Photos by Ben Clasen
There’s no place for cynicism in Lucy Dahl and De’Antye Mickel’s evocative basement recreation room, which radiates fun and innocence courtesy of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. “Everyone from 5-year-olds to 80-year-olds connects with this space and has a memory to share,” says Mickel. “The kids love that we have so many toys.”
The couple began kitting out the wood-paneled lower level of their 1958 north Minneapolis rambler during COVID-19, popping into garage and estate sales and scoring bargain vintage treasures while hiking and camping in Minnesota and Wisconsin. “A lot of people were clearing out their homes during the pandemic,” Dahl says. “I think we benefited from that.”
A creative outlet, the project also tapped into nostalgia from their childhoods. For Mickel, that meant movies and music. “Cassette and VHS tapes were a big deal when I was a kid,” he explains. He and Dahl have a vintage Panasonic VCR hooked up to a 1980s-era portable color TV (with rotary knobs) and often run old WWF matches and movies—such as “Dazed and Confused,” “Big Trouble in Little China,” and “Superfly”—without sound as a dynamic visual when they entertain. There’s also a vintage stereo, several boom boxes, and hundreds of cassette tapes—even a few “MTV Party to Go” compilations so they can party like it’s 1993.
Dahl and Mickel are disciplined and only buy things in good condition. Some of their best finds include a trio of groovy Comfortline floral vinyl and chrome bar stools that came unused in the box, an 8-foot Olhausen billiards table, and a curvy burnt-orange Empoli Glass genie bottle Mickel found at a garage sale for $4. The Formica-topped wood bar at one end of the basement is well-stocked with vintage barware, including a set of kitschy “peek-a-boo” beer glasses. There’s also a very old bottle of Old Canadian whiskey—the last of a sealed case that came with the house. “It was still good,” Dahl says. “We polished off most of it during a housewarming party.”
The whole basement sparks smiles and sentimentality, begging the question: Did designers have more fun back in the day? Looking around at the lava lamp, electric waterfall painting with movement and sound, beaded door curtain, and hanging pendant that changes color with a twist of the shade, perhaps the answer is yes. Certainly, anyone who has the pleasure to visit is going to have a good time. Mickel shares, “My buddy who has worked front of house in some of the Twin Cities’ top restaurants says this is the best bar in town.”
