Summit Villa
St. Paul, Minnesota
The clients, two generations of one family, wanted to share a home without sharing households. Their solution: a 1924 Mediterranean Revival duplex located in a designated historic district in a vital urban neighborhood.
We reconfigured two identical condominiums into divergent floor plans with programs specific to each family, and developed the site with their needs in mind.
The underlying philosophy that informed our work was one of synthesis—of old with new, of historic with modern, and of preservation principles with sustainable objectives.
Interiors Architecture
On the first floor, a downsizing retired couple desired an urban residence that would be traditional yet relaxed. Three additions provide both owners with a porch entry and a mudroom, and breakfast room; a two-story addition at the rear (adding a study for her that mirrors his in the existing space across the gallery); and a porch that provides direct access to the backyard terrace, new pool house, swimming pool, and tennis court.
Upstairs, we carefully synthesized the 1924 and modern design vocabularies, retaining and/or recreating period details integral to the building—doors, millwork, and windows—while inserting contemporary casework, finishes, and details into the historic context. The second floor also gained a private, main-floor entry and mudroom, an open rear staircase, and a bridge to the dining area framed by plate-glass and stainless rails. We removed a stairway to the attic to gain ceiling height and volume for the dining area without modifying the exterior of a building subject to the guidelines of the HPC. Windows and French doors open to the new terrace created by the downstairs unit’s breakfast room addition. Period-glass windows over the stairway open to a gallery lit by the new art-glass skylight to bring still more natural light into the space.
We developed a close relationship with the Heritage Preservation Commission to restore the original details of the house. The entire building was carefully documented and original details were uncovered through forensic demolition - all additions and alterations preserve historic authenticity.