Most people aren’t driven to purchase a home because of its kitchen appliances, but Kate Grussing fell in love with her 1941 St. Louis Park home for that very reason. She was convinced that she could create a fantastic retro design for her new kitchen using its Roper range as inspiration. What she came up with might just inspire you to design a retro kitchen of your own.
Luckily, Rehkamp Larson, of Rehkamp Larson Architects in Minneapolis, knew just how to bring Grussing’s vision to life. Here’s what he did:
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About this time of year, everyone and their mother is fleeing to some other area of the country for vacation. Northerners go a bit farther north to cool down from soaring summer temperatures. Ocean-lovers flee to the coast to soak up the sun and splash in the waves. One couple, however, is staying put—right in their Minneapolis home. Why should they go anywhere? Their home is a vacation.
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In the 10 years that Jackie and Dan Millea have lived in the Windom neighborhood in Minneapolis, they’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with their surroundings. Unfortunately, the 1920s bungalow they purchased in order to reside in such a picturesque area was originally more of a mess than a treasured retreat. Pulling together a top-notch team at her own Minneapolis firm, Shelter Architecture, Jackie set out to transform her family’s cramped and crumbling abode.
The main complaints were low-hanging ceilings, a closet-sized kitchen, lack of office space and an enclosed stairway that required ducking in order to avoid a head injury. The Milleas decided to hire Buck Brothers Construction to tackle the heavy labor, and worked closely with architects to ensure that several elements of the home were environmentally-friendly.
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If artist David Schmidt had known how long it would take for his Hive Modular Home to finally stand completed on his St. Paul Capital Heights plot of land, he might have gone a different route. But now that he’s settled in, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Schmidt’s foray into homebuilding began when he fell in love with a loft he was renting a few blocks away in the Tilsner Artist's Co-op in Lowertown. He hoped he could buy a similar space by purchasing, fixing up and reselling a home in the Upper St. Louis Park area. Luckily, he sold his fixer-upper before the market took a nosedive and purchased land in the same area.
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While Susan Segal and Myron Frans loved the original woodwork and intricate details of their 1908 home in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, the choppy kitchen layout was an immediate source of contention for the couple. The original construction allowed space for an ice box, an addition that was simply taking up room and making the back porch cramped and the interior feel like a maze. That’s when Todd Hansen of Albertsson-Hansen Architecture and Mike Stordahl Construction came to the rescue.
The end-result turned out to be much more than a simple remodel. Not only did the new design allow for much more kitchen counter space, but it also created a welcoming layout for the sunroom, backyard and kitchen. Although quite a bit needed some tweaking, Hansen made it a point to ensure that some of the original elements that worked in the space, like the cabinets, were kept in place.
New additions, like “Absolute Black” granite countertops and pale green ceramic tiles for the kitchen walls added to the already existing classic charm. After Segal viewed the work of artisan Scott Weaver, owner of Weaver Tile in Horton, Michigan, a collection of Weaver’s handmade tiles were added around the fireplace as well.
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