'Modern farmhouse' in Minneapolis' Seward neighborhood lists for $650K

In 2014, when Melissa and Kevin Coleman were moving to Minneapolis from Connecticut, they came across an opportunity of a lifetime.

Their listing agent also ran a design and construction company at the time and a home he had planned to renovate was deemed unsalvageable.

"We were not looking to build, but he had this empty lot in the Seward neighborhood after trying to restore a house that was far too gone," Melissa said.

The Colemans decided to seize the moment and work with their agent, Michael D. Smith, to build a new home that functioned for their family and was in scale with the neighborhood.

"He had some plans, but the style was too modern for us," Melissa said. "Our hope was to build a house visually that would pull some really classic elements with layers of modern touches, a blend of old and new. The end result was a modern farmhouse."

Modern and traditional

For modern touches, a white-and-black color palette and iron details were incorporated into the house. Traditional accents included restored vintage pendants, subway tile backsplash and red oak flooring that was "slightly imperfect because we wanted the knots," Melissa said. "We chose a lot of things that were classic and will remain classic."

When it came to the floor plan, the family wanted it to be flexible and functional.

A multipurpose room off the kitchen was outfitted with black-slat sliding glass doors so the room could be opened up or closed off as needed. A pantry, which was a partial divider between the dining room and cook's kitchen, offered plenty of storage space in the heart of the home where Melissa, a cookbook author and recipe designer for Thefauxmartha website, spent a lot of her time.

"I cook a lot for work and for my family. Our kitchen is our hub," she said. And, "knowing that the winters are long, we wanted to bring in as much light as possible so we chose an open-ish layout."

Upstairs, each bedroom was designed with large closets and a laundry room was located off the bedrooms.

"I believe everyone has a mess, and we just choose where our mess is going to be and that's the closets," Melissa said. "And having kids and running through life, the laundry is the last thing on your to-do list."

When building the home, the Colemans made sure to use quality materials right down to the LP SmartSide trim and siding. They took their cues for design details, such as a roof pitch, from the neighborhood.

"There's a lot of elements that kind of mimic what's happening at nearby houses," Melissa said.

Finishing touches

Since they moved in, the Colemans have continued to update the home, including finishing the backyard. They added a shou sugi ban garden wall, designed an outdoor dining space with a floating cedar deck and pizza oven and created a firepit area.

"We fenced in and segmented the spaces so there's an outdoor living and dining room," Melissa said. "There's [two] huge trees in the back we wanted to preserve and it serves as a canopy."

While the Coleman family has enjoyed living in the home for the past seven years, with two growing kids and the need for an office and a guest room, they need more space. They've listed their 1,900-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom house.

Melissa said the house is designed in a way that the next person can make it their own.

"There's a lot of flexible space in the house. In some ways, it's a blank canvas," she said.

Listing agent Michael D. Smith said the home, built in 2015, is a steal because it's practically a new build without the higher price tag.

"The buyer of this home is going to benefit from us having built this in a previous construction economy," he said. "These days you can't build a home of this quality — solid flooring, doors and high-quality windows — for that price."

Michael D. Smith (mikesmithrealty@gmail.com; 651-324-6211 of Anderson Realty has the $650,000 listing.