A Queen Anne gets a royal makeover

Star Tribune

Queen Anne home in Minneapolis, before remodeling, 2004

By LYNN UNDERWOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: September 8, 2008 - 9:57 AM

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THE MISSION

• Update the 1892 Queen Anne to modern standards and at the same time respect and maintain the historic integrity.

• Create new functional spaces for the homeowners' family of five to gather, entertain, sleep and play.

THE BEFORE

• Built as a single-family home, it became a rooming house and was subdivided into tiny apartments after World War II. Previous owners had done exterior renovation but the interior was a work-in-progress.

• When the current homeowners bought it in 2004, only one bathroom worked, the kitchen had been gutted and many of the original decorative elements, such as art glass windows, were missing.

WHAT THEY DID

• Restored the more formal rooms in the original part of the house by replicating woodwork, art glass and other period details from existing spaces, historic photos and drawings.

• Installed antique light fixtures.

• Rebuilt the rickety main floor staircase using the original wood paneling.

• Built a four-story addition off the back.

• The interior color scheme echoes the hues in the original stained glass windows.

• Installed new mechanical systems.

More from Home + Garden

The 1892 Queen Anne house in Minneapolis had only one working bathroom, the kitchen was in shambles and the floors were uneven.

But it was a dream project for David Heide and Mark Nelson, who were hired in 2004 to restore the home's original architectural beauty and design an addition that would honor the home's historical significance.

The Victorian-era gem was designed by the late Harry Wild Jones, the Minneapolis architect known for introducing the shingle style to the area and for designing the nearby Lake Harriet pavilion and Lakewood Cemetery Chapel.

The team's mission was to restore some of the original rooms, including a charming circular parlor, and to build a four-story addition on the back of the house that met the homeowners' desire for more living space, including a comfortable family room and spacious modern kitchen for the family of five. The homeowners also wanted to ensure that the house would last another 100 years.

When the two-year project was complete, Heide and Nelson had seamlessly melded the old with the new without sacrificing the Queen Anne authenticity that Jones had created.

"We just had to listen to the house," said Heide, project designer and owner of David Heide Design Studio in Minneapolis, "and speak its language."

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