Features | Feb. 2025
THE PRESERVATION OF BEAUTY
By Tricia Despres
PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN MCLEOD
STYLING BY THERESA DEMARIA
HAIR AND MAKEUP BY LEANNA ERNEST
Longtime Hinsdale resident Natalie Saegesser adores the place her and her husband, three children and two dogs get to call home.
“We love this house,” Saegesser tells Hinsdale Living of her sprawling 8,500 square foot home located in the heart of Hinsdale. “It has incredible character, and we love the location.”
But when the Saegesser family bought the 1894 house in 2020, they quickly realized that some changes had to be made. “We knew we wanted to continue to raise our kids in this house,” remembers Saegesser, who serves as Director of Sales at PepsiCo. “But we knew in order to do that for the next 20 years, there were some updates we needed to make overall.”
And that’s when the massive renovations began.
“I think we really made an effort to honor the historic nature of the house while adding some modern details to the space,” explains Saegesser of the renovations that ultimately included a partial dig and renovation of the basement, full gut renovation of our kitchen, addition of a 2nd floor bedroom and bathroom, and the renovation of a screened-in porch to a sunroom.
“The project became bigger in scope with every passing day,” explains Saegesser of the 16-month renovation completed at the end of 2024. “We started to dream a little bigger.”
It’s the result of those dreams and many others that will be on display during the 25th annual Hinsdale Historical Society Kitchen Walk taking place on May 9 at the Hinsdale Golf Club. “There’s always so much joy in participating in the kitchen walk,” reflects Saegesser, whose home will be one of the six beautiful homes featured as part of the event. “I feel strongly that people need to see the beauty and what can be done in an old house. You find beauty in the imperfections of an old house. That’s what gives it its charm and its character.”
It’s these little pieces of charm and character that has long attracted sold out crowds to the Kitchen Walk, undoubtedly one of the most anticipated events on Hinsdale’s already impressive social calendar.
“There’s nothing better than getting together with girlfriends and going to see beautiful houses in the community that we drive past every day, but don’t really know what they look like in the inside,” says Saegesser. “You really get to take with you a lot of inspiration for things that you might do in your own home or potentially in an older house.”
The Hinsdale Historical Society Luncheon, being held March 12th at the Hinsdale Golf Club, acts as the kickoff to the annual Kitchen Walk.
“The goal of the luncheon over the past few years, in my view, has been to highlight designers and styles that promote preservation,” explains Hope Lloyd Brown, a longtime Hinsdale Historical Society trustee who is chairing this year’s event alongside fellow Hinsdale Historical Society members Alicia O’Brien, Courtney Casey, Diane Crites and Katie Isadore. “It’s basically a day where people that enjoy design and preservation can get together and get dressed up. It’s one of the first events of spring coming out of the winter, so it’s nice to get dressed up.”
Infusing the event with even more excitement is the event’s Palm Royale theme. “Everything is going to follow that 1960’s sort of style and design sensibility of fashions and interiors and fabrics and entertaining,” explains Brown. “We want to bring back that sense of entertaining in the home.”
And for Saegesser, entertaining in this particular home has been a longstanding tradition. “Every so often, people that realize that we live in this house share with us that they used to play cards and have drinks on the porch of this house years and years ago,” she remarks. “They have experiences of this house that they share with me. Being able to share in some of those experiences? There is just nothing like it.”
But perhaps more importantly is the fact that the traditionally sold-out Kitchen Walk Luncheon helps raise money for a multitude of preservation efforts throughout the year for the Hinsdale Historical Society.
“Funds raised from our annual Kitchen Walk luncheon and Kitchen Walk event enable the Historical Society to maintain its three buildings – the Hinsdale History Museum, Immanuel Hall and the R. Harold Zook Home and Studio at KLM – as well as to ensure the society continues to offer its many public programs and archival services,” explains Hinsdale Historical Society President Walker Rediehs. “A pivotal fundraising priority continues to focus on restoring the aging Zook Home and Studio to ensure that future generations not only enjoy this historic building but that it serves as a community gathering place for all.”
