After living in their North Oaks home for six years, Brian and Mara Winke were ready to make some major changes. The couple's flat-roofed midcentury modern abode, built in 1971, was like a car from that era. It had a cool retro design, with expanses of glass facing a wooded pond, and an innovative open floor plan. But like those old cars, it was stuck in an antiquated time, with features and function that didn't fit how they lived with their two school-age children today.
The Winkes' first order of business was to remodel the cramped, narrow galley kitchen. It was so small that they had to set the refrigerator around the corner in a back entryway.
"We both couldn't cook in the kitchen at the same time," said Mara.
But the characteristics that attracted the Winkes to the home in 2007 also gave them reasons to expand their renovation horizons.
"Everything is connected in a house like this," said Brian. "So whatever we did would have an impact on the rest of it."
The couple started to explore a reconfigured floor plan, working with architects Jackie Millea and John Barbour and designer Kurt Gough from Shelter Architecture in Minneapolis.
The design would retain the existing footprint, but remove an interior wall to open up the sightlines to the fantastic view. The new design also involved relocating the kitchen and, finally, creating a comfortable owners' suite.
But the discovery of water damage and mold soon spoiled the couple's grand plans. As part of other home improvements, the Winkes were in the process of replacing the original rubber-membrane roof. When the contractor peeled back layers of the roof, it revealed moisture infiltration into the insulation, rotting ceiling joists and water issues inside the walls.