CHICAGO

WHEN Jim and Molly Perry hired a modernist architect to renovate the old carriage house behind their graystone Edwardian town house here, they were, as she said, “nervous.”

After all, they lived with antiques, many from a Washington shop owned by Ms. Perry’s father. “I never imagined myself wanting modern architecture,” said Ms. Perry, who grew up among the Federal-style town houses of Georgetown.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.