Here's a great way for house/design/decorating geeks to enjoy these waning days of summer (or are these the budding days of fall?): Check out the 7th Annual AIA Minnesota Homes by Architects tour Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 20 and 21) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour, which will set you back $20 ($10 for a single home visit or $15 if you buy online), features several houses throughout the Twin Cities metro. For more info, a map and descriptions of the houses, click here.
Here's how the folks from CityDesk described their entry, shown above and below:
"Located on the site of a former Independence, MN farmhouse this compact modern home takes formal and material cues from utilitarian agricultural structures. The planning of the home emphasizes connections between interior spaces and the surrounding rural landscape. The compact floor plan is designed to shape a courtyard patio that extends the kitchen space outdoors via a nearly twenty foot wide floor to ceiling patio door opening. The primary first floor living space is rotated toward a tree-lined creek to the southeast. A floating wood stairway (that connects all three levels of the home), along with the second floor master bedroom, feature large window openings that frame views of the natural wetland occupying the property to the east. Like the utilitarian barns and silos visible on surrounding properties, the home utilizes a palette of industrial yet warm materials. Exposed site cast concrete walls and weathering steel corrugated siding express a practical beauty and textural richness. A shed like massing shelters the structure from north-west winter winds and opens living spaces toward sunny views to the south and east."
