House of Style
Vintage glam meets rock and roll in this Minnetonka rambler
She’s the glamour girl with a passion for fashion. He’s the guitar guy with a penchant for rock and roll. Together, Stephanie and Cory Lake have created a home that blends their personalities perfectly—hip, sophisticated, and a bit edgy. “I tell everyone, this is my New York apartment that just dropped into the woods,” says Stephanie. w Set on a heavily wooded lot in Minnetonka, the couple’s home reads basic brick rambler on the outside, downtown penthouse on the inside. “Our house definitely relates to the way I dress,” Stephanie says. “I like bold and dramatic.” With ebonized floors, charcoal gray walls, and black lacquered beams creating a sophisticated backdrop, the home takes on the panache of a little black dress. Accessories and art add the drama.
A fashion devotee since childhood, Stephanie’s passion is written in her DNA. Her grandfather was the president of the now defunct Donaldson’s department store in Minneapolis and her mother coordinated in-store fashion events for Donaldson’s and Dayton’s. After graduating from Macalester College with a degree in art history, Stephanie went on to The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in Manhattan. While living in New York, she worked in the fashion department at Sotheby’s, where she eventually met her mentor, iconic American fashion designer Bonnie Cashin (see box below).
“We were auctioning off this gorgeous turquoise leather coat Cashin designed in the 1970s,” Stephanie says. “I was struck by how modern it looked and the sheer functionality of the design.” A meeting with Cashin soon followed, and the 25-year-old graduate student and 90-year-old designer became fast friends.
When Cashin died in 2000, Stephanie was given racks of the designer’s clothing, along with various pieces of art and furniture from her personal collection. Now on display throughout Stephanie’s Minnetonka home, Cashin’s pieces serve as a constant source of inspiration for Stephanie, who also runs the Bonnie Cashin Foundation (www.bonniecashinfoundation.org).
It’s this curatorial love of fashion, mixed with a decidedly rock-and-roll vibe that infuses nearly every room of Cory and Stephanie’s home. Inspired by an Art Deco ocean liner, the sleek kitchen features black painted beams, minimalist cabinets, and a metal panel from a 1920s building in Boston. A striking vignette on a countertop boasts a fourteenth-century Buddha, silver skull, and heirloom opera glasses. This is just one of many artistic assemblages tucked into the 3,300-square-foot home.
In the living room, the mood turns sexy and mysterious. Asian-inspired lacquer “Chow” chairs and smoky walls evoke the sultriness of an elegant nightclub, while drapes with a two-tone gray African pattern and gold silk lining frame the windows. A provocative 12-piece Kiki Smith lithograph makes a bold statement, while a custom-built, floor-to-ceiling shelving unit takes over an adjacent wall.
“Stephanie and I designed the wall unit together,” Cory says. “It holds all my music along with her art books.” As owners of American Guitar & Band in Maple Grove, Cory and Stephanie sell a wide range of guitars to a loyal following of students and connoisseurs both locally and internationally. “I have a small collection of custom-built guitars I’m always bringing in and out of the house,” Cory says. Stephanie loves the rotation. “They’re gorgeous,” she says. “And I love to listen to him play.”
Stephanie and Cory were childhood classmates and recall having “crushes” on each other, but they didn’t begin dating until 12 years after high school when Stephanie was living in Los Angeles. While visiting Minnesota to curate a Bonnie Cashin show at the Goldstein Gallery in St. Paul, she decided on a whim to give Cory a call. They were married two months later.
Photo by Susan Gilmore
Their first project together was remodeling the 1950s house, Cory’s former bachelor pad. For the next two years, Stephanie spent weekdays in Los Angeles working on various curatorial projects and weekends in Minnesota overseeing construction. “She moved in and gutted the house—and me too,” Cory says. “I was a very simple person back then, I hadn’t changed my wardrobe or my hair in years. But I was ready for the change.”
They both were. Quickly, the two discovered a shared passion for art and collecting. They spent Saturdays at estate sales and antique shops searching for treasures for their new home. This evolved into a cherished ritual that continues today. “Cory can dig through a bin of jewelry and pick out the piece I will love, and I can look through a rack of shirts and find the one he’ll love,” Stephanie says. “Our tastes are that similar.”
Stephanie’s aesthetic is most dramatically displayed in her two dressing rooms. With black walls and floors framing a seafoam green dressing table that was Stephanie’s grandmother’s, the boutique spaces would inspire any style maven. Here Stephanie stores dresses, gowns, and an enviable collection of furs, all categorized with her curator’s eye. Nearby, a customized wardrobe cabinet holds her impressive (and meticulously organized) collection of bijoux. Stephanie is drawn to vintage jewelry, such as the bold, malachite turquoise pieces that rest alongside antique pearls, and her enormous cocktail rings that sit next to centuries-old Japanese hair combs. “With the amount of things I collect, I have to be able to find [an item] quickly and grab it,” says Stephanie. “I think if you are a collector you have a responsibility to really use the pieces, not just hoard them.”
And use them she does. Known for her highly individual style, Stephanie sometimes wears evening gowns and furs just to lounge around the house, and she often changes her outfit several times a day. “People ask me where I wear all these beautiful things, and I say, ‘On my body,’” she says. “I get such pleasure out of really using them.”
From fashion to music, Asian to Art Deco, this glam house tucked into the woods is a shared passion and true design labor of love for Cory and Stephanie. Of course, just like any style connoisseur, no room is ever really finished. “I’ll come home and a room will be totally different, the art and furniture will be all turned around,” Cory says. “But it’s great. I love it. With Stephanie, it’s never boring.”
Iconic
BONNIE CASHIN
An American sportswear pioneer and founding designer for the Coach brand in 1962, Bonnie Cashin (1907-2000) was one of the most influential fashion designers of the twentieth century. Known for her simple, relaxed-fitting clothing, she used rich materials such as suede, leather, and mohair for simple shapes such as kimonos, capes, and ponchos.
Cashin’s clients, such as Marlene Dietrich, Mary Quant, and Gloria Vanderbilt, loved her casual, glamorous clothes. Today, Cashin’s vintage clothes are highly sought after by collectors, and her clean, modern aesthetic still resonates with leading designers.
Curating Your Closet
As a design historian, Stephanie Lake sets up her closets the way she would curate a museum exhibit: easy access and a clear point of view. Everything is arranged first by type, then by color or material. Even if you don’t have a wardrobe the size of Stephanie’s, you can apply a few of her closet-organizing tricks.
OUTSIDES COUNT: Embellish plain closet doors to add a little glam. Stephanie used lacquer paint, wood trim, and vintage door pulls to dress up hers. Then for a luxe look, she fastened rows of small mirrors down the front.
BETTER BELTS: Attach rows of belts to metal shower curtain hooks hung along a towel bar. Your belts will look glamorous, and you’ll be able to see all of them at once.
DYNAMIC DRAWERS: Stephanie puts all her jewelry, scarves, and small bags in a custom wardrobe installed inside the closet. Each drawer holds different types of jewelry, such as necklaces, brooches, rings, and bracelets.
HANGING OUT: Sort hangers by type. Stephanie uses wood hangers (never wire), then assigns different colored hangers to different categories, such as black for dresses. “This way, you’ll always know exactly where the pieces belong,” she says.
Wendy Lubovich is a Minneapolis freelance writer.
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