Accessibility

When envisioning the perfect home for their family, Kiley and Jim agreed that accessibility was paramount—access to the outdoors, and access for their daughters, Langley and Boelyn, who have special needs and rely on their wheelchairs to get around. After purchasing a narrow lot in Downers Grove, Illinois, the couple reached out to Chicago-based firm Kuklinski + Rappe Architects to design a residence that would serve their daughters, their son Huck, and their own various needs. Crafted to adapt to the family's lifestyle over the years, the home will provide lifelong health and happiness.

“When we first drove by the house, I saw the front and said, ‘No way,’” remembers Braitmayer of initially seeing the home, which was advertised as having a level entry. “But then we discovered the alley leading to the back of the house and the garage, which already had a ramp, as the previous owner’s wife also had a mobility limitation.” After the family settled in, Braitmayer began working in the garden, which she says “can never really be finished—there always has to be something left to do.”