One of the few things that the eventual owner will not be able to customize about this home is the view. The .62-acre lot sits on a rise that looks down over a pond and then beyond for miles to a distant wooded ridgeline in the west. Carl M. Hansen Companies carefully oriented the house so that the vista is presented through generous windows in almost every room.
Only a handful of sites in Edina can offer such a view, points out Carl Hansen. The five-bedroom, five-bath home is located in West Ridge Farm in the Parkwood Knolls neighborhood, which contains some of the last undeveloped land in the prestigious suburb.
The cottage/coastal-style dwelling holds more than 6,054 square feet of space packed with features such as oak floors, granite countertops, vaulted ceilings, enameled woodwork, and a gourmet eat-in kitchen with three ovens—one of them a steam oven. Then there is the outdoor sport court for basketball or hockey practice. An automated network allows for remote control via an iPad or smartphone of the temperature, light settings, audio and video systems, and even the window shades.
Once you get past those predetermined features, however, the options available to an owner begin to pile up. The expansive family room on the walkout lower level is plumbed in two different places for a future wet bar. The exercise room could easily become an office with its own exterior door. Or it could be a sixth bedroom or even a spa area—since a wall conceals a section of the unfinished utility room that could accommodate anything from a huge walk-in closet to a sauna or hot tub.
On the main level, the open floor plan reserves one section of the impressive great room for the formal dining room. But it could easily be a music room for an owner with a grand piano. Or, with the addition of a partition, it could become an office off the front entrance—an office with an 18-foot ceiling.
The second level holds not one but two bonus rooms, each with a skylight. One is fully plumbed in case the owner would like a second laundry room, but it also could function as a sitting area for the adjacent nanny suite.
Why so many options? “We like to design in order to eliminate objections,” Hansen says. “Do you want a sixth bedroom? OK. A lower-level office? Yes. A main-floor office? Yes. A second laundry upstairs? Sure.”
So by all means, have it your way.
By Jack Gordon
Photos by Spacecrafting
Builder: Carl M. Hansen Companies
Home location: Edina
Sponsors:
AVID-Audio Visual Installation & Design
Granite-Tops
Griffin Gallery
Martha O’Hara Interiors
Minneapolis Glass Company
Scherer Bros. Lumber Co.
Scherer Bros. Cabinets & Closets
TruStile Doors