Paris recently, and I thought I’d share a few things from the trip that stayed with me.

We stayed at Hôtel Dame des Arts in the Latin Quarter, just south of Notre-Dame. We appreciate a beautiful hotel, but sometimes the bigger luxury properties can feel a little too removed from the place you came to experience. This one felt just right. Thoughtful design, but still very much part of the neighborhood.

Our room had a terrace overlooking the rooftops toward the Eiffel Tower. A couple of nights, instead of heading back out after dinner, we picked up a bottle of w**e and sat there watching the tower sparkle. Hard to improve on that.

The food was just as memorable. One night, a contemporary tasting menu at Semilla. Another, a very traditional French dinner at Joséphine Chez Dumonet. Completely different experiences, both worth remembering.

More than anything, Paris reminded me how much I like places that haven’t been overly perfected. Beautiful buildings next to imperfect ones. Restaurants that have been there forever. Streets you actually want to walk. Old and new living together without trying too hard.

A few favorites from the trip here.

And yes, we’re already figuring out when we can go back.

How do you modernize a historic home without erasing what made it special?For this Winnetka Tudor, we kept coming back t...
08/21/2026

How do you modernize a historic home without erasing what made it special?

For this Winnetka Tudor, we kept coming back to the same question: what is actually asking to be changed?

Some things clearly were. The kitchen needed a better relationship with the rooms around it. The exterior wanted a quieter palette. Certain rooms needed a stronger point of view and a clearer purpose. But the fireplaces, windows, beams, proportions, and unmistakable Tudor character? Those were already doing their job.

So rather than treating the existing house as something to overcome, we let it become the starting point. Walls came down where better flow mattered. New millwork was introduced where it could add function and character. Color, lacquer, chinoiserie, copper, and landscaping did some of the work that square footage didn’t need to.

The result isn’t a new house disguised as an old one. It still feels like this house. Just more connected, more expressive, and much better suited to life now. And that might be our favorite kind of transformation.

Storybook Tudor | Winnetka, Illinois

Architecture: Widler Architecture
Design + Build: Grace Kaage / Kaage Homes

Exciting news, we’re growing!Widler Architecture is looking for an Architect or Architectural Designer with 4 to 8 years...
07/17/2026

Exciting news, we’re growing!

Widler Architecture is looking for an Architect or Architectural Designer with 4 to 8 years of experience to join our Downers Grove studio.

This is a part-time position with the potential to grow into full-time. You’ll work closely with our team on thoughtfully designed custom homes, high-end residential renovations and select commercial projects throughout Chicagoland and Southern California. Residential experience is required.

If you care about good design, enjoy collaboration and want to be closely involved in the work, we’d love to meet you.

Send your resume + work samples to [email protected].

Know someone great? Please send this their way!

Framing is well underway at Middaugh Gables Home, and the spaces, proportions, and natural light we’ve spent so much tim...
07/15/2026

Framing is well underway at Middaugh Gables Home, and the spaces, proportions, and natural light we’ve spent so much time considering are beginning to take shape. This home has been a true collaboration from the start, and we’re grateful to be creating it alongside such a thoughtful team.

More to come as construction continues.

Architecture: Architecture
Interior Design: HaylieRead Interior Design
Builder: Prairiestone Builders LLC
Represented by: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦

Estimated completion: February 2027

Independence Day has a way of reminding us why we design homes the way we do. Not just for beautiful spaces, but for the...
07/04/2026

Independence Day has a way of reminding us why we design homes the way we do. Not just for beautiful spaces, but for the moments they make possible. Long dinners outside. Kids running barefoot across the lawn. One more conversation before the lights come on.

Wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July. From all of us at Widler Architecture 🇺🇸

The best room in this house doesn’t have four walls.One of the things homeowners ask us for most is better indoor-outdoo...
06/30/2026

The best room in this house doesn’t have four walls.

One of the things homeowners ask us for most is better indoor-outdoor living. But creating it isn’t as simple as installing a bigger set of doors.

The spaces people actually use tend to share the same qualities:

• A continuous floor that carries your eye from inside to out.
• Materials that flow seamlessly across the threshold.
• A covered outdoor room with a real ceiling that creates comfort, shelter, and a sense of place.

When those details come together, the patio stops feeling separate from the house. It becomes an extension of it. A place for slow mornings, family dinners, and the conversations that somehow last long after the sun goes down.

Swipe through this backyard to see how thoughtful architectural decisions transformed an ordinary patio into one of the hardest-working spaces in the home.

If an outdoor living space is on your wishlist, keep these ideas in mind and save this for later.

We’d love to know: Which room in your home do you wish connected more naturally to the outdoors?

Some homes tell you who the people are. Our client grew up surrounded by their architect father’s world, shaped by Scand...
04/30/2026

Some homes tell you who the people are. Our client grew up surrounded by their architect father’s world, shaped by Scandinavian modernism. So when it was time to build their own place, they knew what mattered: restraint, intention, things made well.

We designed this Downers Grove residence around those values. Every material choice, every window placement honors that lineage while feeling entirely contemporary.

You’ll see it in the details: how the home frames the landscape, the powder room and bar that showcase craftsmanship and personality.

Tomorrow you can walk through it as part of the sold-out House Walk. Come find us there.

ScandinavianDesign

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Downers Grove, IL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+16306139503

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