LAKE BLUFF, ILLINOIS · LAKE COUNTY
Home Additions in Lake Bluff.
Many of Lake Bluff's houses were built small · cottages from its years as a summer resort, on its older streets. Adding to them well is most of the work here. We build next door, in Lake Forest.
THE HOUSES
A Resort That Stayed.
Lake Bluff began in 1874 as a summer camp-meeting resort, and cottages from those years still stand on its older streets beside Queen Anne, Craftsman, Prairie and Foursquare houses. Estates by David Adler, Howard Van Doren Shaw and their contemporaries came next, and postwar neighborhoods after that.
- Resort-era cottages on small lots
- Queen Anne, Craftsman, Prairie and Foursquare houses on the older streets
- Early-1900s estates by the North Shore's best-known architects
- Postwar neighborhoods beyond the original village
WHO REVIEWS IT
Design Review, and Demolition Review.
Every Lake Bluff permit for exterior work is screened before it's issued · and two bodies can take a closer look.
THE ARCHITECTURAL BOARD OF REVIEW
- Every residential permit for exterior work · new homes, additions, exterior remodels · is screened by the Building Commissioner first
- A design that may be excessively similar to, or different from, the houses within three hundred feet is referred to the Board
- The Board holds a public hearing and approves or disapproves, subject to appeal to the Village Board
THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
- Reviews any proposed demolition of a building more than fifty years old
- Can delay a demolition by ninety days, which the Village Board can extend · but can't prohibit it
- Draws on the village's historic surveys, including one of its estate areas
An addition that belongs to its street is screened and permitted. One that copies its neighbor, or clashes with it, goes to a hearing first.
Rules change. Checked against the Village of Lake Bluff's published code, October 2026. Village of Lake Bluff · Community Development (opens in a new tab)
THE GROUND
Small Lots, Steep Edges.
Lake Bluff's older lots were laid out small, and its eastern edge drops to the lake.
- Houses and driveways stay forty feet back from the top of the bluff, and ten feet from the top of a ravine
- A tree permit is required for work that could damage or remove a tree as small as two inches in diameter
- On a small lot, setbacks decide whether an addition goes up or back
On a cottage lot, the setback lines are often the first drawing, before the addition is.
WHAT WE BUILD HERE
What We Build in Lake Bluff.
- Home Additions. Additions to small, older houses, scaled to the street they're on.
- Whole-Home Renovations. Older houses taken back to structure and rebuilt, with their street-facing character kept.
- Kitchen & Bath Remodeling. Kitchens and baths in houses built before either room was large.
- Modern Home Construction. Contemporary houses, screened like any other. A design far from its neighbors goes to a hearing.
- Design-Build with Your Architect. Design screening runs on drawings. We work with your architect from the set onward.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions About Building in Lake Bluff.
Can we tear down an older house in Lake Bluff?
Demolishing a building more than fifty years old goes to the Historic Preservation Commission first. The commission can delay a demolition for ninety days, which the Village Board can extend, but it can't prohibit it. The new house is then screened for design like any other.
Will an addition need design review?
Every exterior permit is screened by the Building Commissioner. An addition goes to the Architectural Board of Review only if it may be excessively similar to, or different from, nearby houses · the code compares it with buildings within three hundred feet. An addition designed to belong to its street is the simplest way through.
Our house is small. Can it take a second story?
Often, but a cottage's frame and foundation were rarely built to carry one. The structure decides first; the setbacks and the design screening decide the rest. Our Home Additions page covers how that decision gets made.
Do we need a permit to remove a tree?
Often. Lake Bluff requires a tree permit for work that could damage or remove a tree as small as two inches in diameter, and building work near trees is tied to it. Near the bluff and the ravines, the setbacks add their own limits.
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Tell Us About the House.
Send the address and what you'd like to add. We're next door, and we'll come look.