A newly empty-nest couple in Lincoln Park traded their longtime family home for a penthouse with sweeping lake and park views. It was brand-new construction, theirs to shape from the start. With their children grown, they wanted a place for this next chapter, one with room to entertain and a real sense of play.

This home is a portrait of the people who live in it. Their taste runs to color and wit, and the design simply followed their lead. The dining cabinetry is a deep, confident blue, the art collection has a sense of humor, and color turns up through the rooms wherever it suits them. Warm oak floors and pale walls keep everything calm enough to let it all speak. Even the powder room has a point of view, wrapped wall to wall in a print of monkeys mid-cocktail.

Interior design by Elizabeth Krueger Design. Photography by Mike Schwartz.