Property of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Roberts | Architect: Jerome Cerny

To Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Roberts, transitional means a growing-up kind of house, one with a past, a present, and a future. Their house in Winnetka, Illinois, looks as if it might have been copied from a picture in an old-fashioned storybook, but it lives a thoroughly modern American family life. It has been planned to grow up with the family, to suit three active youngsters now, and later adapt itself to more adult ways.

From the front, the house looks deceptively small, and traditionally picturesque. It is L-shaped, pink brick with white ornamental ironwork trim, snug and pretty and ground-hugging. In back, the house opens up to a sandy beach, and all of Lake Michigan for swimming and boating. Inside, it has two ideas of special delight to the young: a family room on the first floor for parents and children to enjoy together; and the whole upstairs for the exclusive use of the children, with a separate bedroom for each child. These ideas also work to the advantage of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts. both now and in the years to come. The family room will eventually become a gathering-spot for teen agers, and finally will be used as a library. The master suite on the first floor is a quiet oasis now, and later, when the children are away at school, will give their parents an easy-living, one-floor house.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | September 1953