MASTERWERKS LLC   BUILDING SERVICES   Custom Home Building, Transformations, Renovations

These clients were referred to us by several past clients, including family members and co-workers. They initially approached us about repairing and refurbishing their basement, which had suffered extensive water damage and was the subject of an insurance claim.

After assessing the damage, we drew up plans, bid the work, and negotiated on their behalf with the insurance adjustor. In the meantime, however, the clients significantly rethought their project and greatly revised the scope of work.

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Challenge: 

The clients had previously remodeled the second floor of their home with another contractor, creating three bedrooms, including a master suite and laundry room. However, the remodeled area did not heat or cool efficiently, and the insulation was sub-par. The exterior of the home was not remodeled and was an outdated 1960s “Colonial” vernacular design devoid of architectural detail, while the first floor still included the small kitchen and isolated den typical of that era. There was no modern convenience such as a mudroom, while the basement was dark, with under-utilized potential for natural light, and the inefficient HVAC system and undersized duct work caused additional heating and cooling issues.

Further complicating the situation was the fact that the owners had purchased the house at the top of the market, and with their already completed improvements, were “upside down.” They faced a potential loss if they couldn’t solve the existing problems and were forced to sell and move.

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Strategy:

Keeping the clients’ budget and the market reality in mind, we began developing plans to rectify the home’s existing issues while adding square footage as needed on the main floor and lower level. We also redesigned the first floor plan to include a formal living room and entry, kitchen, dining room, family room, and mudroom with powder room. The topography of the site allowed us to flip and reconfigure the lower level area to include a family room, wet bar, exercise room, storage room, mechanical rooms, guest bedroom and ¾ bath. We also added windows to bring in more natural light, making the space a true lower level rather than a basement.

In the same way, our goal for the exterior was to make the home better fit the classic design of its neighbors without going beyond the neighborhood profile and price statistics. To achieve this goal, we added siding, fascia, soffits, trim details, and shutters while shortening the eves and building a porch to better exhibit the home’s new Colonial character. By maintaining the exterior size and scale of the neighboring homes, we added to rather than disrupted the visual harmony of the streetscape.

 

Result:

Our design transformed the home, both in appearance and liveability. We were able to solve the existing challenges while creating what was, for all practical purposes, a new home—one that better suited our clients’ active lifestyle and accommodated their energetic family, which includes four children and a dog. The home now blends seamlessly into the surrounding streetscape of one of Edina’s most picturesque neighborhoods. Although this was a major project, we received only compliments from the neighbors, in the very same block where previous outsized construction had initiated Edina’s “monster home” debate.

In addition, based upon its plans and specs, the home’s future value appraisal was high enough to allow the clients to secure the necessary funds for the improvements—no small feat in today’s world of extremely conservative home appraisals, and a testament to our ability to engineer value while staying within market parameters and normative ranges.