India has its Taj Majal. Prospect Park has its "Garage Majal." That's the nickname Bill Eddins and Jennifer Gerth gave to their latest home improvement, one of 60 projects that will be open to the public this weekend as part of the Minneapolis & St. Paul Home Tour.
The Garage Majal is much more than a place to park cars. Its second story is a 24-by-22-foot music studio with vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors and curved plywood ceiling reflectors.
The project grew more ambitious as it took shape, Eddins said. At first, the couple were looking to replace their dilapidated garage while expanding their 1911-built Dutch Colonial.
"With two gigging musicians and two growing boys, our house wasn't big enough," Eddins said. (He's a pianist and conductor for the Edmonton Symphony in Alberta; Gerth is a clarinetist, and their two sons, ages 6 and 8, play cello and violin, respectively.)
"The [grand] piano was taking up the whole living room," Gerth said.
Adding practice space atop the detached garage was more economical than adding onto the house, she said. So the plan was to move "Nadia" (Eddins' piano, named for pianist Nadia Boulanger) out of the main house and up into the new studio.
But during the process, Eddins and Gerth hatched a "crazy idea" -- to upgrade the space into an actual recording studio that they could share with friends and colleagues. Working with acoustician David Braslau, architect Jeremiah Battles and builder Brian Arbuckle, they created a space with extra-thick walls and noise-blocking windows and doors.
"It was designed for classical chamber music," Eddins said. "We wanted to give back to the community we are so much a part of. Our hope is that it becomes a center for musicians who want to record."
