The goal of providing high-quality, adjustable lighting throughout the house was achieved via an innovative mix of fixtures and controls in the kitchen. Lamps atop the chandeliers provide ambient illumination and are controlled by a wall-mounted switch. Lamps on the bottom of these fixtures provide task-lighting and are controlled by a switch on the center island. Under-cabinet lighting is switched separately for the two work stations. The recessed can lights that provide additional task lighting and accentuate architectural details also are dimmable.
Since Broton and Lander liked the way the painted woodwork in the original kitchen looked they kept the woodwork and had the new wood cabinetry, shelves and trim painted to match. Vujovich Design Build added crown molding on the door casings to match forms and details in the original home. Windows that run the full length of the kitchen’s east wall bring natural light deep into the interiors where it reflects off the white cabinetry, ceiling and trim further brightening the kitchen during daytime hours.
“We chose soapstone for the work surfaces because it has more visual interest than granite and it seemed historically appropriate,” Lander says. Soapstone was commonly used for chemistry lab countertops in the early 1900s.
Vujovich Design Build also constructed a new, two-car garage with a greenhouse along the alleyway behind the home. The homeowners now use the back door as their main entrance. Here they are greeted with a comfortable, well-organized mudroom–a vast improvement over the single coat rack that used to be stationed near the front door.
Major changes on the second floor included converting a second bedroom into a well-organized walk-in closet, laundry room and linen-storage area; remodeling the main bathroom; and adding a fireplace and new flooring while repainting the walls and trim in the master bedroom.
Replacing a single east-facing window with three new ones introduced more daylight into the master bedroom, enhanced cross-ventilation and improved the look of the exterior fenestration. Lander found antique grilles to cover heat registers and reproduction hinges, door pulls, knobs and even keyholes with the east lake lily motif to match existing hardware.
The completed retrofit masterfully unifies the old and the new. “Vujovich [Design Build] made the changes we needed, respected the original home and made it look like it had always been this way,” Lander says. “That’s exactly what we wanted to achieve.”
Project Team
- Architectural / Interior design / Construction services: Vujovich Design Build, Minneapolis, www.vujovich.com
- Materials
- Wood flooring: Haakenson Flooring, Minneapolis, www.haakensonhardwoodfloors.com
- Windows and doors: Marvin Windows and Doors, Warroad, Minn., www.marvin.com
- Faucets/Sinks/Plumbing Fixtures: Ferguson Enterprises Inc., Newport News, Va., www.ferguson.com
- Soap Stone: Capital Granite, St. Cloud, Minn., www.capitalgranite.com
- Stove/Oven: Wolf Appliance, Madison, Wis., www.wolfappliance.com
- Refrigerator – SubZero, Madison, www.subzero.com
- Fireplaces – Heat N Glo, Lakeville, Minn., www.heatnglo.com
- Period appropriate light switches/lighting found by Tim Lander – Rejuvenation Lighting and Houseparts, Portland, Oreg., www.rejuvenation.com