By Elaine Matsushita

This is the house that made me stop and say “Ooooh” to no one in particular as I strolled the Roscoe Village Garden Walk last August.

It made me think I had come home to a lovely B&B after a day of romping in the great outdoors. It took me back to a stay in New Hope, Pa., many lives ago when I called South Jersey home.

So I knocked. But no one was home.

Then I left a note. And, lo, Troy Calkins and Robert Liem graciously answered and invited me to share a casual Saturday morning with them and Cooper and have me a good snoop.

What I found was a new home (a teardown) that, over the last five years, Troy, a securities attorney, and Robert, a doctor, had gently infused with their affinity for Prairie Style  and modern (”I’m not big on curves,” Robert confided).

You might notice that I said “new home.” I wouldn’t have guessed that from the street, but Troy explained the house was built by Brendan O’Malley, a plumber, and this being his first house as general contractor.

Intending to live in it with his wife, Cliona Kilmartin, Brendan used high-quality touches–in windows, drawers, iron bird-cage railings (that happened to echo a lamp Troy and Robert already owned), Brazilian cherry floors, granite counter tops in the laundry room, 10-foot ceilings and radiant heat flooring in the basement.

Sadly, family circumstances called Brendan back to Ireland, leaving him to sell his dreamy home before he could move in. “So this was the only house he built,” Troy said.

All Troy and Robert had to do was finish some closets and add carpeting in the basement (see below).

Though there were some wonderful discoveries (more about them soon) , this great crazy quilt hanging nonchalantly over the bannister is, actually, my favorite find (and story).

Troy’s great-grandmother made the quilt in 1959. And Troy won it at his family’s bi-annual reunion/pig roast. You’ll find about 100 to 150 people at these reunions and to help defray the cost of the affair, everybody brings something to auction off. All the proceeds go toward the reunion costs.

I think this is a great idea! But I digress.

Back to the quilt: Well, Troy wanted this quilt. Badly. Normally, reunion auction bids stay pretty low. But he and his first cousin once removed got into a rather intense bidding war that sent the price on the quilt, well, higher than the typical family auction sales.

In the end, Troy, as you can see, got the quilt. And the family got an auction legend to recount at many reunions to come.

Another spot in the house where you’ll find reflections of what Troy and Robert cherish is up in the master bedroom. A painting purchased outside a museum in Xi’an on their ‘07 trip to China with Robert’s parents hangs over the bed. The bed is dressed in bedding they got in a silk factory outside Shanghai.

And from their bedroom, they can walk outside to take in the roof deck atop the garage , , ,

. . . and the beautiful garden below, filled, in the summer with gushes of hydrangea blooms.

Back inside and on the first floor: a Stickley-filled dining room and Simon Pearce candleholders.

Just beyond the dining room, the kitchen and family room, where everyone gets comfy–including Cooper. This light-filled space has a sitting and eating area (photo above where Troy and Robert are sitting) and is where the guys spend much of their time.

The room is defined by this glorious 120-gallon salt-water aquarium they had custom built of cherry to live happily with the woods already in the house. Call this Troy’s passion. He changes the water one to two times a week, cleans the algae off the glass (which takes about two to three hours a week).

“So because of this,” Troy said, “we’ll never move again.”

Which leads me to my new thing for those of you who stick with me to the end:

3 Lessons Learned

Today, the lessons are about salt-water aquarium and puppy care.

1. Best local sources for fish and accessories (according to Troy): Old Town Aquarium, Aquatic World on Belmont Avenue and Living Sea in Park Ridge.

2. Frag swaps, reef farms and reefcentral.com. You’ve heard of frag swaps, haven’t you? Me neither. But now we both know that these are gatherings where saltwater aquariumites bring pieces of coral (”frags” to the initiated) to trade and add to the diversity of specimens in their tanks. Reef farms are aquacultures maintained (by many, many hobbyists) for propagating and growing live coral and sparing harvests of natural reefs. And reefcentral.com is one of Troy’s favorite sites. Check it out!

3. Pooch Hotel. Got a pup who needs some exercise? This is one of the greatest doggie daycare places I’ve seen. They’ve got a lap pool and doggie treadmills. Big open spaces for group play. A Spaw to get spiffed up–teeth brushed even.  They’ve got locations in Lincoln Park and the West Loop. Just visiting their Web site is a blast.