Cindy's 25 year deco example: torch passed to flotsam & fork
1932 Legacy Play
〰️
1932 Legacy Play 〰️
Cindy bought her 1932 limestone tudor in 1992.
She was a avid birder and art teacher & the care and attention to detail of her original deco era tudor was uncanny, a specimen of this caliber only comes around a couple times a year in all price points in all areas of classic homes in Minneapolis & St Paul.
Like many of our buying stories, there is only one deed signer. The Flotsam & Fork crew understood the scarcity of original details spilling over in Cindy’s cherished tudor. This knowledge and trust in our lead propelled them to defeat six parties all vying to own 1932.
Adrianna & Joe are eccentrics: classic style icons who have turned a hobby into a legitimate importing business. Following their love affair with French culture and living and traveling in Europe, they began to selectively import craft wares for kitchen and home goods.
Flotsam & Fork serves as our official purveyor closing gift bag supplier - their unique craftmade antiquities serve the classic homeowner greatly, from German cutlery to Moroccan glassware to French kitchen linens.
Their home quest was a daunting one to say the least. Their first investment was a storied craftsman duplex which they intend to hold for a lifetime; the single family quest needed to have original details that topped their present arts and crafts up // down.
Cindy’s tudor is impeccable to say the least, the list of timeless originality is a deep as it comes at any price point: tiered archway style is present in her many niches, bath opening, argyle leaded window niche, ribbon vaulted entry, coves are solid masonry, intact patterned plaster mantle, all original lighting polished and restored, two striking original bathrooms, and the topper is a Ruud water heater that has been functioning since the 1950s (the oldest working unit we have seen in 1000s of homes).
Their Buying in Rare Form journey was quintessential to our core: how many homes are you going to own in your life? Make them count. These two waited so patiently, as we discerningly awaited the markets best example in their price range.
🪞RFP: You've been owner occupying a duplex since 2018, tell us about your first experience in securing a boomer held classic (cardinal) & residing in your duplex?
We loved that he had clearly taken care of many of the basics and cared about maintenance. That meant when it was time for us to move in and prepare the other unit for rental, we mostly had to take care of the aesthetics-- painting, floors, and lighting. The fundamentals were solid and we were able to make it our own over the first few months and years without having to invest in the soundness of the structure and her systems.
🪞RFP: What influenced your early-on following of architectural preservation?
Joe grew up in a big old house (with sinks in every bedroom, oddly) and always took the old details for granted; Adrianna grew up in San Francisco surrounded by great urban architecture. Our shop Flotsam+Fork is built on the idea of preserving and celebrating well-made household products with history behind them and so it just makes sense to us to seek out homes that are made with the same attention to detail and material quality.
🪞RFP: You lost a tudor in Lynnhurst early on, explain what happened and how it resulted in your refined focus in 2022?
We had been looking off-and-on for houses that fit our desire for unspoiled historic charm and the Lynnhurst tudor immediately caught our eye. We ended up bidding well above our comfort price because the house wowed us so much. Ultimately, after we lost the bidding war, we realized it was for the best. The style and details were amazing, but the footprint and floor plan didn't actually meet our unique work/life needs. After losing the tudor, we honed in on looking for a place that really fit our hybrid requirements: a spacious and workable basement where we could run Flotsam+Fork, an extra bedroom and bathroom for guests, and, after our landlocked apartment in Bryant, proximity to one of Minneapolis' many fine bodies of water.
🪞RFP: Cindy was a birder, an artist, and took impeccable care of her tudor, how did that play a factor in your decisive victory in January?
From the second we walked in, it was obvious the house was loved and well cared for. It felt different than other places we'd seen. Real and natural, and not staged at all. We loved the original bathroom with the peach and black tile and the black glass door knobs, the many Deco flourishes, and of course (for Joe) a sink in the upstairs bedroom! Of course, she also left behind a clean and well cared for basement, with ample space for our inventory storage and fulfillment operations. Cindy's artistic eye and attention to detail (developed, we theorized, through her birding hobby) were evident throughout, and made a perfect canvas for our own finishing touches.
🪞RFP: What would you share with purveyors in your shoes, with budget constraints and desiring a scarce example like Cindys?
Patience and vision. Look beyond the furniture and wall colors — things you can replace, refurbish, refresh — and keep a sharp eye for the details that really matter, the things you can't replace or find anywhere else — floor plans, footprints, original finishes and hardware, the natural light, a lake around the corner... things of that nature.
