From the category archives:

Architecture

Pillsbury Mansion: ghosts, garages, and off-the-run limestone

by Alex Stenback 10.22.2008

After spending years at cross purposes with it’s original intent – as an office, then boarding house – the Pillsbury Mansion, built by the son of Pillsbury founder John Pillsbury, is once again a private residence (and more.) Star-Tribune’s Kim Palmer Elaborates: When they bought the house in 2002, the original mahogany woodwork was intact, [...]

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McMansions Are Forever! Edina City Council to Vote on Construction Moratorium

by Alex Stenback 12.04.2007

"The builders can come in and change our neigborhood from an old, charming, quaint neighborhood to something that looks like Blaine or Eagan"                                   ~Edina Homeowner on YouTube VideoHeaven forbid. If you are into emotionally overwrought Edina home owners acting as if they are defending [...]

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On the Market: Ralph Rapson Designed “Meech Residence”

by Alex Stenback 04.11.2007

Architectural history nerds may be able to identify the property pictured above as the Ralph Rapson designed Meech Residence, which was a 1959 AIA (American Institute of Architects) Honor Award Winner.  The Meech residence, located just west of Gleason Lake off of HWY 101, is on the market for the first time in 30 years. [...]

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The Whitney Tour: From the Standard Mill to Condos

by Alex Stenback 02.03.2006

Before wading into the open house picks for this week (which you’ll find below), head over to MNStories for a great piece on the Whitney conversion. Most of you know that the former Whitney hotel is going condo, and yesterday the developer of the project, Michael Roess [imetroproperty.com] gave us a great tour of the [...]

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Trailer Fabulous: High Design + Manufactured Homes

by Alex Stenback 12.08.2005

[We'd posted a link to this exhibit a while back, and then promptly forgot about the opening until the fine folks over at MNSpeak alerted us.] Opening tonight at the Walker, Some Assembly Required is an exhibit featuring the super-niche market of contemporary, pre-fabricated homes.  Though the styles vary widely, and the jury is out [...]

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City Council Sinks Lagoon Development

by Alex Stenback 06.24.2005

Image Courtesy of the Star-Tribune Don’t you just love our graphics department? The lofty ambitions of the developers of the 12-story Condo/retail/theater complex planned for the Lagoon area were dealt a blow Thursday as the City Council Planning and Zoning Committee failed to endorse the project, citing concerns about its height, and impact on the [...]

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This Ain’t Your Retro Brownstone

by Alex Stenback 06.16.2005

The Strib today runs a piece on a couple of downtown condo projects bucking the retro-brownstone/gutted warehouse trend, instead going for the angles, glass, and sleek metals that make modern architecture fetishists swoon. But architectural ‘street cred’ comes at a price, with high-end units at "The Nine," one of several projects designed by James Dayton [...]

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The Walker in Newsweek

by Alex Stenback 03.18.2005

Minneapolis’ newly re-designed Walker Art Center, which re-opens April 17th, is featured in the latest issue of Newsweek, which thinks quite a lot of the new Walker and the "Swiss Masters" who redesigned it. "What makes this a very big deal is not just that the building is so cool but that we’ve been waiting [...]

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Bungalow Redux

by Alex Stenback 02.17.2005

We here at Behind The Mortgage love a classic Twin Cities bungalow, and we are not alone. The Arts & Crafts architectural details, great curb appeal, and mostly rock-solid construction make a classic bungalow one of the more sought after properties in our market. But they often leave a lot to be desired when it [...]

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