Embodying the Preservationist mantra: Andersons ‘27 creekshore Revival
A blueprinted battle plan to restoring a legacy home the correct way: Andersons’ estate revival vs. an addition to their Linden Hills starter
Jake & Amy Anderson, from the moment you meet them, wholesome and kindred spirits evoke from their beings. This dynamic couple spawned a ferocious Brady bunch & are now rooted in Minneapolis. As world travelers, they brought their first ‘Elliot' into the world while working abroad in Switzerland. Zurich hosted the first of now three bright-eyed little Andersons (Harper & Owen), creating an excitement around them similar to daily wilderness camp.
Like many, as Covid arrived, their once cozy two story got overrun by the demands of home-schooling and home-careering. Linden Hills was the site of their beloved starter home, which was on the cusp of working into the High School years, however an addition would have been required.
two weeks passed from our initial tour, and the creekshore’s floorplan stuck in minds of this beaming family, following four months of market time, the revival was meant to be.
Jake & Amy were veterans to stewardship of their classic home. Upon purchasing their craftsman-era two story on Ewing, they ripped a construction loan after closing to complete a main floor renovation including kitchen, stairwell alteration and full basement finish. They closely managed the projects and thoughtfully hired a general contractor who gave transparency on timing and budget for their desired goals with the space.
The work completed was well done and resulted in their mutual love for the home. They contacted Rare Form in the fall to discuss the metrics on a garage addition and suite above to allow for the home to work for their Full House cast of five.
We made a site visit late summer of 2020, and they recited the plan: remove demo existing garage & pour a main floor addition of attached garage and mudroom, with owners suite above it. Budget was hopeful in low 2’s. The hurdle and reason for departure was ultimately lot space, participating in mcmansion roof lines on 40’ lots is not something we will ever get behind (albeit a necessary evil in top tier neighborhoods as densities rise with demand modern home functionality).
Our initial meeting resulted in difficult news to present: “I would move. Simply because your site is too tight for the addition, requiring an awkward garage approach and limited greenspace for the family once complete.”
The Andersons are pragmatic, scientific in their methodical approach to problem solving. So, we pivoted to touring larger scale project homes throughout Minneapolis.
The first thought was a Jack Lieberman built tudor just off Lake Harriet’s south beach. While the location and historical prowess were alluring (slate roof, steep gables, leaded brass casement windows) the property possessed too many layout hurdles, as the scale was large. That offering taught the Andersons they were really seeking separated spaces for the large and active family to operate solely as well as collectively.
Then we toured the Creekshore Spaniard of 1927. Following an earlier summer visit, the decor and necessary cosmetics on all floors turned to long market times for the sellers. Lister Bruce Birkeland began in early July and we came to terms just after Halloween.
The state of the Spaniard was an absolute textbook Sweat Equity Rare Form value builder. During the escrow period we dispatched the craft trades, orchestrated by Designer Amanda Kreller who plotted a detailed battle plan: enamel and paint map, lighting rough-in map, wall coverings & fixtures to save three period original baths from extinction.
BEFORE: Beige Walls, worn floors, french renaissance chandelier.
AFTER: Elec rough-ins, oak refinished in owner blended stain, millwork restored in matte lacquer
Israel Perez completed millwork and true plaster restoration throughout ‘27. His crews worked tirelessly for months settling for nothing short of perfection on their finishes. Rough-ins were completed for final lighting selection to come later (we’re pressing the Andersons on some vintage tie-ins to their Europa history).
The fireplace was 1980s Caesars Palace, we made the call to demo the plaster work, as its style did not correlate with the rest of the interior, causing a need for a spanish arched opening with a simple brick facade and new birch mantle to match the millwork in the great room. This was inspired by the Lieberman mantle on Humboldt. This elevation plan shows the incoming makeover of the firebox surround. Eventually the Andersons are planning to complete a sealed wood burning insert to keep the heat in and drafts out.
Ultimately, Amy is the visionary for the Anderson’s space and is the driving force behind the project house acquisitions. Jake is always more apprehensive about seeing the after in the before. But his confidence in Amy allows him to say, “You seem very confident this is going to work out, despite my lack of vision for the finale I trust you.” And they proceed with the project at hand.
AFTER: Master of Restoration El Capitan celebrates the radiator
“One thing that was really nice working with you, vs ‘joe realtor’ - I appreciate you telling us straight what we should do to a home, even though it was more work than we thought: stripping woodwork, saving old bathrooms with redesign, honestly none of those tactics were not on my radar.”
Top down approach to the Anderson Projects - they completed two very different restorations in the first 5 years of home ownership.
1st Linden Hills - just arrived back from Europe, 6 weeks to find a house, that home was remodeled in the 70s so nothing was precious, therefore the decisions were made quickly with planning and design DIY.
2nd Brookwood Terrace - “The prowess of the architecture made us more cautious with our amendments, the amount of original character made us desire a professional consultant with how to amend the space for us. Once I saw the millwork in Tangletown via facetime, I wanted to restore ours and make it mint. ‘I was surprised you guys paid for millwork, most people pass on millwork.’
Financial approach to the remodel
It wasn't about the money - what we wanted to put on the lot wasn't going to work, we didn't care about the investment amount, it was a personal ROI investment, not a financial asset. -- the ROI didn’t matter… from our financial perspective the decision was the same -- if Ewing had a double lot we would have done it in a heartbeat.
What original details surprised you the most about Brookwood, that you weren't aware of being an attribute?
[Amy] The touches we knew about were the built-ins, and we love them. [Jake] For sure I would have re-tiled bathrooms versus taking a different approach to modernize them, there is another path, to demoing old tile that you don't love. At some point we will need to retile - and then we saw the after effect of the wallpaper // enamel // lighting in the baths, and we will love and cherish them forever.
When your search began, did you know you were going to buy an antique house?
[Amy] It's an interesting thing, we like the character, however our family and the way we live, the way an old home lays out is better for us, the different spaces work really well for a family with small kids. We love the way an old home functions. That was the problem we realized with Humboldt, while the home was really large, the layout with one large living space was bigger scale but less rooms for offices etc.
What takeaway did you learn from searching for your forever house?
[Jake] The thing I learned most is not to focus on home stats, the setup and flow is more important than the statistical. We each have our own office space, mudroom to throw our stuff, this romper room is perfect for the kid play zone, we have a calm adult space- the living room upstairs (the space that isn't done, because we don't have any calm).
[Jake] This is a huge house - this house gets us more than we need, honestly the right 2800 sf space built the right way gives us the space we need - The scale of Brookwood was beyond our needs, mainly the grand dimensions of the bedrooms - our owner room, Owens room, Elliot's room are large enough for game tables in their room. The attached garage and basement gave the kids a romper space and Amy’s office suite with bath which was an added bonus.
(Jake) There is so much mileage acquired from improving the cosmetic finishes of an old house. It becomes palatable to refresh rather than remodel.
Eighty percent of the project home tours, families will pass on this amount of work, these two walked Brookwood and saw the potential, coming back to it with a vision for how they could make it theirs.
How did you get over the addition at Linden Hills?
“All it took for us was to walk through larger footprint homes, for us to understand the feeling of the flow of the house, and allowing the kids to run and play, and layout feels natural for our family. It’s weird not knowing where everyone is in the house by sound, our Ewing home you could hear everyone’s every movement on all levels.
How did you land the Creekshore Spaniard?
[Steve] I brought you here in the very beginning, and a full two weeks later you came back and said we like Brookwood.
[Jake?] Over those two weeks we thought about how we would live in it, and I imagined waking up in the morning, what does my routine look like, what do I do when I wake up - I could go to that backroom, I also love the house - the windows, the living room, we removed the biggest eyesore the fireplace, the house flows very naturally for our family.
[Jake?] After being on the market for 4 months, when we wrote our offer, suddenly another party came to the table as well, so we had to amend ours to very strong terms, in the end it was meant to be, as the sellers liked the boldness of our agreement.
[Steve] 80 percent of the families we walk through a project house will pass on it - very rarely do parents with kids decide to tackle a house which needs cosmetics throughout.
[Jake] Your typical client if there is such a thing, is it as-is we want it turnkey?
[Steve] Yes typical clients don't want to grind - I wish I had more clients that understand the value of sweat equity - that why I call is “Sweat Equity” - 50k into three levels of an old home- that is sweat equity- you’re managing, deciding, you’re bathing in the process of a restoration, most people I can’t talk them into it, so I use tactics of communication - financial gain, legacy home, I come up with buzzwords to get people to understand that cutting your teeth in the beginning results in the greatest reward in the end: because when you go through these projects it’s so satisfying.
[Steve] This type of project isn’t ‘hired-out’ - you guys still deserve all the credit for execution, planning and financing the execution of saving 1927. It drains you, its strains you, managing a project and hiring designer, project manager
[Jake?] That just it - this house wasn't really ours until we completed the work to it - restoring the floors in our own stain blend was transformational - wow this isn't the house we moved into. The feeling rewarded us so greatly in the end, it’s truly remarkable, a rush of satisfaction and amazement in the after spaces.
[Steve] That is what is frustrating-- I wish I could bottle that feeling of a renovation award, our family is responsible for being the owner of record - we have come up with all these jingles at rare form to motivate our clients to be leaders in restoration of Mpls architecture, witnessing the exuberance of Andersons post completion is what it’s all about for us.
Designer Amanda Krellers palette of finishes breathed new life historic deco bathrooms
the surviving deco bathrooms have become a love of the Andersons after their designer update
Some of our biggest takeaways from this process:
Potential in the Patina - you can find hidden gems that most people don't have the patience or energy for, it was striking the amount of untapped potential in the larger scale estates we toured: Humboldt, Brookwood, & Upton all offered large footprint two story floorplans with immense upside potential..
It's nice having someone who knows old homes, and what to do, giving you a roadmap of what to complete immediately so we could put a plan into action, versus moving in and not knowing what to do, we would still be sitting here contemplating our plan.
The kitchen didn't seem livable, and it's much more functional then we ever thought- floors are clean and fresh, lights are new, we may be able to roll with the current kitchen for several years, it will last us until we need to expand the garage, which we will roll into kitchen remodel at that time. Kitchen floor was the largest before and after. The engineered pine floors were dirty and blonde, our hardwood craftsman proudly restored the kitchen floor with stain match to the original oak. We gave him six stains we wanted to sample, Imran blended a custom mix of stain on the spot, he led us to the best blend for the floor based on the millwork tone.
Outstanding original baths in cherry condition for their age
The kids’ bath received a wallpaper and updated fixtures
Thanks to the Andersons for embodying our mantra to preserving architecture and congrats on your rewarding renovation, you two deserve all the credit for executing what others couldn’t see: the after effect of sweat equity on timeless architecture.
Jake completed lower entry honey-do mudroom lockers, he was nervous about completing the work while Israel was present in the home, as he wanted to satisfy him with his finish.