Balance can be a beautiful thing. Symmetry, too. But when the scales are just slightly tipped, when the correspondence between objects is less than mirror perfect, equilibrium takes on a whole new meaning. When designer Dana Alpeter and her husband Steve moved from a loft in the heart of Minneapolis to a 1902 house on nearby Lake of the Isles, she was determined to exercise a highly personal approach in establishing a sympathy between the home’s historic character and her own very contemporary sensibility.
Less deferential than some owners of vintage properties might be, but not dismissive of the past, Dana embraced the profile and complexion of the home’s exterior while utterly reimagining the rooms within. Color was key in her effort to create a unity between the home’s cedar shake cladding and the invitingly open spaces she fashioned inside. “I did the exterior in a monochromatic blue gray, keeping the trim and siding the same color for a more sophisticated look. Inside the hardwood floors are almost the same color, the walls are white, and all the textiles are variations of gray, beige, and white.” Although the recessive color palette creates a subtle link between inside and out and allows the eye to wander freely through the interiors, these rooms aren’t without nuance. The Gracie Blanc de Chine wall treatment adds a visual depth to the dining room. And a Jim Thompson Ylang silk chinoiserie in the powder room makes this small space pop.
Whether working on her own home or that of a client, Dana defines her role as both creative and supervisory. “I manage the concept and it’s my job to find the best people for the project and to make sure we are always on the same page and that the design is cohesive.” When it came time to find a kitchen and bath pro, Dana turned immediately to Ellen Hurst, senior designer and managing director at the Chicago showroom of internationally renowned BOFFI. The two had met when Dana popped in late on a rainy afternoon to look at some lighting fixtures for a client. As her design for her own home progressed, she returned. “It became obvious to me that BOFFI was going to be a feature of the home. It offered a much, much more modern aesthetic in a very clean, functional way that I thought would be perfect. And I just so enjoyed Ellen and how she had welcomed me in after the showroom had closed.”
For the primary bathroom, Hurst specified a white, wall-hung, matte lacquer vanity with a Cristalplant countertop featuring integrated basins. Above this, she installed a Lotus mirror with LED backlight, designed by Naoto Fukasawa. Together, they generate a wonderfully utilitarian look, crisp, but not cold. In the kitchen, she let loose with a large island clad in Greystone marble. “The idea was to really let the island be a grounding piece, so instead of using the marble as a countertop, we used it to clad the doors and side panels,” notes Ellen. “And we wanted the adjacent cabinetry to fade into the horizon, so we used white lacquer and white Corian.”
LED backlight’s contributions dovetail seamlessly with Dana’s central scheme, in which her subtle color sense and appreciation for a certain forthrightness in contemporary furniture (evidenced in her choice of a Tristan Auer dining table and Christophe Pillet dining chairs), make this home is an absolute study in clarity – and 112 years young.
Photography by Jeff Johnson.
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