Mail-order homes

hen Paul Kirkman first laid eyes on the house he bought last year, he knew it was a rare find: a 1917 Arts & Crafts bungalow with all its original woodwork and charm intact.

The house, in Minneapolis' Bryn Mawr neighborhood, had all the features that bungalow fans covet: dark built-ins, wainscoting and moulding, coffered box-beam ceilings and even an Inglenook fireplace.

"I said, 'This is perfect -- the one,'" recalled Kirkman, who had been searching for just such a home for seven months. "I like bungalows, and in my mind, this hits the pinnacle of that kind of architecture. The living room is about as original as you can get."

But Kirkman's bungalow is something even rarer: a Sears kit house, one of about 75,000 sold by mail order between 1915 and 1940.

There were 370 models, representing many styles, but Kirkman's house, the "Ashmore," is one of the least common, with only a handful of known surviving examples, according to Rosemary Thornton, author of "The Houses That Sears Built."

Advertised as "the Aristocrat of Bungalows," the Ashmore was among the largest (2,800 square feet) and most elaborate of the Sears kit homes. "It's a beauty, with a lot of nice features," Thornton said.

And it definitely defies any stereotype that mail-order homes are low-rent, said Tim Counts, president of the Twin Cities Bungalow Club. "Some people think of kit homes as ricky-ticky, slap-it-together, but often they are very high-end homes, and that one is a perfect example."

Modern convenience, old charm

The home's previous owner had already done an extensive kitchen makeover, beautiful and in-character enough to make the cover of American Bungalow magazine.

Kirkman wanted to take the home even further into the 21st century -- converting three of the five bedrooms into an owner's suite, complete with steam shower and walk-in closet -- but without sacrificing any of the Old World charm that had captivated him in the first place. "My goal was to make it look 90 years old," he said.

To achieve that, he turned to SALA Architects' Joseph Metzler and general contractor Mike Otto Construction, both of whom have an affinity for vintage homes.

Otto, the son of a cabinetmaker, got excited about the project as soon as he saw the original wainscoting and trim, he said. "I love well-designed woodwork, and Paul's is phenomenal; it was a challenge to match what was there."

Re-creating the cove mouldings and built-in bookshelves and making sure that the pointed arch on the new shoe island matched the arch on the original buffet was only half the battle, Otto noted. Replicating the 90-year-old surfaces took trial and error and ultimately, a custom-finishing process.

"We actually used shellac, which is not used anymore, in lieu of varnish or lacquer," he said. "It gives you that older, ambered look -- a subtle sheen -- that you just can't get with a newer finish. We had to treat the wood with water first, to open up the grain."

Kirkman was very involved in all details of the project, particularly the handmade bathroom tiles, some with an Arts & Crafts motif, created by North Prairie Tileworks. "I love pottery and ceramics," he said. "Handwork is part of the philosophy of the Arts & Crafts movement."

The tile's dark green color is one of the project's few departures from the original era, when white tiles probably would have been used.

A home, not a museum

While Kirkman loves the Arts & Crafts look, he's definitely not a purist when it comes to furnishing his home.

"My design philosophy is that a house can look like a museum if everything is Arts & Crafts," he said. He freely mixes antiques, reproductions and even contemporary pieces, such as a pale leather sectional in the dark-paneled living room.

"Arts & Crafts furniture is just not comfortable for me," he said. "I'm too tall [6 feet 4]. I wanted a living home rather than something that is just supposed to be admired from afar."

Now it's home, the perfect home, in Kirkman's eyes. His previous house, also a bungalow, was just a warmup. "This is a souped-up, steroid version of my other house," he said. "People who have known me for years say this is the logical place for me. I plan on staying here the rest of my life."

Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784

Kim Palmer • kpalmer@startribune.com