Minneapolis mansion by Mary Tyler Moore house architect lists for $1.2 million

Because the official architect for the Minneapolis Board of Training for greater than a decade, Edward Stebbins designed a number of Minneapolis public faculties. He designed non-public areas, too – his most well-known was the home on Kenwood Parkway generally known as the Mary Tyler Moore home.

The truth that Stebbins designed the 1900 brick Victorian in downtown Minneapolis’ Elliot Park neighborhood wasn’t misplaced on Nancy and Brian Nasi.

When the couple purchased the Elliot Avenue house 17 years in the past, it was in tough form.

“It was actually boarded up once we got here throughout it,” Nancy mentioned.

Nonetheless, they have been greater than prepared to tackle a significant renovation.

“We have been labeled city homesteaders, individuals who have been in search of an older house that was in disarray and fixing it up,” she mentioned, “and we discovered it on this forgotten nook of downtown.”

To the husband-wife duo, the house was value saving not solely due to its storied architect, but additionally as a result of it had a number of uncommon options: it was on a double lot, included a carriage home and was centrally situated within the southeast nook of downtown.

“It was one of many few single houses left within the neighborhood or for that matter the downtown core,” Brian mentioned. “We really feel we acquired there simply in time.”

A clean slate

Nancy and Brian, who have been wanting so as to add a bit of contemporary to the house’s old-world appeal, enlisted architect Howard J. Younger to assist them. Impressed by his portfolio, which included restorations of older houses in St. Paul and Minneapolis in addition to historic business buildings, Younger appeared the right match.

“Iron, wooden, brick, limestone and industrial ductwork combined with fancy glass chandeliers, stained glass and open ground plans was his signature,” Nancy mentioned.

To protect the unique character of the house and carriage home, they tuckpointed the brick exteriors. However as a result of the inside had been stripped of a lot of its unique parts, they have been working with a clean slate.

“The factor about having a house that was condemned was that that they had torn stuff out such because the wainscoting,” Brian mentioned. “So we did not need to really feel responsible about moving into a unique path.”

Partitions have been eliminated to open up the inside, exposing metal and wooden beams to provide the area an industrial accent. The kitchen acquired a contemporary replace that featured wooden from bowling lanes as counter tops for the 2, 11-foot islands.

The mechanicals have been up to date, together with electrical, plumbing and insulation in addition to heating and air con.

Underutilized areas got new makes use of. They eliminated the Sheetrock ceiling within the attic to discover a vaulted ceiling, starting from 7 toes to 18 toes excessive. The basement additionally acquired an overhaul. Plaster partitions have been taken all the way down to reveal the unique partitions.

“The limestone partitions have been actually distinctive,” Nancy mentioned. “It wanted restore so I tuckpointed it and now it is a phenomenal basement. It is type of Brian’s man cave.”

All through the home, the brick was sandblasted and the unique hardwood flooring have been preserved.

Like the principle home, the two-story, two-bedroom, two-bathroom carriage home additionally acquired a makeover within the industrial trendy aesthetic.

“It is virtually an identical as a mini-me of the large home,” Brian mentioned. “I take a look at it as proof of idea.”

Like household

As they fastened up the house, Nancy and Brian discovered extra concerning the house’s historical past. The descendants of earlier house owners would spot the couple within the yard and thank them for taking care of the house.

“They might march down our driveways. They’d introduce themselves and had all of this info for us,” Nancy mentioned.

Nancy and Brian, who estimate they’re both the fourth or fifth house owners of the house, started inviting them in to see the progress they have been making. The couple even honored a request from the unique proprietor’s grandson to dig of their yard.

“He needed to dedicate a tree to his grandmother, so we planted a crab apple tree,” Nancy mentioned. “It felt like a household. We might arrange a time for them to return over and we might present the place. They got here yearly.”

They discovered that Swedish immigrants Christine and August Ekman commissioned Stebbins to design the house when Elliot Park was experiencing a development spurt. Within the late 1870s and ’80s, faculties and hospitals have been being constructed within the space and rich households looking for to construct their houses near the enterprise district quickly adopted.

Time to record

Seventeen years after they moved in, the couple has listed the 4,383 sq. toes, four-bedroom, five-bathroom house that comes with a completed carriage home.

“Brian is retired and I am considering of retiring quickly and the rationale we moved right here was to be in shut proximity to our jobs [in and around downtown],” mentioned Nancy. “There may be such a wealthy historical past to this home … It should be onerous to go away that historical past as a result of Brian and I are actually a part of it. However it’s time to cross the torch and let the brand new set of householders make their very own story.”

They hope they’re sending it off in a vogue that the following householders can respect – historic touches mixed with modern-day facilities.

“I do not suppose individuals who come right here count on to see such an open ground plan in an previous home like this,” Nancy mentioned, including that persons are additionally shocked at how intimate the house feels for its measurement. “It has this heat with the wooden and the inlays. It would not really feel like an enormous home. It seems like a really cozy home.”

And from the perch of a number of rooms, the views of the town are a dime a dozen.

“From just a few totally different rooms you possibly can see the skyline of downtown Minneapolis,” mentioned Brian, who added that restoring the historic house has been “a labor of affection and fairly the journey.”

Appears like this mansion as soon as deemed unsalvageable is gonna make it in any case.

Kathy Ekberg (kekberg@lakesarearealty.com; 651-503-6971) and Peter Mason (peter@lakesarearealty.com; 713-204-8804) of Lakes Space Realty have the $1.2 million itemizing. On the time of publication, a proposal on the house was pending.