Homes composed around the people who live in them
A principal led studio for luxury renovations, custom homes and interiors across Chicago, the North Shore and the lakefront Midwest, where architecture, materials and the homeowner's own story become one considered whole.
A boutique practice for ambitious, deeply personal homes
Kitchen · Custom millwork & materials
We work with homeowners on luxury renovations, whole home transformations, large additions, custom homes and the interiors that complete them, typically $300K to well beyond $1M.
Courtenay Martire leads every project personally, carrying a single vision from the earliest preconstruction decisions through millwork, materials, lighting, drapery, art and final styling. The result is not a renovated house but a home that feels unmistakably, intentionally yours.
Services for larger, design led residential work
Luxury Renovations
Principal led transformation of established homes, directed from preconstruction through final styling.
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Custom Homes
Ground up homes shaped around how a family truly lives, and how a site wants to be built upon.
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Interiors
Architectural, collected, layered interiors, inseparable from the architecture that holds them.
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Additions
Large additions that read as original to the home, not appended to it.
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Design Build Support
Complete artistic direction alongside your architect and builder, start to finish.
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Lakefront Homes
Homes attuned to water, light and setting across the Midwest's finest shorelines.
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Published work and recognized design direction
From published features to award recognition, Martire Custom Homes brings an editorial eye and deeply personal design direction to homes shaped around the people who live in them.
Complete direction, from preconstruction to the final styling
Restored millwork & detail
Martire is best engaged early, often before the architect, to set the vision, select or collaborate with the architect, and guide the plans.
- Prearchitect vision & planning direction
- Custom joinery, millwork & cabinetry
- Lighting plans, drapery & textiles
- Materials, finishes, art & styling
- Project direction through completion
Courtenay Martire, a fashion trained eye and a builder's discipline
Courtenay Martire · Principal & Design Director
With a BFA in Fashion Design and years styling couture and beauty shoots in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and London, Courtenay brings an editorial eye to residential architecture.
Alongside her builder husband she helped create million dollar custom and speculative homes before assuming full direction of Martire Custom Homes in 2010. Today, more than nine in ten projects come from returning clients and their referrals, built on trust, longstanding artisan partnerships and work that is artful, structured and deeply personal.
Chicago, the North Shore and the lakefront Midwest
Notes on designing a personal home
Every project begins with a conversation about your home, and what you hope it will become