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Open-Minded

Photo by Rik Sferra

A 1970s renovation of the third floor of this 1909 Kenwood home left the space with five small rooms and little aesthetic. Homeowners Tim Peterson and Jeff Ross used half of the attic space for their bedroom suite, but most of the area had been relegated to storage. Peterson, director and curator of Franklin Art Works, and partner Ross, a lawyer, imagined the third floor as a loft-style owners’ suite and began sketching layouts. They brought in Lars Peterssen and Joseph Max Johnson, principal and architectural designer, respectively, of the Minneapolis firm Domain Architecture & Design, who created a model of the space to show the homeowners what it would look like without walls. Three new skylights and the exposed brick of the original chimney, discovered beneath the drywall during demolition, anchored the old to the new. Seeking a calm place to retreat at the end of the day, Peterson and Ross used minimal furnishings and carefully selected art. “We didn’t want a showroom,” says Ross. “Just a quiet, spiritual center of gravity.”
 

Photo by Rik Sferra

1 Layout

Once walls were removed, it was clear that the roof gables did the job of creating intimate living spaces. A new wall­­—the only one—was added to separate the bathroom and double as the display for the homeowners’ Robert Polidori photograph. “The architects added the grace notes,” says Ross. “Lars suggested that the tub be brought out into the room and added the skylight right over our painting.” Peterssen returns the compliment. “We rarely have clients who are willing to live in such an open space, so it was great fun to work on this project,” he says.
 

2 Furnishings

Peterson and Ross purchased things they loved, but with a practiced eye. “I’m a curator, so I thought of it like that,” says Peterson. The bench (often copied these days) is an original made by Mira Nakashima in 1990. The bed is a Ligne Roset “Maly” in walnut with a dark stain. They worried it would be too much walnut, with the flooring and other built-ins, but the contrasting stains make it work. The remarkable Fire Orb wood-burning fireplace is the perfect solution for wood purists who need something modern.
 

3 Tile

Peterson designed the tile using Fantasia showroom’s “Mixed Up Mosaics.” He spent more than two months hand-selecting the colors and shapes, and then the company sent a mock up for his approval. Though he didn’t intend it, the bath tile mirrors the sensual color and pattern of the Polidori photograph. “We just thought the tile color was calming,” Peterson says. “But it was a happy surprise.”
 

Alecia Stevens is an interior designer and a frequent contributor to Midwest Home.

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