The sellers already owned a custom modernist masterpiece halfway across the country, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. But when they set eyes on the flat-roofed, sharply lined home near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, they saw it as the perfect Midwest complement.
The Minneapolis property is now listed for $5 million.
According to public records, the sellers are Barbara Sirmai, who passed away in January, and Mark A. Peterson, the commissioning owners behind Gehry’s Sirmai-Peterson House in Thousand Oaks, California. Gehry designed that home in 1983. He died this month at 96.
“Some of the finishes and the strong forms reminded [Peterson] of that house when he was ready to purchase his second house and stay in Minneapolis,” said interior designer Ruth Johnson, who designed the interiors of the home in 2003 when it was built, and worked closely with the current owners. “The colors of the finishes and textures are similar to [Peterson's] Frank Gehry house, and he obviously loves and appreciates architecture.”
The Gehry home took a more recognizably unorthodox approach to home design, but its linking features with 4855 E. Lake Harriet Parkway include a palette of grays and whites with flat rooflines. The Minneapolis home features linear forms that break up the horizontal planes, while adding elements of interest.
“It was architecture that really spoke to their soul,” said listing agent Shane Spencer, on what drew the sellers to the property.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home was designed by Charles R. Stinson Architecture + Design and follows his recognizable modern style. The sellers purchased the property from the commissioning homeowners in 2017 for $4.5 million.
A midcentury-inspired modern
Stinson has designed homes throughout Minneapolis — such as an Excelsior-area property asking $22 million — and much further across the country and even extending to the Cayman Islands. His heavy use of vertical and horizontal lines creates a modernist exterior, and inside, the architect plays with clerestory windows and soffits that cut through the expansive space and form a more welcoming, human-scale atmosphere.
Spencer’s new listing event for the property last week was a magnet for local architecture firms to experience the 22-year-old property that they’d often drive by.
“Many of them came and were awestruck by the way the windows and light interplay,” said Spencer. “The home just unfolds.”
In this property, Johnson, who had led Stinson’s interiors team when the home was built, pulled from the original homeowners’ love for Frank Lloyd Wright and midcentury modern. Johnson now runs her own firm, Ruth Johnson Interiors, and has a 23-year history with the home, starting when she designed the original interior, then again when she refreshed parts for the commissioning homeowners, then again for the current sellers.
The original homeowner was drawn to Frank Lloyd Wright and midcentury themes, shown in the home’s warmth with Douglas fir millwork, down to its Australian spotted gum flooring.
The property spans 6,893 square feet with views looking out to Lake Harriet. It includes a specially designed dog room, outdoor terraces, two first-floor bedroom suites, a heated four-car garage and fully finished lower level. And a four-season porch “hugs you when you walk in,” with its warm wood ceiling, flooring and view of the lake, said Johnson.
She describes the home as a “legacy home and doesn’t require a lot of change.” Over the years, small adjustments were made.
Original blue kitchen countertops were selected to connect to the blue lake views directly outside the windows, but those were swapped to bluestone gray to match the fireplace and hearth. A marble-look porcelain was added to the backsplash, while other brightly painted accent walls were changed to gray tones, while Johnson and the new owners updated finishes in the bathrooms.
And to the question if Johnson would hope the new homebuyer rings her up for any future work, it’s a resounding, “Of course! I’ve been with this house for over 20 years. I’ve been a steward of this home in its design and maintenance. I have a love affair with this house.”