“The Apex” Arts of 1922: a Period-Correct Canvas of Sweat-Equity Legacy-Example
Greetings Purveyors & welcome Asahi & Brandon to the league as they embark on one of the greatest specimens of craftsman architecture we have seen since the onset of RareForm in 2008.
This story exemplifies the mission we have at RFP, providing talented clients with the support they need to go after a classic home that isn’t just their first house, but a defining achievement in their lives.
These two have resided in our finest apartment in East Harriet, gaining influence from the period-correct finish details of the lamplighter. We began their buying in RareForm quest last fall, which following the educational-phase it became clear that Asahi’s talents as a prolific artist paired with Brandon’s CFO brain to manage budgets and timelines, coiled with their deep ties to restored classic architecture resulted in the targeted strategy to source an iconic intact classic that was in need of reimagining for the modern family.
Temporarily named the Apex, as she is the alpha predator circa 1922 that consumed all the craftsman’s of more mundane finish detail. Apex was fate in end, as these two bested 11 offers to secure the deed, with the entirety of the proceeds benefiting the Saint Paul Library system it was a outstanding fit as the sellers found comfort in our position to ensure the oringalirty of the home was honored through what was certainly going to be a phase of sudden alteration.
So many examples like this would be ruined, succumb to bottom line budgets resulting alteration decisions with a phony veneer which forever returns the structure to a wasteful 10 year renovation cycle. Improvement Co. has been tasked with a stem to stern revival focused on preserving the architect derived details of the Apex: dual craftsman arches, diamond patterned box beams, south wall built-in will all be completely restored to better than new finishes with our craft trades. Asahi is art direction on the patterns, paint schemes & driving correct budget allocation, we captured a good amount of photos during the planning month this March as well as their candid thoughts on 1922.
family is all here. with the king for moral suppert. Apex was librarian owned for 65 years and all proceeds went to the library system, her trimmings are peak alpha-craftsman
welcome to Apex Arts of 1922- the alpha predator Apex-craftsman the consumer all other species of its kind.
“I realized that during our tours with Steve, he shared his extensive knowledge about architecture, numerous eye-opening restoration ideas, and provided honest, brutal critiques of the houses. This helped us focus on the house itself which led us to Apex-Arts
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Ichiko is the one child in Japanese, and her persona is bigger that broadway
Apex’ stairwell warrants a moment as it opens into the dual arches in the living chamber
“The Craftsman really stole the show for me—it was bold, and just different. Bursting with colors from stained glass and heavy woodwork shaping the rooms, the house was full of built-in art. ”
Ichiko is the spiritual leader of this family, at only 5 years old she was a driving force behind skipping the starter homes and teeing up this legacy craftsman.
this photo is symbolic of the often reaction when winning a 10+ offer bidding war, following the victory like many the panic ensued which needs to be discussed as its quite common.
the south wall hutch is wrapped in swing-in windows that are a unicorn spec of rarity
fan-decking with Ichi as we think through her library built-ins in the sunflower suite
kitchen was renovated in the late 70’s our improvement works with the existing elements
a long desire of ours, Asahi has agreed to revive vintage wallpaper like this velvet gem
First time we have a co-design lead at age 5, Ichi is a natural.
Ichiko wanted the Apex for its many ship-like stages on her interior. This window niche resides in the dining hall and will soon be a color way of Improvement Co craftsmanship.
“While honoring the legacy of the Apex, I am also excited about creating a truly special home for our family by incorporating our needs into the restoration process - considering how our family moves and lives in the space, ensuring that our design choices align with our lifestyle and preferences. This personalized approach is what excites us as we work with Improvement Co. to transform the Apex into our home respectfully. It’s about finding the natural way for this home and our family to coexist in harmony, in different times, creating a space that truly reflects who our family are and how we want to live while honoring the history and legacy of this home.
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Asahi struck a cord with our tireless effort to develop apartments that inspire owners to go achieve their own restoration story in the surrounding community. Being their last-landlord and leaving them with a desire to create an authentic space for their own is truly what RareForm is all about. Asahi & Brandon were truly inspired to create an artfully inspiring historic home, especially following their prior experience at poorly maintained apartments. This is evident by the thorough and decisiveness of her design direction, we have become great collaborators however she is the lead on selections, and so far has shown outstanding poise in tailoring a look that fits the era of the home and pays homage to the levity of the existing battleship that is Apex-Arts of 1922.
“Personally, it always made me excited and proud of Lamplighter when a guest asked me, “Is this original?” about something that wasn’t original but additional design elements, such as shaker kitchen cabinets that were built to match the original cabinets from the 1930s. That’s what I aim for when we restore our own home - I want everything to seamlessly and respectfully blend with the heritage of the property, creating a cohesive and authentic space that honors its history while reflecting our style and appreciation for craftsmanship.
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the upper bath is a great original survivor that will receive a sorting that doesn’t move the needle too bad on our restoration budget.
Q: Following her period-correct restoration, you guys were the first tenants at our lamplighter upper, what components of this incredible apartment became a standard in your mind for your eventual classic home?
During our time at the Lamplighter, fine architectural elements became standards for us. These included original matte-finished woodwork, preserved wallpapers with matching enameled millwork, vintage fixtures that were unique and glowed beautifully at night, crown moldings and little details like push-button switches.
Our rose shaped kitchen glows at night off the shaker cabinets, adding a touch of warmth and charm. Features like our purple soap holder matching purple bathroom trim and purple in floor tile brought me joy daily. Every time we opened our closet, the original floral wallpaper reminded us of prior eras when this home was loved. They felt like cozy hand-me-downs, and gave us the sense of history and the love this home has received over time.
These elements were what made Bryant special and what we admired everyday during our tenancy at Lamplighter. This experience truly brought us joy, and truly spoiled us at the same time, setting a high expectation for the level of dedication to restoration that we now seek when envisioning our own home. - Asahi
The stairwell in Apex is next level regal, south facing with full stain glass and wrapped in 1922 milled oak, free refills on Ichicko laughter for years to come.
Q: the apex craftsman had over 10 offers on it, and your market savvy came from the work we put in to understand scarcity, sweat-equity value and more importantly the space it would provide for your family to flourish, describe the feeling of anticipation before and after the rollercoaster acquisition?
““When the news landed that we won, we panicked and naturally Brandon was concerned that we overpaid, this led to many sleepless nights. We called Steve at one point saying “is there a way out”. As much as suddenly I wanted a way out I also kept relying on my initial intuitive artistic reaction of entering the house and how it made us feel; it felt right, and I wanted to follow that instinct.
During the crazy-fast, so-much-going-on-home searching journey, the natural instinct of “yeah, this home felt right when I walked in” was something I thought I could rely on. Eventually, we started to feel relieved, knowing that we had found a space that would not only accommodate our family but also provide a canvas for our restoration dreams to unfold.
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to get to this image was a rollercoaster of emotions, a celebration is always in order when the ink is dry on the deed.
“It was a rollercoaster. We knew we needed to make a strong offer & after winning there was a bit of a period of shock. It was hard to process the feeling of making an offer higher than 9 others. I kept thinking, “Did we pay too much?” or “Are we crazy?”. I think what was also really hard was that we couldn’t go and just see the house whenever we wanted. So until closing day, it often felt like we were throwing money into some empty void. But after we got the keys and were able to start planning with Improvement Co, the nervousness quickly turned to excitement as we could start planning and seeing what life would look like as we called the Apex Arts & Crafts home.
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“I think in many ways it laid the foundation for what I grew to expect in a house as we were searching. The woodwork in the Lamplighter is in really outstanding and it wasn’t a surprise that we ended up investing in craftsman era for our first house. Before living in the Lamplighter, in my mind we were going to end up buying a house in the burbs that was newer and bigger. It just seemed more logical & financially sound, but after living in the Lamplighter and seeing what vintage homes were capable of with correct restoration, we knew that a classic home was an actual option for us” -Brandon
Q: you bested 10 offers to secure the Apex craftsman, what advice do you have for future purveyors seeking highly demanded classic homes and navigating the demand for artifacts of architecture?
“Expect sleepless nights, whether losing or winning. - Asahi
The competitive nature of real estate was a hard part for me. When we started looking at houses, the market was starting to come down a bit as rates rose. I was so focused on finding a deal and “stealing” a house. This strategy didn’t work, because even though the market was slower there just wasn’t enough inventory on the market to force sellers to sell. We lost out on two houses that we really liked because we weren’t making strong offers. I was only trying to steal it. (Which led Steve to remind us that we were playing to lose, ha!) When the apex craftsman arrived, we knew that we needed to be aggressive & our offer reflected it on Steve’s strategy. I think it’s truly a journey for buyers to realize the one that feels right is the one you will do whatever means necessary to secure it.
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the journey to classics with the immense history like Apex, in the end its truly fate that made these smiles possible resting in her ship milled oak.
Icki is a super hero, but she does grind down, the amount of detail to capture in Apex is never ending, we will certainly include this on the next Improvement Co Purveyors tour
the kitchen is quite remarkable for its age, many of the existing elements including the layout were a draw for Asahi & Brandon as its a very kitchen centric social layout.
always learning and engaging with the bungalow bear.
Asahi will have her illustration HQ in this wonderful south and west facing sunroom
Q: after witnessing our sometimes galvanizing behavior towards average homes, how would you describe your experience with RareForm regarding our vision for your family’s future?
“When we started looking for a house, my sole was staying within our affordability index. Working with RareForm, we started by seeing houses that fit the budget constraints that we created internally.
After seeing a handful of these houses Steve then started showing us houses that were a bit above our budget, with an emphasis on the potential that these spaces provided for our family.
It became apparent that more value was at our grasp by focusing on the RareForm’s prowess that made our apartment so great. The more we learned by touring homes we started to envision a greater level of detail in our final product, with a planned improvement immediately after closing. It was refreshing to have Steve as could have easily sold us the average homes we liked. but his bar for us was much higher. ”
Ichiko is a star that will shoot across the galaxy once Apex reflects her family’s crest
“We contacted a couple of different realtors before reaching out to Steve. After each meeting with a new realtor, we would wrap things up, get back in the car, and immediately ask each other, ‘So, what do you think about that realtor?’ That was our usual routine — discussing the realtor first, not the house.
However, with Steve, we didn’t even exchange impressions after our initial meeting. I later recalled this and was surprised because Steve was by far the wildest realtor we met with, & according to our routine, we would have discussed him right away. Then, I realized that during our tours with Steve, he shared his extensive knowledge about architecture, numerous eye-opening restoration ideas, and provided honest, brutal critiques of the houses. This helped us focus on the house itself which led us to Apex-Arts
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the best part of Apex is the ability to work with all existing spaces.
Q: we didn’t tour craftsman era but you ended up securing the same era of architecture as the lamplighter, in the end did you find comfort in the woodwork heavy ship-like qualities of the craftsman era? Asahi as an artist what elements of Apex’s originality are you planning to highlight and celebrate in the restoration with improvement co?
“At first, I was dead set on a charming Tudor. I thought, “That’s it, that’s what I want!” But upon touring a sprawling ranch, and suddenly, I was obsessed with the idea of a rambler home.I couldn’t believe it when I found myself yelling, “This is the one!” as soon as I walked into the Craftsman. Each home we visited from different eras had its own special charm, and I found myself admiring them all. The Craftsman really stole the show for me—it was bold, and just different. Bursting with colors from stained glass and heavy woodwork shaping the rooms, the house was full of built-in art. The Craftsman excited me the most about making it my own. I wanted our home to stand out, and the Craftsman already had many characteristics of that.
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Brandon’s office was a lively carpet demo removal, were planning a lively palette of enamel tones in the upper level
Q: while its early in your celebratory restoration, but what specific part of the project spec are you the most excited in planning & executing with Improvement Co?
“I’m really excited to see the restoration of the woodwork. When I first stepped into the house, it was the woodwork that captured me with a feeling that this house was so-so special. Upon further examination Steve pointed out the orange peeled original shellac finish. Bringing the millwork to RareForm spec is something we chose to invest in as its what this house truly deserves, I’m also excited that we are preserving the wallpaper in Ichiko’s room, the detail of saving panel section for making repairs to upper sections really shows RFP’s detail. I still can’t fathom how super old wallpaper can be taken off the wall and then reused.
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“The previous owner infused this home with lots of period correct detail, including additional stained glass windows and a relic craftsman arch that imitates the original. They left multiple notes throughout the home; behind the fridge, they left us a note of when they remodeled the kitchen during their time and who the contractors were. I could tell they cared deeply about this home and were passionate about craftsmanship, and I’m excited about following the history and continuing legacy.”
this stairwell turns to the second story and faces directly west with huge stained glass windows a truly inspiring space with a refinish plan with will punctuate her quarters
Doug fir porch has already been exposed to natural air for the first time in 80 years
one of many pre revival weekend parties in the craftsman ship
Ichiko in her rough-in paneled sunflower suite with tonal matched sconces
the Improvement Co. scope of work
millwork restoration on entire commons
main floor powder and upper bath revisions
period correct lighting scope
kitchen modernization that uses existing layout and some finishes
saving existing wallpaper and reimagining it into the bedrooms
hardwoods throughout in matte tone stain cocktail per floor
returning the whole house to period correct with advent of Asahi’s art direction which will create a personal reflection merging art and cultural history
we’re planning to do a full finish shoot this coming fall or next spring, a year later check-in will be warranted.
the early days of pulling carpets, these were likely laid in late 60’s early 70’s as the padding is horse hair weave, the oak underneath is Bristol
couldn't be more proud of these two, they really grew into their role and worthy preservationists and Apex will be a resounding success upon completion
obligatory family tub shot in upper bath
a celebration ensued following our tile selection, a blend of playful bright riviera blue, and a moody fall color to honor the era of the kitchen and its heavy oak influence.
bear approved, stay tuned for Asahi & Brandon’s defining legacy example, a textbook buying-in-rareform story.
