This is a renovation of a three-story 19th-century building in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood into street-level retail space with a residence on the top two floors. The limestone façade,­ which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places was restored, while removing the entire interior structure of the house to a more open plan that maximizes natural light. The windows on the front façade were remade to match the historic frames; on the rear façade, we removed two-thirds of an existing masonry wall and added a new wood-wrapped structural steel frame and a new window configuration. The interior of the house overlooks a courtyard, a tranquil urban refuge that continues an inside/outdoor visual link. The courtyard was completely excavated and repaved with new pathways, interspersed with new landscaping.