Feature: Kids, Toys and Soapstone Countertops

Nick and Wendy Brown’s Lynnhurst remodel is the perfect blend of urban sophistication and the chaos of family life.

Nick and Wendy knew the overall eclectic feeling they wanted their home to evoke—a blend of modern elements with the lived-in vibe of a bungalow.

Image credit: Photo by Susan Gilmore.

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By: Drew Wood |   March 2011   |  From the print edition

Nick and Wendy Brown’s century-old Southwest Minneapolis home contains dozens of eye-catching elements: the velvet sheen of the fleur-de-lis dining room wallpaper; the white oak floors; the intricate ceiling beams that run throughout the first floor; the custom-fabricated metal stair rails; the soapstone countertops. But perhaps the most memorable and telling visual is the stare of Italian designer Azzedine Alaia. Really, how could you miss him? There he sits at the center of a long, crowded table, gently opening his napkin, unassuming in his black sweater yet managing to pierce through the surrounding mealtime frenzy with a wry smile.

OK, so Alaia is merely the subject of a photo by Minneapolis-based photographer Alec Soth that stands guard in the Browns’ main hallway, but his image is a beacon of serenity among chaos and thus an appropriate symbol of the life the Browns have built for themselves and their two young sons in their recently remodeled home. Thanks to what Wendy calls a “rock star team of folks”—designer Alecia Stevens, architect Mark Larson and builders Rick Reuter and Nick Walton, among others—the house contains detail, depth and creativity while allowing the busy lives within it to add flicker to its flame.

“A lot of [toys getting] scattered around happens with two boys,” says Wendy, standing in her kitchen near those unusual soapstone countertops. Her eldest son, Emmett, age 5, runs rampant at her feet, a new toy in his hand every moment, the old relegated back to the floor or a low shelf or maybe a chair (his two-and-half-year-old brother Oliver, naps upstairs during our visit). Toy clutter can quickly overtake many homes but here adds spontaneous bursts of color and a sense of vibrancy to the space’s otherwise muted palate.

Although large and magnetic, the kitchen is not “one of those big family kitchens.” It’s purposefully separate from the family room because, as Wendy says, “we spend enough time in the kitchen that I didn’t want to spend every moment there.” Separate spaces exist throughout the home. You can see the front door from the kitchen, but not the family room. A galley-style office bridges the 20-foot expanse between the dinner table and the dining room table, which can be closed on both ends by pocket doors to define the spaces. It’s open and expansive without being a great room, but also perfectly intimate.

While Nick and Wendy knew the overall eclectic feeling they wanted their home to evoke—a blend of modern elements with the lived-in vibe of a bungalow—Wendy’s eager to give credit for the balancing act where credit is due. “Going into it I thought [we’d maybe] use a designer for the kitchen. Because it’s like, ‘Well I have decent taste, I’m sure I can figure it out.’” She probably could have figured it out, but professionals helped her bring her vision to life with expert subtly. “Alecia [Stevens] truly created the feel of the entire home, and Mark [Larson] was amazing when designing the flow and use of space.”

For Wendy, choosing not to go it alone was really just a matter of commitment. “We knew we were never going to leave—literally, we’ll never leave—so we were like, ‘Why don’t we just go for it?’” They definitely got it, and we think Azzedine Alaia would agree.