The Library

In 1993, a would-be lawyer named John Huebl serendipitously acquired a phenomenal collection of books. Fifteen years later, as he recalls the joy those volumes brought him, Huebl uncovers the story of the man who once owned them

Domestica’s Debut

Welcome to the first issue of Domestica, Chicago Home + Garden’s subscription e-newsletter. We’ll be delivering fresh weekly blasts of local design news, openings, killer sales tips, and inspirations. Whether you’re a hard-core minimalist who sorts the mail outside and only allows the kids to play with gray cubes, or a Buatta-buff fond of twee, toile-trimmed rooms that take a few minutes to settle down after a good sneeze, Domestica wants to be there for you, and thinks we can all be friends. Design is fun, and Chicago has it for you in spades…

Love, Bill

When the Evanston writer Cornelia Maude Spelman tried to unlock the mystery of her mother’s melancholy, she turned to one of her parents’ long-ago college pals—William Maxwell, the famed fiction editor of The New Yorker—and found a new friend

On the Way

Sitting on a small campaign jet during Barack Obama’s 2004 race for the U.S. Senate, I found myself lost in thought. The candidate, dressed in a crisp white shirt and striped tie, sat a few feet in front of me and to the right. I was staring ahead without realizing that I was looking directly at Obama himself, until the aspiring U.S. senator interrupted my rambling thoughts: “Hey, Mendell, what are you looking at?” he asked with a puzzled look…