Luxury Renovations & Custom Homes in Elmhurst
Principal-led design and construction for Elmhurst's most considered homes, from historic restorations to ground-up family estates, shaped around the people who live in them.
Elmhurst holds two beautiful instincts at once. There is the patina of its older streets, where gabled and Prairie-influenced houses settle beneath a deep canopy of mature trees a short walk from Wilder Park; and there is the ambition of its newer family estates, where a teardown site becomes a bespoke residence built for a generation. This is DuPage at its most lived-in, a town with a genuinely walkable downtown, a strong sense of place, and homeowners who expect their houses to hold both value and character for decades. Martire Custom Homes works in the space between those instincts, reading the land, the existing home and the family's way of living before a single line is drawn. Whether the project is a sensitive whole-home renovation a few streets from Wilder Park or a new custom build near the heart of downtown, the work begins with the homeowner's story and carries through to the last finish, so the home feels inevitable rather than assembled.
Renovating Elmhurst's Established Homes
Many of Elmhurst's most cherished houses were built with proportion and craft that deserve to be honoured rather than erased. We approach these homes with restraint, opening light, reworking circulation, and reimagining kitchens, baths and living spaces for the way families actually live now, while keeping faith with the architecture's original character. Custom millwork, considered cabinetry, refined lighting plans and well-chosen materials let an older home feel current without losing its soul.
Engaged early, before plans are fixed, we can guide or create the architecture so that additions and interiors read as one continuous idea rather than a sequence of compromises. On tree-lined streets where a house is expected to belong to its block, that fluency is the difference between a renovation that simply updates and one that genuinely settles in.
Building New Family Estates from the Ground Up
On Elmhurst's high-end teardown and rebuild sites, the opportunity is rarer and more demanding: a home with no history yet, waiting to be given one. Best engaged in the pre-architect and pre-construction phase, we help select or work alongside the architect, shape the plans, and hold full artistic direction from foundation through final styling.
The result is a custom home calibrated to a specific family, its rhythms, its light, the way it gathers and entertains, with joinery, cabinetry, drapery, textiles and art conceived together rather than chosen at the end. The aim is a residence that sits comfortably among Elmhurst's established streets and, more importantly, belongs to the people inside it.
Interiors That Carry the Whole Home
In Elmhurst, the most resolved homes are the ones where architecture and interiors were never treated as separate conversations. Courtenay Martire's background across fashion, photography, art and materials brings an editorial eye to whole-home interiors, balancing a home's energies, layering texture and tone, and making the homeowner the quiet star of every room.
From custom drapery and furnishings to bespoke millwork and a coherent palette of finishes, our interiors are designed to feel personal, collected and enduring, rooms that age gracefully and never read as a passing trend. Because a single creative hand carries the project from pre-construction through styling, nothing arrives bolted on at the end; everything feels intended from the start.
A studio suited to homes of this calibre.
- Principal-led from first conversation to final styling, Courtenay Martire carries the artistic direction personally, not through a rotating cast of project managers.
- Best engaged early, in the pre-architect and pre-construction phase, where we can select or guide the architect and shape Elmhurst additions and new builds before decisions harden.
- A design-build-minded studio that unites architecture, interiors, custom millwork and finishes into one coherent vision, suited to both historic restorations and ground-up estates.
- Fluency across Elmhurst's range, from gabled and Prairie-influenced older homes to ambitious teardown-and-rebuild family estates, so the work reads as original to its street.
- Long-standing artisan partnerships and a roughly 90% repeat-client practice, built on trust rather than transaction, the way the most discerning Elmhurst homeowners prefer to work.
Good to know.
Do you work on both historic Elmhurst homes and new custom builds?
Yes. Our work spans sensitive renovations of Elmhurst's established and historic homes as well as ground-up custom residences on teardown and rebuild sites. In both cases we shape the architecture and interiors as a single, considered whole rather than treating them as separate stages.
When is the best time to bring Martire into an Elmhurst project?
As early as possible, ideally in the pre-architect or pre-construction phase. Engaging early lets us read the site and your lifestyle, select or work alongside the architect, and carry full artistic direction from the plans through to the final finishes and styling. It is when our involvement adds the most value.
What scale of project do you typically take on in Elmhurst?
Our focus is design-led work such as whole-home renovations, significant additions, custom homes and full interiors, the kind of transformation that benefits from principal-led direction throughout. We are always glad to discuss your home and explore whether the fit is right.
Begin the Conversation about your Elmhurst home.