An artist’s rendering of the planned home

NEAR NORTH
LIST PRICE: Not available
SALE PRICE: $3.75 million

Last year, Bruce and Michele Gelman paid $3.75 million for a former Commonwealth Edison substation across from the Newberry Library. Now, with the help of the architect Michael Hershenson, the couple is transforming the 93-year-old building into a “green” single-family home.

In converting the two-story building, Hershenson has added another two stories and opened up the dark center with an atrium. He enlarged the small openings on the largely windowless façade, while retaining the tile-and-glass Prairie style detailing. The project, which Hershenson says will be completed this fall, includes solar panels, a green roof, and a geothermal system that relies on stable belowground temperatures to manage indoor climate control. (As Hershenson notes, the decision to salvage the original structure, rather than demolish it and consume resources to build anew, is a key green feature in its own right.) A onetime parking lot will become the home’s front yard, with a grove of trees set behind a long gatehouse.

Neither Bruce Gelman, a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis, nor Hershenson would comment on the total cost of the renovation and expansion, and Michele Gelman, a homemaker, could not be reached for comment. The Gelmans’ current home, an 1890 townhouse a block away, is on the market with an asking price of $1.85 million.

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Illustration: Courtesy Michael Hershenson Architects