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FeedFairy Tale Home
These downsizing homeowners envisioned the perfect empty nest - and found exactly that
By Alecia Stevens
Photo by Dana Wheelock, Styled by Kathleen Behrens
Alas, the pool promised to the children—a pledge forgotten amidst flying sawdust and buckets of stucco—hadn’t appeared. But Bruce, principal of Bruce Knutson Architects in Minneapolis, had reached his limit with projects of any kind and declared he was done. As children will do, however, they reminded their father of his promise. Not wanting to break his word, he added the pool.
“It was the best thing we ever did,” Bruce recalls. “We always knew where the kids were in the summer. They were in our backyard with their friends.”
Terry adds, “So we always knew their friends, too.”
Fast-forward a couple decades: These same children are now grown, raising families of their own. The classic, large family home near Lake Harriet had become just too much for Bruce and Terry. Padding around the mostly empty 5,000-square-foot home, they found themselves living exclusively in the kitchen, master bedroom, and family room. As an architect, Bruce understood that it was time for a different kind of space, one that would serve a new phase of life. Yet he and Terry couldn’t part with several of their home’s features; a new house would have to include the same.
“Number one: There had to be a place for a pool. This time, we wanted to keep our grandchildren close by. We needed privacy for the pool, ideally a hedge. We still wanted to be near the lakes,” Bruce says. Adds Terry, “As much as we love the concept of a loft, we couldn’t give up this neighborhood or a garden.”
The house also had to provide one-floor living, in case stairs became a challenge in the future. And it had to be on a corner lot.
Who would imagine such a home existed exactly as they envisioned it? “It couldn’t have been more perfect,” Bruce recalls.
The Knutsons are clearly delighted with this tale and how a singular property near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis met all of their criteria. Bruce ticks off the list: “A double lot on a corner, a beautiful privacy hedge already grown, a lovely rear garden for Terry, ranch architecture with plenty of options for moving walls and creating an open floor plan, a walk to Lake Calhoun, and a place for the pool.”
With deed in hand, Bruce began to imagine how the house could be renovated to meet their needs. He worked with Terry as a client to ensure they were both engaged and to be certain that both of them would feel their ideas were expressed in the final design. One of the changes they especially welcomed was downsizing; the house is just over 2,000 square feet, with primary living space on the main level of less than 1,400 square feet.
Photo by Dana Wheelock
Other major changes involved removing walls to open the spaces between living room, dining room, and kitchen. Two exterior walls were added—and one was removed—to transform the covered patio into a sunroom open to the dining and living rooms. A stairwell was moved to open up access to the lower level, and a bath was expanded and reconfigured to create a walk-in closet and an elegant master bath.
Bruce is pleased that modest structural changes to the exterior have had an enormous impact. The Knutsons worked with Marvin Windows to custom design windows that would emphasize the deep overhanging eaves on this one-story home, a nod to Frank Lloyd Wright’s mid-century work. The windows allow much more light to flow into the home and improve it aesthetically from the street.
Inside, Terry and Bruce knew they wanted something slightly more decorative than Prairie style, so they added rope detailing to the cabinetry doors throughout the home. In the bath, the vanity is built on legs that give it the feel of a piece of furniture. By using a mix of painted and wood-finished cabinetry, the home is neither too casual nor too formal.
Interior design is an alliance between Terry and Bruce. “We gave everything away from the last home. We wanted to start over,” Terry recalls with some satisfaction. They enjoy working together to select paints and furniture, but admit to trial and error. “Every wall had at least four different colors on it at one time or another,” she remembers. “Sometimes we would just get down to two we liked and mix them together for the final color.”
Their growing art collection was often their color inspiration. Drawn to the colors of nature, they started with a brown leather bed for the master bedroom and built the color palette from there. Khaki, red, and green are all at home here.
Inside and out, this seems a home that was in the stars long before it ever became a reality. It is easy to see that Bruce and Terry have taken to this new lifestyle—barefoot in sunny open rooms, a garden for morning coffee, and a pool for an evening drink. Grandchildren nap in a cheerful main-floor bedroom set up just for them, play in the lower-level playroom, and certainly swim in the pool. And everyone seems to be living happily ever after.
ALECIA STEVENS IS A MINNEAPOLIS INTERIOR DESIGNER AND FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO MIDWEST HOME.
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