A Modern Classic

a living room in the houseJames Walsh is an education reporter at the Star Tribune.
Photos by Jim Kruger, Landmark Photography

Contemporary flair meets traditional comfort in a vintage locale.

From the outside, the Dave Alan-built home on Westwood Drive in Golden Valley appears to be a charming, traditional family home. Natural cedar shakes and windows trimmed in a rustic red warm the gabled exterior, while a stone foundation provides a sense of strength and durability.

Inside, however, the home brims with fun, contemporary touches.

This is Dave Alan’s niche, says Lisa Wendlandt, the builder’s sister and office manager: Traditionally crafted luxury, spiced with modern materials and flair, built in established in-town neighborhoods.

With mature trees in back and a trickling stream along its side, the house feels as if it has been here for years. “The designers work really well at making it feel like a part of the neighborhood,” Wendlandt explains.

The home’s warmth—and fun—is apparent as soon as you open its cedar and reed-glass door. Interior designer Brandi Hagen’s choice of unique, luxurious finishes begins with the arresting, cocoa brown Brazilian cherry floors. The view of the wooded surroundings beyond the living room windows competes for the visitor’s attention. A stone fireplace and a natural cherry entertainment center provide indoor beauty. Cherry built-ins are repeated in the library, situated through French doors adjacent to the entryway.

Natural cherry cabinets offer continuity in the modern kitchen. Hagen, principal of Eminent Interior Design, designed an eye-catching backsplash of gold flaked, brown, and gray glass tiles. The countertops are granite mottled in deep gold and black, while custom, double-thick glass tops the kitchen island. A round, stainless-steel table projects from the island, creating a casual dining spot illuminated by blown-glass pendants. A dazzling light fixture of curved metal tubing and glass snakes above the island.

French doors lead from the kitchen to a three-season porch. The floor is tiled in natural slate, while the cathedral ceiling above sports tongue-and-groove wood paneling. A wood-burning stone fireplace makes the porch an almost year-round feature.

A lower-level walkout provides access to a paver patio and herb garden from the family room, which enjoys ample afternoon light from double-hung windows to the south and west. Light, natural maple trims the windows; the same wood—this time with alternating grain patterns—jazzes up the bar area. Nearby, the view of the nature area offers welcome distraction in the exercise room. A guest bedroom and tiled bath, with a maple vanity and granite countertop, complete the lower level.

The upper-level owner’s suite commands a view of the wooded surroundings. Giant his-and-her walk-in closets and a tiled laundry area with maple cabinets offer convenience. Hagen’s playful design carries through the owner’s suite bath, where a mosaic pattern around the mirror also is inlayed into the limestone floor. The soaking tub is finished in blue enamel.

The children’s bathroom on the second level features a cute tile-within-a-tile floor, where holes were cut out of the square floor tiles and filled with smaller round tiles of various colors. Two children’s bedrooms, one yellow and one blue, are near the bath.

But perhaps the biggest showplace of this young family home is, for lack of a better term, the showplace. A red playroom, featuring a large in-the-round stage that is wired for sound, provides the home’s younger occupants a neat place to put on special shows for Mom and Dad. A large window seat faces the stage, providing ample audience seating.

“Everywhere you look, this feels homey,” Wendlandt says.


BUILDER
Dave Alan, Inc.

HOME LOCATION
Golden Valley

SUPPLIERS
Eminent Interior Design
Guyer’s Builder Supply
Minneapolis Glass Company
Pipeline Supply
Roth Distributing Company
Rubble Tile
Twin Cities Closet Co.

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