Architecture Wednesday: Little Pink House

I sometimes think we could live in a tiny house, btu then I also sometimes think I need to understand what “tiny” really means.

This home, nestled on an expansive, 60-foot-wide flower and vegetable garden  lot is a rare blend of 1920s-era architecture and tastefully updated, modern industrial details, two things I love. It also features other things I adore, like vaulted ceiling, exposed beams, an urban sleeping loft,  open floor plan, and oak and slate floors, but, and here’s the rub, it sits at just 565 square feet. Now, our current home is 2545 square feet and much larger than this home, while our house in Miami was small, or so I thought, at 1300 square feet.

But 565 … ?

It’s all one room, save for a bathroom at the back and a room off the kitchen; the living and dining and kitchen and bedroom fill the main floor, while there is also a sleeping loft under the rafters up top.

I like the house … I kinda love it … but could you double it in size … or maybe almost triple it? Howsabout turning the two-car garage into a private, separate primary suite?

That might be as small as I go.

Dwell

Architecture Wednesday: Moderne in Minneapolis

This one of a kind—for Minneapolis because I saw many homes like this in Miami—residence sits on the shores of Cedar Lake. It is also considered to be International Style design because of the alternating effect of ribbons of glass and white stucco on the exterior, the open and light interiors, with amazing views from the back, the curved walls, and translucent glass-block windows.

The first floor features the living room with a double-sided fireplace that opens to a sitting room, a dining area, kitchen and breakfast nook and a family. The second floor has the secondary bedrooms and baths with views to the lake while the entire third  floor is the primary suite including a spacious bedroom, marble bathroom with heated floor and steam shower, sitting room with two-sided fireplace, glass-blocked dressing room, and a private terrace overlooking the lake.

It’s a little South Florida in Minnesota.

 Dwell

Architecture Wednesday: Minnesota Manor House

This one is something else, as it has architectural styles that span the Arts & Crafts movement, Storybook design and Victorian styles, especially noted in its “cat-slide” porte-cochère. This wonderful 140-year-old gem sits on just over an acre on top of Historic Ramsey Hill was originally built in 1882, but has been expanded, preserved and cherished over the years.

Now, at approximately 8,500 finished square feet this 7-bedroom 8-bathroom home is both grand and comfortable. With 10-foot ceilings and abundant natural light, the layout is compelling and full of delights such as built-in cabinets, bay windows, ornamental carved plaster ceilings, six fireplaces, and numerous porches and balconies that look out upon the surrounding formal gardens.

The third floor has 2 apartments, perfect for guests or tenants, while the garden, or basement, level contains a gym, a cedar sauna and steam shower and another apartment.

It’s big … it’s too big, but I love it. I love the porches and the porte-cochère; the music room, the study, the office, the quite livable and comfortable kitchen and family room; I need a full-time staff. And then the gardens and outdoor entertainment spaces; I need a full-time gardener. I may have to ask Maddie where she gets all her house boys, because I’m gonna need quite a few.

Dwell