Luxury Renovations of Homes With a History
Principal-led renovation of established homes, directed as a single artistic vision from pre-construction through finishes, joinery and final styling.
A renovation is a conversation with a home that already exists, its bones, its light, its history, and the life you intend to live within it. This is the heart of what Martire does. We are most often engaged before the architect, while the possibilities are still open, to read the house and its owners and then carry one cohesive vision through every decision that follows. Courtenay Martire leads each renovation herself, drawing on more than two decades of design and the practical knowledge of how homes are actually built, so the result is not a house refreshed in pieces but a home recomposed, considered, enduring, and unmistakably its owner's own.
Reading the home before changing it
Every established home carries decisions already made, proportions, structure, the way rooms meet light and one another. The art of a renovation lies in knowing which of those to honour and which to reimagine. We begin by reading the house and the way you truly live in it, then shape a plan that lets the home become more itself rather than someone else's idea of it.
Because we are engaged in the pre-construction, often pre-architect phase, the most consequential moves, walls opened, ceilings raised, light redirected, flow rethought, are designed from the outset rather than negotiated after the work has begun. That is where a renovation is won or lost.
One creative hand, structure to styling
A renovation succeeds when every layer agrees. Floor plans, custom millwork, cabinetry, lighting plans, materials, drapery, textiles, art and final styling are held as a single composition rather than a sequence of separate purchases. Martire carries full artistic direction across all of it, so nothing fights against the rest and nothing is left to chance.
We can select or work alongside your architect, guide or create the plans, and direct the project through construction to the last detail. Because the design direction is grounded in real building experience, what we draw is buildable, durable, and worth the investment, the vision stays intact from the first sketch to the final styling.
Crafting your soul print into the home
What sets a Martire renovation apart is how personal it is. We draw on your story, what you love, how you gather, the way you want a room to feel, and weave it into the materials, the joinery and the light until the home reads as a portrait of the people inside it. The homeowner, not the finishes, is the star of the home.
Working with long-standing artisan and trade partners, we develop bespoke joinery and cabinetry, resolve material and lighting palettes, and dress the home through to its final styling. The aim is a renovated home that feels inevitable, as though it could only ever have belonged to you.
The scope we take on
This service is intended for substantial, design-led renovations of established homes, whole-home transformations, significant reworkings and additions carried as one vision, across Chicago, the affluent western and North Shore suburbs, and the lakefront communities of Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
We take on a select number of projects so each receives Courtenay's direct, principal-led attention from pre-construction through completion. The engagement suits homeowners who value a single, trusted creative hand and a relationship built on care, qualities that have made roughly nine in ten of our clients return to us for the next chapter of their home.
A complete, considered scope.
Engaged as your design lead, Martire carries the work across disciplines so nothing falls between trades.
- Pre-construction design direction and home reading
- Selection of or collaboration with your architect
- Plan development and spatial reworking
- Custom millwork, joinery and cabinetry design
- Lighting plans, materials and finish selection
- Drapery, textiles, art and final styling
- Full artistic direction through construction
- Trusted artisan and trade partnerships
Good to know.
When should we bring Martire into a renovation?
As early as possible, ideally in the pre-construction phase, before an architect is engaged. The earliest decisions shape everything that follows, and our greatest value lies in guiding those choices from the start. Engaging early tends to save cost, time and regret, because the design intent is built in rather than corrected later.
How is this different from a whole-home remodel or a custom home?
A custom home begins with nothing but land and a blank set of plans, while a renovation is a dialogue with a home that already exists, honouring its bones while reimagining how it lives. Luxury renovation is our core offering, and it ranges from focused reworkings to whole-home transformations. Whichever the scope, Courtenay carries one artistic vision from pre-construction through finishes.
Do you work with our architect, or recommend one?
Either. If you have an architect you trust, we collaborate alongside them and hold the design vision through the build. If you are still choosing, we help you select the right fit for your home and sensibility. In both cases, Martire carries the artistic direction so the house and the life inside it stay in step.
What scale of renovation do you take on?
Our work centres on substantial, design-led renovations of established homes, typically significant whole-home transformations and reworkings across Chicago, the affluent suburbs and the lakefront regions. One-off rooms or self-managed projects are generally not the right fit, though we are always glad to discuss the wider vision for your home, particularly for returning clients.
If your home is ready for its next chapter, we would be glad to begin the conversation.