The remodeling of this Minneapolis Lakes home required saving grand trees and demolishing a previous existing attached garage, kitchen and bedroom addition. We detached the new garage from the house to gain space and utilized the separate buildings to define garden spaces within the yard. The garage and addition create a pair of complementary façades across a tranquil garden space. The new addition includes a kitchen and family room on the main level with laundry and a master bedroom suite on the upper level. The placement of the new family room allows direct access from new and existing rooms to the new terrace and fountain area. The master bedroom is grand yet like a tree house, with a caryatid-held fireplace mantle next to a small balcony that allows incredibly close proximity to the giant maple tree we were careful to save. The kitchen is planned to be screened from the dining room and open to the family room while the built in eating area abuts the axis that connects them.

While the clients remain committed to a stylistically eclectic collection of furniture and objects, the uniting quality we chose to emphasize was the sense of fine craftwork and detail they are drawn to. The new wrought iron details playfully reinterpret and expand upon existing elements in the house. Custom cabinetry is finely crafted with an assortment of tin, steel, wrought iron and leaded glass, but the detail remains simple enough to be a backdrop for a mixture of furnishings. The owner found beaded light fixtures similar to those existing in the dining and stair hall for the new kitchen and bedroom.

This addition successfully straddles the line between fitting with existing motifs while pushing the boundaries of the expressions in ways that are more meaningful.