Homes double as company headquarters

Inside a massive steel support beam overlooking their kitchen, Will Hopkins and Mary K. Baumann keep a miniature New York cityscape, a reminder of the three decades they spent there. Two years ago, they made a dramatic change, relocating themselves and their company to Minneapolis.

"We wanted a better quality of life," Baumann said.

And the cost of living and working in Manhattan had become prohibitive, Hopkins said. "The kids who worked for us couldn't afford to live in the city."

They chose Minneapolis because they already had relatives and friends here (Baumann is a native of Roseville, and the couple met at the University of Minnesota), and they like the city. "It's rare to find as well balanced a metro area as the Twin Cities," Baumann said. "The arts are good, the food is good, the people are good. We even like the winter."

Moving their business halfway across the country wasn't as complicated as one might think. Their office manager/copy editor remains in New York, and they travel there every few months. "Technology is amazing," Baumann noted.

Finding just the right home/headquarters was more challenging. The couple originally were interested in building a "weeHouse," a modular prefab concept developed by St. Paul architect Geoff Warner. But because they wanted to be downtown, they would have had to do a teardown, "which is against our principles," Hopkins said.

Then they looked at the basement of the former Whitney Hotel, originally an old flour mill. When they saw its thick limestone walls with arched windows overlooking the Missisippi, they knew they were home.

Their condo was a raw space that could be finished to suit them. In addition to creating a comfortable home, they needed an office big enough for four people (they hire graphic designers as needed), a library for work files and a dining/living area that could accommodate client meetings.

Warner shared their interest in retaining the condo's aged, industrial character. "It was a working mill, and we wanted to preserve those aspects of the space," Baumann said.

They kept the exposed beams, bricks and limestone. A "bunker" at one end was a natural choice for their bedroom. And to create a small guest suite, Warner stacked rough-sawn timbers, forming a "little house" inside the bigger one.

Lighting was a major issue because the condo was below grade on one side. "We were concerned about it looking cave-like," Baumann said. So they brought in lighting designer Jim Marvy, who added "wall washers" and in-floor lighting, as well as overhead illumination.

To help the space do double duty, a track was built into the concrete floor, so that tables, on casters, can be moved easily from dining to work areas. When Baumann located archival photos of the old mill, they were surprised to see how many elements of their design echoed its origins. The photos showed a conveyor track on the floor, and a slatted crib where the guest room is now located.

Their setup works so well that they can't imagine moving. "They're gonna bury us from here," she said with a laugh.

Fred and Kristi Gray Shepherd are happy to go to their clients. But most prefer coming to them.

"People say, 'Can we meet at your house?'" Fred said. "A lot of our clients are nonprofits with difficult missions. It's more relaxed to meet here than in a sterile conference room."

In winter, client meetings are in the couple's dining room. In summer, they're usually on the deck overlooking the garden. "When you're trying to figure something out, it's nice to have a comfortable setting, under a tree," Kristi said.

The St. Louis Park house has been Kristi's headquarters ever since she started her company 20 years ago, with the exception of a few years when she rented a downtown Minneapolis office. (She moved the business back home to be more available when her two sons, now grown, were teenagers.)

They share the same values, Kristi said. And their skill sets complement each other. "I raise the money, he spends the money," she said with a laugh. "I do the fundraising, PR and marketing. He does the logistics, the vendor relations and budgeting."

'Never saw each other'

But it's taken some trial-and-error to find the right work-life balance, they admitted. They started with offices on different floors of the house. "I thought it would keep us sane," Kristi said. Instead, it kept them apart. "We worked in the same house and never saw each other. I was eating every meal at my desk. We weren't communicating. It felt like a drag."

A few years ago, they reworked their space, converting a rarely used guest room into a second-floor office for Kristi. Now they work across the hall from each other, and can confer easily, which has made them more efficient, she said.

And they make the effort to turn off the business and tune in to each other. "Fred is better at saying, 'We've got to shut down, quit talking about it and relax,'" Kristi said. "If something intense happens at the end of the day, I tend to agonize and ruin the evening."

Fred has his own retreat. "Nobody talks business in the man pit," he said, referring to the lower-level media room where he watches sports and movies.

The kitchen and their bedroom are also "off-limits for work," Kristi said.

And while they're happy to share their deck and garden with clients, after hours it becomes their "special place," Kristi said. "We sit out here every night. This is where we dream."

Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784

Partners: Will Hopkins and Mary K. Baumann

Base of operation: A converted loft in a century-old flour mill on the Mississippi River.

Partners: Fred Shepherd and Kristi Gray Shepherd

Business: Event Architects (www.eventarch.com), an event-planning and production company.

Base of operation: Their house in St. Louis Park.