Photographs by Wing Ho
green kitchen
Sage Advice: The homeowners (and designer Victoria Sass) didn’t love the kitchen’s previous all-white cabinets: “They didn’t have a personality,” Sass says. Now, sage-green cabinets blend the home’s modern and traditional elements. An added column of storage includes an appliance garage that tucks the coffee station and dishes out of sight.
Interior designer and Prospect Refuge Studio owner Victoria Sass loves old houses. The strong bones, unique details, and sense of place and history throughout speak to her as both a designer and a Twin Citian—she lives in an old home herself. But she knows the floorplans of 100-year-old houses, which generally have small kitchens and minimal storage, can be challenging for young and growing families to work with—and she’s passionate about designing solutions to keep people in the houses they love as their needs and families change.
In 2019, she met her perfect match: Erika Reid and Nathan Hopkins, who had a 1920s Craftsman-meets-colonial in Minneapolis’s Lynnhurst neighborhood that they adored, a busy toddler, another baby on the way, and a problem. “We bought our house in 2015, and at that point it was just me and my husband,” Erika says. “We thought it was enormous. But as our son was going through toddlerhood, we realized that we loved the house and that we wanted to stay here, but it would be difficult.”
The home’s back entryway, which led right into the kitchen, didn’t have storage or a drop zone for diaper bags and groceries, and the couple craved a real mudroom area. They also dreamed of refreshing the home’s impersonal white kitchen, adding a casual kitchen seating area—with two small kids, they knew they wouldn’t eat in the formal dining room every day—and building a main-level powder bath. Over the course of the pandemic, Sass and architect Will Spencer began transforming the house: Spencer designed a small addition that included a bump-out for a quartersawn white oak banquette and a new mudroom and vintage-inspired powder bath on the main level. The additions look like they have been part of the house all along.
“I’m loving this phase we’re in as a society, where people are really appreciating old homes,” Sass says. “They may need to modify them to stay in the neighborhood and the property, but they do as little as they have to. It’s not historic preservation—we don’t need to live in a time capsule—but we respect what’s there.”
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Hallway
Sweet and Sour: Sass added a touch of personality with lemon-printed wallpaper in the sunroom, which leads to the kitchen. “It feels warm and inviting and makes the space feel more alive during Minnesota winters,” homeowner Erika Reid says. Lemon Tree-Morris and Co.,morrisandco.sandersondesigngroup.com
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Breakfast nook
Cozy Corner: The banquette addition was inspired by Erika’s grandmother’s kitchen, a space Erika loved growing up. The quartersawn white oak wood, complete with a custom table from Ingrained Wood Studios, matches the home’s original woodwork, and drawers under the seats hold kitchen appliances like Crockpots.
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green kitchen
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Sass and architect Will Spencer didn’t need to completely demo the existing kitchen: Cabinetmaker Ingrained Wood Studios rebuilt the majority of the cabinets right into their original spots, and the team kept the marble countertops and subway tile backsplash from the previous kitchen. Sass added a timeless and elegant scalloped Hiraki pendant from Ūmei above the sink.
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Classically Cool: Sass refreshed the dining room with a coat of paint and helped Erika choose a new credenza, rug, and chairs (from Rejuvenation) to complement her family’s heirloom table. Erika’s boldest design choice was the paper lantern chandelier from Le Klint. “I was like, ‘Victoria, I’m so scared; I like this,’ and she was like, ‘Do it!’” she says. China White-by Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com
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mud room
Grab and Go: The brand-new dusty-rose mudroom was designed to grow with the family during all stages of their lives. Open hooks, a bench, and space underneath for muddy boots and shoes allow for a chaotic entrance or exit, while vented cabinets and low drawers provide storage for coats and winter gear. “Just for sanity’s sake—then you’re not looking at everything all the time,” Sass says.
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mudroom
Winter Warmth: Sass and Spencer worked together to add a major mudroom perk for Minnesota winters: heated tumbled bluestone floors. “It’s been so nice,” Erika says. “It dries boots and mittens so quickly.”
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powder room
Vintage Vibes: The home needed a new main-level powder bath—but both Erika and the Prospect Refuge team wanted it to feel like it had always been part of the home. A vintage-inspired sink, family heirloom lamp, and hand-painted blue-and-white tiles from Fantasia provide instant age that’s light and bright.
Interior Design: Prospect Refuge Studio, 4801 Nicollet Ave., Mpls., 612-789-2507, prospectrefugestudio.com // Architect: Will Spencer Studio, 6609 18th Ave. S., Richfield, 612-695-1043, willspencerstudio.com // Builder: Welch Forsman Associates, 6026 Pillsbury Ave., Mpls., 612-827-4455, welchforsman.com
