Kitchens, baths, offices and closets for Highland Park homes

Bluffs, ravines and Prairie School estates

Highland Park was chartered as a city in March 1869. Its streets were platted by the landscape architects Horace Cleveland and William French, and a 100-foot bluff runs about six miles along the lake, with wooded ravines up to a mile inland. Wealthy families built estates along the bluffs while developers built more modest homes inland, and Prairie School architects designed many of the estates. Frank Lloyd Wright built three houses here: the Willits House of 1901, one of the first great Prairie houses, the Adams House of 1905 and the Millard House of 1906. John Van Bergen, Howard Van Doren Shaw and David Adler worked here too, and Jens Jensen designed parks. The city grew in two spurts, in the 1920s and the 1950s. Today it has more than 130 local landmarks and three local historic districts: Belle Avenue, Linden Park Place and Vine Linden Maple.

On the bluffs or inland, the house sets the job:

• In an older or landmark house: painted or stained wood, trim matched to the house, and profiles reproduced where the old ones are no longer made.
• In a house from the 1950s: a new kitchen, baths or closets, one room at a time or all at once.
• In a new house on an older lot: built from the architect's or builder's drawings. The city charges a demolition tax on each single-family teardown.

Permits and landmarks in Highland Park

Highland Park's Building Division FAQ answers "When do I need a permit?" with "Permits are required for most construction projects." Its permit list includes "Single Family Interior Alterations/Remodel," and the city's interior alteration requirements ask for a detailed scope of work by trade, with a licensed design professional when a load-bearing wall changes. Cabinets are not named either way. (City of Highland Park building FAQ, as read 2026-10-28; confirm for your address.) The Historic Preservation Commission reviews "proposed exterior alterations to landmarks or to contributing features in historic districts" (Historic Preservation Commission).

So ask the Building Division about your plan; a kitchen or bath remodel falls under its interior alterations and remodel permit. We pull a permit when one is required.

Many rooms at once: planning a Highland Park remodel

• One plan for every room. When a remodel takes in the kitchen, the baths, an office and the closets, as ours in Highland Park did, drawing the rooms together keeps the doors, the finishes and the trim matching from room to room.
• The walk-in closet island. An island needs room around it: plan a clear walkway on every side, and decide what goes in the drawers, tops for folding or display.
• The bathrooms. Vanities on the floor or floating on a wall rail, sized to the plumbing.
• Permits. Interior alterations and remodels are a city permit type; a load-bearing wall change needs a licensed design professional. Ask the city about your plan.
• Trim. Room to room, it ties the house together; it is part of nearly every job we do.

Kitchens, baths, offices and closets for Highland Park homes

Our Highland Park remodel took in a kitchen, bathrooms, an office and walk-in closets. Other work we take on, on the bluffs or inland:

• Built-ins: libraries, media walls, window benches and bookcases.
• Butler's pantries, mudrooms and laundry rooms.
• Bars and wine storage.
• Stairs, mantels and crown molding.
• Garage cabinets and storage.

A big Highland Park remodel, step by step

1. The visit. It starts with a visit. We measure, we listen, and we give you a straight number. If it works for you, we design it with you, and only then do we build. Highland Park is about 50 minutes from the shop. Your first visit and consultation are free.
2. Drawings. From your architect's or builder's set, priced as given, or our design package, which ends with the final price after one major revision.
3. The permit, for the interior remodel.
4. The build. Roughly 6 to 8 weeks from signed drawings for an average kitchen; built-ins and closets usually 4 to 6.
5. Installation. A full kitchen usually takes 1 to 3 days to install; vanities and built-ins take less.

Ravinia, Braeside and nearby towns

Highland Park is in Lake County, about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago. It runs from the lakefront bluffs and ravines to Ravinia, an early artists' colony annexed in 1899 and home of the Ravinia Festival, to Braeside, with Van Bergen's Prairie School Braeside School, and Port Clinton, founded in 1850. We serve all of Highland Park. Nearby, see our pages for Lake Forest, Riverwoods and Glencoe, or all the towns we serve. We also serve Highwood, Deerfield and Northbrook.

Highland Park questions

Do I need a permit to remodel a kitchen in Highland Park?

The city says "Permits are required for most construction projects" and lists single-family interior alterations and remodels as a permit type. Ask the Building Division about your plan; we pull a permit ourselves when one is required.

Can you do several rooms at once?

Yes. Our Highland Park job was a big remodel: kitchen, bathrooms, office and walk-in closets.

Can a walk-in closet have an island?

Yes. Our Highland Park walk-in has a big island in the middle. It needs a clear walkway around it.

Does the historic commission review inside work?

Its page describes review of exterior alterations to landmarks and to contributing features in the historic districts. Ask the city about your house.

How long is the drive to Highland Park?

About 33 miles, roughly 50 minutes from Spring Grove.