A lifetime of worldly influence: Stanochs homestead a stable craftsman ship in mac-groveland
Let the purveyors' dinner gatherings ensue; these two are storied in their travels, a trait that landed them in a glorious deed signing of an arts & crafts example infamous St Paul bungalow.
The poise, patience, and trust in RFP allowed these two to hurdle a myriad of mundane offerings, a vision developed for the stoic trimmings of their arts & crafts example.
We introduce you to Audrey & Andrew, purveyors on an international journey that led them to the furthest lands and back to St Pauly, a story best absorbed over a proper coup-vermouth-martini 🍸
Andrew provided us the great backstory of the journey these worldly traveled lovers 🧳 took that brought them to 1919.
They met in Paris while both completing undergraduate degrees there. Audrey is half French and having spent many of the formative years of her life in the US with her American mom, she longed to return to reconnect with her father and family in 🇫🇷 France.
Andrew is and always will be seeking an adventure. France seemed like a light lift because of his years being brought there by his francophile mother who was previously a French teacher. Andrew always had a deep love for the land and wanted to see what fortune & fate had in store from living there for 5+ years.
Their love blossomed, like any Parisian 🥖 fairytale: poor but happy, drinking cheap wine on the banks of the Seine, picnics on the Champs de Mars under the Eiffel Tower, and dancing their toes off in all the basement clubs in the city of lights.
In Andrew’s words, “when we return to France now, it is to our house in the south, near Toulouse (closest landmark is Castelnaudary where the cassoulet comes from, or Carcassonne, largest restored walled medieval city in the world). Our house is a crumbling masterpiece that we love dearly and has been in Audrey's family for literally hundreds of years. It’s currently having its roof replaced and we visit the region annually in the summer holiday.”
After meeting & falling love in France, they married and decided to join the Peace Corps - fortune had it that they would be sent to China, where they taught future English teachers how to speak and teach English at the local university.
Their time in China had a lasting impact and after the Peace Corps, they both ended up working at a Chinese immersion school in DC. Their work at the school gave Andrew the legs to start an organization creating out of the box student exchanges with schools here in the US & former community members from the Peace Corps program in China.
🪞 RFP: You’ve been abroad in China 🇨🇳 & 🇫🇷 France for much of your lives, what made you decide to move back to Minnesota and eventually settle down in St Paul?
We decided to come back to Minnesota because we were looking for the calm life to raise our brood. Beautiful homes in this magical land-of-lakes, the call of grandparents, family, and the rest of it led us to believe that this was the place we wanted to be.
Andrew grew up on the Minneapolis side of things, but after being gone for 20 years also wanted to forge somewhat of a new identity and desired a fresh start. Saint Paul felt like a good way to still be connected, but also setting out on a new adventure, and one of discovery of these twin cities that hadn't happened before for either of us.
🪞 RFP: The home search began partially in MPLS and St Paul. What did you learn touring both cities about their respective architecture?
Minneapolis & Saint Paul both have great feels to them. Ultimately what we'd seen on the Minneapolis side were slightly smaller homes, also arts & crafts and tudors. Saint Paul side, Wellesley was the only one that had this compartmentalized style where each room was so distinct, yet the house remains a grand classic home, our budget did blossom from the mid 5s- to 6’s as we decided to consciously stretch to avoid a transitional space.
🪞 RFP: Steve diverted you away from several project houses, and examples that he felt didn’t have the scale for your family. Has your craftsman been everything you wanted in terms of finish quality and familial capability?
As parents of young kids, grinding out work, life, parenting, etc... we couldn't be happier to have not chosen a project house.
At the end of the day what we were looking at and what we would've put into something that needed some changes would've been a difference of maybe 50K at the end of the day, we decided the investment potential was greater by going up and reduced a lot of risk of update laden properties. Paris was helpful in determining the index of affordability for us.
As we try to beautify our home with cosmetic details, (paints, lights, etc..) the idea of a kitchen remodel, or anything major makes me cringe and we couldn't be happier to have chosen a house that suited our immediate needs.
Almost half a year into it, we're still discovering one or two things, but still nothing major, and all manageable. That said, because it's an old house there are one or two things that you notice - very creaky floors upstairs which we discovered putting our 1.5 yr old to sleep and trying to creep away only to hear all the noise of the level. Besides that, the finish quality is amazing, and even the floor can be dealt with in time as we need, although now it has grown on us and is just the house talking to us: she’s got a romantic old feel that we too have grown accustomed to.
“Advice for new families would be get what you want and don’t settle. We got lucky with timing it would seem as we were the only offer on Wellesley, which was largely due to our ability to see the potential beyond cosmetics.”
🪞 RFP: Being on the other side of it now, what advice do you have for other young families who are trying to navigate the complexities of the post Covid real estate demand?
A: Advice for new families would be get what you want and don't settle. We got lucky with timing it would seem as we were the only offer on Wellesley, which was largely due to our ability to see the potential beyond cosmetics.
If you feel rushed (which we definitely were - post cross-country move, living in parents basement while we house hunted, losing our minds daily,) it was a close call that maybe we would've rushed into something, but we held off, and now we have the house we want to raise our kids in and see no need to move anytime in the near future, or really ever.
For us this was important, in the last 20 years we have lived in 15 different places on 3 continents, 3 countries, and multiple cities in each country. Saying that we were ready to hang up our hats was an understatement, and now we're making this our home with the intention of staying (at least for a little while) and rooting down inside and out.
🪞 RFP: Mr. Seller loved your arts and crafts example dearly, to the point of not wanting to sell, what did you learn about him since closing regarding his attachment to the structure?
A: The family we bought the place from, namely the husband/father of the family was very attached, and has been helpful as we settle in.
He was as we understand an infectious disease doctor and likely living stressful days these last couple years. It is clear the care and love that has gone into this house and so we understand completely why he wouldn't want to leave. The neighbors are also amazing and ours is one of the grander homes on the block, everyone who walks by has words of endearment for our craftsman.
🪞 RFP: As far as original bungalows go, yours is appointed with very separated quarters, how do you plan to make all the space fun action: office / piano niche, main floor library, basement, etc?
The house is separated very distinctly as the original builder and owners intended, we’re not open layout seekers like many Americans, however there is already a great flow.
Kids have taken over most rooms, but each room is used. They run circles in it or given our sparse furniture for the moment as we wait for deliveries, use it to cruise their electric car they got for Christmas from grandparents, and couldn't use in the winter outside.
Music often fills the house, the main floor den and study off the living and dining make for really great social spacing for the four of us. We have a myriad of plans, but initially the only zone that I feel still needs some true love is probably the basement. I personally like a carpeted basement, as they are cold. Ours is totally finished & would work great with carpeting to make it a more inviting zone which we intend to schedule this year once the correct textile is chosen.
We’re extremely proud of the Stanoch’s and thrilled to have them in the purveyors community, we’re looking forward to many 🌍 discussions 💬 experiences with them, as we assist in getting their bungalow sorted as furniture arrives this year
