Twin Cities area homeowners show off remodeling projects on MSP Home Tour

How hard is it to move a staircase? What's it really like when the wall between the kitchen and living room comes down? Is a tricked-out basement worth it?

Get the straight scoop from people who've taken the remodeling plunge during the MSP Home Tour, April 29-30, when homeowners across the metro area welcome visitors to show off their spaces and answer questions.

And as this preview of three tour homes shows, projects are wide-ranging and varied.

Spruced up empty nest

The last time Don and Sondra Samuels' Foursquare Victorian was on the home tour was 20 years ago. Back then, the brochure featured a photo of the couple holding two of their children, adorable jammie-clad Asante and Amani. Those toddlers are now young adults, but the Samuelses are still refining and improving their 1908 Jordan neighborhood house.

This year, tour visitors can see their latest updates. After 25 years of heavy use, the kitchen was ready for a refresh. Other improvements include a finished lower level and, straight from the pages of the empty-nester playbook, the conversion of Amani's former bedroom into Sondra's new walk-in closet.

Throughout the renovations, the couple's goals have remained the same — to respect the house's vintage character, modify it to fit their needs and contribute to building a strong North Side neighborhood.

"When Sondra and I married, we decided we wanted a home in a predominantly African American neighborhood, where we could give back to a community like the ones that produced us and needed us most," said Don, a former Minneapolis City Council member.

The couple worked with a few North Side businesses on their recent updates, including Mitchell Construction, which helped transform the crumbling basement into a polished destination for hanging out, shooting pool and Sondra's daily yoga practice.

Additional upgrades in the 115-year-old house are the bedroom/walk-in closet metamorphosis, repairing panes on the home's original stained-glass window and installing a retractable awning over the backyard deck, which has greatly enhanced the Samuelses' outdoor experience. "Our two huge walnut trees were launchpads for nut missiles, almost requiring hard hats. So our awning is really a missile defense system," Don said.

YouTube U

The undeniable utility of YouTube is evident in this St. Paul renovation, where owner David Tousley tackled much of the work himself, using the popular video-sharing platform as an instructional tool. "I retired when COVID-19 hit and used that extra time and isolation to take this project to a whole new level, learning anything I needed on YouTube without leaving the house to take classes," he explained.

Tousley and his wife, Margaret Brandes, downsized to the 1952 rambler near W. 7th Street after raising their family in northeast Minneapolis. The fact that the house needed work appealed to Tousley, who itched to create a space with unique design features, thanks partly to growing up paging through his mom's copies of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. With this house, he had his chance.

Contractor friends helped with framing and foundation, but Tousley did the rest, designing and building a new garage/workshop and putting a small addition on the house to create a more efficient rear entry with a mudroom. The couple also expanded the kitchen by relocating the basement staircase to the back of the house and removing a wall.

Tousley repurposed wood recovered from demolition and birch harvested from his parents' land for a new set of barn doors, trim, glass-paneled cabinet doors and a floor-to-ceiling pantry with dovetail drawers. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he also taught himself to create stained glass windows by, wait for it … watching more YouTube videos. "I love the meticulous nature of the work," Tousley said.

A house for generations

A giant Yee's Cari-Out menu papers one wall in Michael Yee and Ashley Peterson's new kitchen — a tribute to the Chinese restaurant off Winnetka Avenue in Golden Valley that Yee's parents founded and owned until 2000 — and a reminder of his childhood growing up in this southwest Minneapolis house.

"We bought it from my parents in 2021. About 10 years earlier, my cousins bought my grandparents' place one block away," said Yee. "Our roots here run deep."

Adding custom wallpaper is just one change the couple made to the house, a midcentury bungalow in the Kenny neighborhood. Philip Hide of Wise Design & Remodel helped Yee and Peterson figure out how to rework the floor plan to maximize efficiency and comfort.

Adding a modest L-shaped bump-out on the back of the house created space for an age-in-place-friendly main floor bedroom, bath and laundry and a more open kitchen.

The bump-out goes below ground, too, a basement addition with an egress window that will eventually accommodate an extra bedroom and bath — a project for down the road.

Upstairs, the dormered space has been converted from a primary suite into a home office, bathroom and bedroom.

Peterson and Yee especially love the vaulted cedar ceiling and skylights in their new bedroom and how the open kitchen allows them to comfortably host gatherings for family and friends.

Yee's mother, Violeta, "Mama," lives with the family, helping care for the newest member, grandson Pak Kai, born in 2022. She occasionally cooks family favorites from the restaurant menu now prominently displayed on the wall — chicken wings, chicken lo mein and shrimp with lobster sauce. "It's our hope that these recipes and this house are passed on to the next generation," said Yee.

MSP Home Tour
What: Self-guided tour of 26 homes in the Twin Cities, reflecting a variety of housing styles, neighborhoods and home improvements.
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 29 and 30.
Where: Homes are located throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding areas. Find a digital guidebook at MSPHomeTour.com. Print guidebooks are available at metro area public libraries.
Cost: Free.