“My childhood memories are of my parents working
on this house,” says Joyce Block. “It was their never-
ending project: wallpapering, uncovering the wood fl oors,
refi nishing woodwork... they were hard-working and
meticulous, and so proud of their home.”
The brick Tudor in Minnetonka, Minnesota, was
designed by an architect for a doctor; it had seen almost
no renovation. When Joyce’s parents bought it in 1965, her
father—also an architect—designed a large, gabled dormer
to be built at the rear. That added space to the upstairs
bedroom shared by fi ve girls: “My dad had four kids
and my mom had four kids,” Joyce explains. “We were
the original Brady Bunch, and a couple of years later we
welcomed a new sibling. Nine kids, and mom and dad, in
a three-bedroom house!”
In the 1980s, her father reworked the kitchen—a room
that was dated by 1998, when Joyce bought the house at
her parents’ retirement. Happily, the old, original kitchen
with its mid-century fl ourishes had been installed in the
basement, becoming one cue in the design of a period-
appropriate kitchen, by David Heide Design Studio.
“We really didn’t do anything except the kitchen,”
Heide claims—but he’s being modest, according to Joyce.Sometimes, what is retained is as important
as what is renovated or added. Small things
and the right details can bring back the joy.
BY PATRICIA POORE | PHOTOS BY RICH MICHELLlight
COTTAGE REDO
A BRIGHTENED ROOM
The only big project in the recent
renovation was a redesign of the kitchen,
within the original footprint, doors and
windows intact. The breakfast area
extending into a bay window includes
a period-inspired bank of cabinets.
The pine wainscot was
painted to match.